2023
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December 11, 2023
Brands commit to new six year safety programme to keep garment workers safe
47 brands have thus far signed the new legally binding and enforceable safety programme for the garment sector announced in November. By signing, brands commit to ensuring that factories are made safe in their supply chain in at least one of the countries covered by the programme. Unions and labour rights organisations in the Clean Clothes Campaign network call on all garment brands that have not yet done so to take this opportunity to sign this new agreement that builds on a model that has proven itself as the highest standard in the industry over the past decade.
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November 24, 2023
Statement on the 11th Tazreen Fashions fire anniversary
Eleven years have passed since the Tazreen Fashions factory fire on 24 November 2012. On this day we remember and pledge not to forget about the negligence that let to this preventable disaster. We will continue to advocate for safer workplaces throughout garment supply chains, as well as for legally enshrined financial compensation for all injured and killed workers in garment factories Bangladesh.
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November 21, 2023
Looking back: Why no one batted an eye during the Yes Men’s outrageous “adiVerse” presentation
After last week’s Yes Men action impersonating adidas at the Web Summit conference, it is time to take stock and ask the question: how is it possible that this terrifying vision of how international companies ignore basic worker rights in their supply chain was not significantly questioned? And the other question that arises is: why does adidas still get away with wage and severance theft?
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November 16, 2023
Adidas' unacceptable treatment of the workers in their supply chain is once again centered in a hoax announcement around labour rights. The activist collective Yes Men and labour organisations and unions from the Clean Clothes Campaign network - who were behind the stunt - are calling on the company to take real steps to protect garment workers in its supply chain by signing the Pay Your Workers agreement.
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November 7, 2023
Bangladesh’s labour ministry proposed a new minimum wage for the country’s 4.4 million garment workers at 12,500 BDT (113 USD) on Tuesday 7 November. The amount is far below the trade union demand of 23,000 BDT, a wage that research studies confirm is the minimum required to place workers above the poverty line.
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October 31, 2023
CCC condemns repression against workers protesting for higher wages in Bangladesh
Clean Clothes Campaign strongly condemns the violent repression of garment workers demanding a wage increase to 23,000Tk and calls on the government of Bangladesh to immediately ensure that workers’ right to protest is respected. We stand in solidarity with all those mourning the loss of Rasel Hawlader, a garment worker shot while peacefully demanding 23,000Tk as the new minimum wage for the RMG sector in Bangladesh.
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October 25, 2023
Over two years since the announcement that Croatian garment factory Orljava was closing down, the Croatian trade union Novi Sindikat and partner organisation Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) Germany are filing a complaint against the factory's only foreign buyer, OLYMP, to the German National Contact Point for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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October 23, 2023
Concerns are rising that the ongoing wage talks for the Bangladesh ready-made garment sector could result in a new poverty wage of just 95 USD per month (10,400 Tk), based on an outrageous proposal presented by employers at the latest Wage Board meeting. Trade unions and labour organisations reject this barefaced attempt to keep workers trapped in poverty. The deficient offer results from the reluctance of major fashion brands to actively support workers in their struggle for decent wages.
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September 22, 2023
Garment workers in Hugo Boss supply chain fight union busting in context of Sri Lanka crisis
For almost three years, workers at Lanka Leather Fashion in Sri Lanka have been fighting for their right to unionise. The German-owned company was among the first to be established in the country’s free trade zone. It is Asia’s oldest and one of the region’s largest producers of high-end leather garments, boasting high-profile customers such as Hugo Boss.
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September 21, 2023
While the price of sneakers has been going up, the wages of the Cambodian workers making them has been going down leaving them languishing well beneath the poverty line, according to new research released today from global women’s rights organisation, ActionAid and Cambodian labour rights organisation, the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL).
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September 11, 2023
Nike under fire over the sportswear giant’s three-year refusal to pay its garment workers
Nike is facing growing pressure in anticipation of its online AGM on 12 September over its steadfast refusal to pay more than 4000 garment workers $2.2 million in unpaid wages and benefits since 2020. Unprecedented concerns are mounting from Nike investors, human rights groups, unions, and consumers that Nike has become a corporate outlier on human rights issues, once again achieving notoriety for failing to ensure that women workers in their supply chain are given their basic rights, despite the company’s own stated commitments and code of conduct.
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September 11, 2023
Solidarity statement on the anniversary of the Ali Enterprises fire
Eleven years ago, on this day, over 250 workers were killed in a fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Karachi, Pakistan. Clean Clothes Campaign expresses its solidarity with the families whose loved ones were killed and the workers who were seriously injured as a result of that horrific incident on 11 September 2012.
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September 4, 2023
Activists urge Bangladesh garment industry to take action after murder of trade unionist
Today, Clean Clothes Campaign activists protested in Amsterdam at a promotional exposition of the Bangladesh garment industry to urge the government of Bangladesh, the employers’ association, and all brands sourcing from Bangladesh to take immediate action in the wake of the recent murder of trade unionist Shahidul Islam. Activists held up banners outside and spoke up in the conference room to demand justice for Islam’s family, safeguards for the right to organise, and a new minimum wage in line with workers’ demands.
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August 3, 2023
Statement on the crisis faced by garment workers in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s garment workers have been bearing the brunt of the financial and political crisis that has haunted the country for over 1.5 years, with high inflation and currency devaluation pushing workers into poverty while the government and employers repress their right to organise. With the government now rushing through procedurally unsound changes to labour laws, and domestic debt restructuring measures targeting workers’ social security funds, garment workers in Sri Lanka will be deprived of even more basic rights and protections against precarity.
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July 20, 2023
58 leading labour and human rights groups are demanding sportswear giant Nike end its standoff with Thai and Cambodian garment workers to finally fulfill its human rights commitments and pay its supply chain workers the $2.2 million in unpaid wages and benefits they have been waiting for since 2020. The workers of the Violet Apparel factory, owned by Nike’s primary manufacturing partner, the multi-million dollar conglomerate Ramatex Group, were denied $1.4 million in legal benefits since the Violet Apparel factory closed in 2020.
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July 13, 2023
Six months in, major brands are still missing from Pakistan Safety Accord
Workers in Pakistan are made to wait for significant safety improvements. Sunday, July 16th marks six months since the launch of the Pakistan Safety Accord sign-on process, yet, while many competitors joined already, major apparel and textile brands and retailers sourcing from Pakistan are slow to commit to this life-saving agreement.
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June 27, 2023
Solidarity Statement: CCC Condemns the Killing of Union Organiser
Clean Clothes Campaign learned of the horrific news of the brutal murder of Shahidul Islam, a union leader who was beaten to death on June 25th for his labour rights activism in Tongi, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
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June 24, 2023
Long live international solidