2017
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December 14, 2017
Despite massive profits, big fashion brands refuse to pay workers after factory closures
Starting 14 December, garment workers and activists unite in global actions against wage theft. Over the next week, while holiday shoppers across the world peruse apparel stores, they may also discover messages from garment workers seeking help. The message to consumers reads: "I made the item you are about to buy but I didn´t get paid for making it".
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November 25, 2017
Four years ago today, H&M made a bold promise that, if kept, would mean a game changer for the industry. On 25 November 2013, the company vowed to pay what H&M calls a ‘fair living wage’ to the garment workers in its supply chain by 2018. On the fourth anniversary of H&M’s historic statement, with 2018 just around the corner, Clean Clothes Campaign and global partners are greatly anticipating the moment next year when every garment worker that stitches clothes for H&M will receive a living wage.
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November 24, 2017
Clean Clothes Campaign statement on five years anniversary of Tazreen Fashions fire
Five years ago today, the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh went up in flames. Over 112 workers died, trapped in their workplace. Many more sustained injuries for life. On this day, our thoughts are with the survivors and the families of those workers that lost loved ones in this tragedy.
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November 16, 2017
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh will continue its coordination of brands’ due diligence obligations after 2018. This was reconfirmed unequivocally over the last few weeks by the Accord’s signatories, secretariat and witness signatories, after earlier ambiguous statements in the press about an early retreat from Bangladesh. Clean Clothes Campaign, as one of the four witness signatories, whole-heartedly continues to support the Accord’s work to manage brand due diligence in the field of safety. CCC urges all brands that have not signed onto the new Accord yet to commit themselves as soon as possible to this follow-up agreement as part and parcel of their international human rights obligations within their supply chain.
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November 9, 2017
Report finds ‘Made in Europe’ label tied to garment and shoe production in European sweatshops
A new report published today by the Clean Clothes Campaign, Europe's Sweatshops, documents endemic poverty wages and other stark working conditions in the garment and shoe industry throughout Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Despite working overtime, many workers in the Ukraine for example make just EUR 89 a month, where a living wage would have to be five times that much. Among customers of the factories are fashion brands like Benetton, Esprit, GEOX, Triumph and Vera Moda.
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November 8, 2017
Pressure grows on Uniqlo CEO to fulfill debt owed to workers
Today, a global coalition consisting of labour activists and campaigners throughout Japan, Hong Kong, Europe, and the U.S., joined garment workers in Indonesia, renewing calls on Uniqlo CEO Tadashi Yanai to fulfill the debt owed to workers after the Jaba Garmindo garment factory suddenly closed in 2015.
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October 18, 2017
No more excuses: New evidence reveals EU Action on Bangladesh labour rights abuses long over-due
In light of new evidence, trade unions and labour organizations are today renewing their calls to the European Commission to make good on its promise to launch a trade investigation into Bangladesh as a result of its government’s continued failure to make urgently needed reforms to the law and practice governing trade union rights in the country’s Ready Made Garment industry.
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October 8, 2017
Four years since Aswad fire compensation by brands can no longer wait
Today four years ago, a fire broke out in the Aswad Composite Mills textile mill in Bangladesh, killing at least seven workers and injuring over fifty. Happening six months after the deadly Rana Plaza collapse, this tragedy never received much attention, and four years on, the families and survivors still remain without full and fair compensation. On this day, our thoughts are with the families that suffered losses. Clean Clothes Campaign urges the brands that were sourcing from the factory, including H&M, C&A and Primark, to ensure that these families finally receive the compensation that they should have been provided with so many years ago.
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October 3, 2017
Brands must speak out about violations in Cambodia
Labour rights organizations are deeply concerned about the closing of democratic and civil society space in Cambodia. This trend has recently escalated with alarming high-profile incidents of repression against political leaders, non-governmental organizations, and independent media. Clean Clothes Campaign, Worker Rights Consortium, and International Labor Rights Forum are calling on multinational apparel companies sourcing from Cambodia to take a stand against this repression, and to urge the Cambodian government to respect human rights and labour rights.
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September 29, 2017
Clean Clothes Campaign issues the following statement in response to the refusal of adidas and Mizuno to pay what is owed to workers who made their shoes in Indonesia:
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September 25, 2017
Zara, Next, Mango Slammed for Leaving Workers Without Wages in Turkish Factory
Workers at the Bravo Tekstil factory complex in Istanbul, Turkey are demanding their back wages and severance after working without payment for three months followed by the sudden shutdown of their factory. As the factory was producing for the apparel brand giants Zara, Next, and Mango, Clean Clothes Campaign supports the workers’ demand that these brands take responsibility and pay up.
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September 24, 2017
Brands need to step up on compensation after new factory fire in Bangladesh
At least six people were killed in a textile mill fire in Bangladesh last Wednesday. Clean Clothes Campaign expresses its heart-felt condolences to the families of the deceased.
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September 11, 2017
Five years since Ali Enterprises fire disaster, factories in Pakistan continue to be unsafe
Today Clean Clothes Campaign commemorates the five year anniversary of the deadly fire that ripped through the Ali Enterprises factory in Pakistan, killing over 250 garment workers. As we remember this tragedy, our thoughts are with the families that lost loved ones and of those that lived through these horrific events. Taking stock five years on, Clean Clothes Campaign fears that, in absence of credible and transparent safety inspections, garment factories in Pakistan remain unsafe workplaces. This means that thousands of workers continue to face daily risks of being injured or killed at work.
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July 12, 2017
Today five years ago, a group of Indonesian workers started a strike after their employer had denied them the provincial sectoral wage as well as freedom of association. By the end of July, 1,300 workers were dismissed for participating in the strike. Five years on, 345 workers are still fighting for their rightful severance pay. On this day, Clean Clothes Campaign published an open letter to adidas and Mizuno, the two brands that sourced from the factory in the years preceding these events.
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July 11, 2017
M&S, Bonmarché and Nygård should compensate Cambodian workers after factory closure
The sudden closure of a garment factory linked to UK and Canadian brands has left 208 workers in Cambodia without jobs, salaries or compensation. A year later these workers, largely women, are still fighting for justice and are in a desperate situation. As they stitched clothes for UK brands Marks and Spencer and Bonmarché, as well as Canadian brand Nygård, the workers are demanding that these companies take responsibility and give them the legally due payments that their supplier failed to provide.
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July 6, 2017
Why is the Bangladesh government scapegoating the victims of the deadly boiler explosion?
According to media reports, police have filed a criminal complaint against ten people following the July 3rd explosion at the Multifabs Ltd. facility. The complaint accuses the individuals of negligence of duty, injury and murder. The only three individuals named in the complaint were killed in the explosion. An inquiry into the causes of the explosion has yet to be completed.
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July 4, 2017
Bangladesh factory explosion shows need to expand Accord inspections to boilers
A boiler explosion at the Multifabs Ltd. factory in Bangladesh yesterday killed at least 10 people, injured dozens more and led to a partial collapse of the factory. We extend our condolences to the families that lost loved ones in this terrible incident and our thoughts are with them and with those who were injured.
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June 29, 2017
Statement of the Bangladesh Accord's Witness Signatories on the three-year renewal of the agreement
Today, the global union federations Industriall and UNI announced agreement with brand and retailer representatives on the language of a renewed Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. To date, 13 brands and retailers signed and 8 more have committed to sign the new agreement, with many more likely to follow in the weeks ahead.
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June 16, 2017
Textile mill fire in Bangladesh signals need for expanded safety inspections and remedy
A devastating fire in a Bangladesh textile mill at the beginning of this month reaffirms the need to extend and expand the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (the Accord), due to end in May 2018. The Accord, established four years ago to improve structural, electrical and fire safety in Bangladesh's garment factories, entered its final year last month and is currently in the process of being renegotiated. While the Accord covers 2.5 million workers in the ready-made-garment industry, workers in Bangladesh's textile mills remain unprotected by this agreement.
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June 13, 2017
European Parliament should vote for an investigation into Bangladesh labour violations
Clean Clothes Campaign is today calling on members of the European Parliament to call for a trade investigation into labour rights abuses as part of a resolution on Bangladesh that will be debated this Wednesday. Such an investigation would be carried out by the European Commission in order to assess whether the ongoing and systematic repression of trade union rights in Bangladesh should disqualify it from accessing preferential trading terms with the EU.
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May 17, 2017
EU should use review to push for workers' rights and freedom of association in Bangladesh
Tomorrow, 18 May, the third annual review of the so-called "Sustainability Compact" between Bangladesh, the European Union and the International Labour Organization takes place in Dhaka. Despite optimism voiced by the EU, Bangladesh is still far from meeting its international labour rights' commitments and taking concrete steps enshrined under the Compact. A striking example is the wave of repression which the the Bangladeshi labour movement has faced since December 2016. Clean Clothes Campaign calls upon the EU, as well as brands, national governments and other stakeholders, to maintain pressure on the Bangladeshi government to improve labour conditions and comply with the Compact's demands.
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May 11, 2017
Marking the anniversary of the landmark agreement on workers' safety
The first ever legally binding supply chain agreement to address critical building safety concerns – the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety – was signed between global trade unions and some of the world’s most powerful fashion brands four years ago. As we mark the anniversary of the Accord, Clean Clothes Campaign, one of the witness signatories, takes stock of progress made and looks to the future.
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April 27, 2017
Clean Clothes Campaign welcomes European Parliament's motion to improve garment industry
Clean Clothes Campaign welcomes the motion of the European Parliament on the so called 'EU Flagship Initiative on the garment sector'. Through this motion the Parliament takes on a leadership role in demanding mandatory due diligence in the textile sector, and mandatory transparency in the supply chain – both of which are direly needed to improve the garment industry.
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April 21, 2017
Four years after Rana Plaza: steps in the right direction but a lot remains to be done
On 24 April 2017 the Clean Clothes Campaign network will be remembering those killed and injured at Rana Plaza, the multi-story building which collapsed in Bangladesh four years ago. In a statement released today Clean Clothes Campaign sends its thoughts and sympathies to those still grieving for their loved ones, and those still suffering from the physical and psychological scars left by the disaster. Clean Clothes Campaign is also marking the fourth anniversary of Rana Plaza by outlining a set of key actions needed from governments, brands and employers on building safety, workers rights and transparency. These actions are needed to deliver the fundamental change promised in the aftermath of the disaster.
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April 20, 2017
More apparel and footwear companies should join 17 leading apparel brands that have aligned with an important new transparency pledge, a coalition of unions and human rights and labor rights advocates said in a joint report issued today. The pledge commits companies to publish information that will enable advocates, workers, and consumers to find out where their products are made.
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April 18, 2017
Two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) visited Sri Lanka to evaluate respect for labour rights prior to the European Union's decision on granting Sri Lanka the so-called GSP+ preferential trade access. During the visit the government committed to labour rights improvements, such as progress on ongoing cases, allowing trade union access to export processing zones, a revision of the labour law and of the union threshold (currently at 40%), and ensuring that the benefits of the preferential trade status would be shared with the workers.
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March 30, 2017
German brands s.Oliver and Gerry Weber targeted by protesters in Indonesia
Two Indonesian trade unions organised a protest in front of the German Embassy in Jakarta today (30 March). Protesters brought attention to the responsibility that German brands s.Oliver and Gerry Weber have for thousands of workers who lost their jobs when these brands' Indonesian supplier Jaba Garmindo closed down in 2015.
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March 23, 2017
Pressure mounting for UNIQLO to pay Indonesian workers compensation
Following the actions on International Women's Day in Hong Kong, two Indonesian unions protested at the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 10.00 A.M. They demand justice for workers at the shuttered factory PT Jaba Garmindo in Indonesia, which supplied Japanese retailer Uniqlo.
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March 8, 2017
Activists demand UNIQLO pay workers what they are due
On International Women's Day a coalition of global campaigners are organising a series of actions aimed at the Japanese-owned corporation UNIQLO. The immediate goal is for UNIQLO to take responsibility for 4,000 workers in their supply chain. Protests in front of UNIQLO's stores are taking place in Hong Kong on Wednesday, running parallel to a letter petition targeting UNIQLO's CEO.
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March 1, 2017
Victory for workers in the Philippines after three months on the picket line
Former workers of the Faremo International factory in the Philippines reached an agreement about financial compensation in February, after more than three months of continuous picketing. The workers were protesting the closure of their factory that seemed primarily aimed at curtailing the recently established factory union. Bolstered by international solidarity the dismissed workers stuck together and reached a campaign victory.
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February 24, 2017
After months of intense efforts by labour unions, and labour and human rights organisations, all over the world, yesterday, Bangladesh trade unionists, the government and the employers’ organisation announced the planned release of all remaining detained labour leaders. Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum and the Worker Rights Consortium welcome the announcement as an important first step, but warn that in its current form it still falls short of fully resolving the crisis in Bangladesh.
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February 22, 2017
Leading retailers withdraw from Bangladesh garment industry’s annual showcase event
Five leading apparel companies -- H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, Next and Tchibo -- have pulled out as key speakers and participants from the Dhaka Apparel Summit, organized by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Their decision to withdraw is a response to the campaign calling to an end of the of repression against the labor movement carried out by the Bangladesh government and factory owners over the last two months. These companies represent billions of dollars in annual garment purchases for Bangladeshi manufacturers.
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February 15, 2017
Global #EveryDayCounts campaign targets Bangladesh Embassies
Protests will be held at Bangladesh Embassies across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia this week, in order to demand an end to the biggest crackdowns on workers’ rights ever seen in the country’s garment industry. As part of the #EveryDayCounts campaign, activists from the Clean Clothes Campaign will join with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), UNI Global Union and IndustriALL Global Union to call for an immediate end to the persecution of garment workers, trade union leaders and worker activists in Bangladesh.
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February 13, 2017
The Clean Clothes Campaign is today joining calls from the global trade unions to demand that the European Union immediately initiate an immediate investigation into serious and systematic violations of fundamental workers’ rights in Bangladesh as provided under the EU’s “Everything But Arms” trade scheme. The call follows the arbitrary arrest and detention of workers and union leaders, the closure of union offices, mass dismissals and ongoing threats and intimidation of union activists.
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February 9, 2017
Sri Lankan trade union victory shows power of international solidarity
International support and solidarity can make a real difference in local worker struggles shows this week’s success in Sri Lanka. In a workers’ referendum in two factories with a long history of conflict between employees and management, workers voted to have the trade union recognized as legitimate bargaining partner. In the face of years of intense union busting, this testifies to the empowering nature of international solidarity, called in by the trade union.
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January 19, 2017
Brands must intervene to win release of imprisoned labour leaders in Bangladesh
Twenty-two human and labour rights organizations from around the world are calling on H&M, C&A, Inditex, Gap and VF to press for the release of unjustly imprisoned Bangladeshi union leaders and worker rights advocates and the reinstatement of 1,500 workers suspended or terminated for taking part in a wage strike. Sign the petition!
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January 18, 2017
Nordic fashion brands need to tackle abuse of Syrian refugees in Turkish garment factories
Thousands of Syrian refugees work long hours in Turkey’s apparel factories in unhealthy conditions with salaries below the minimum wage. Despite Turkey being an important sourcing market for the Nordic brands H&M, KappAhl, Lindex, Gina Tricot and Varner (BikBok, Cubus, Carlings et al), the companies are not doing enough to prevent discrimination of Syrians in their supply chains, according to a report by Fair Action and Future in our hands.
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January 5, 2017
Bangladeshi garment workers face mass firings and criminal charges
Since last month's wage protests began in Dhaka, Bangladesh thousands of workers along with several grass-roots worker organizations located in the region faced a series of repressive actions from their employers and the government. An estimated 2 - 3000 workers were fired, while numerous legal cases filed at the Ashulia police station accuse at least 1,500 unnamed workers and 150 named workers of vandalism, looting, threatening other workers, and assaulting factory officials. At least 13 union leaders and activists, many of whom had no association with the protests, were detained or arrested. As of January 4, 2017, at least 11 remain in police custody.
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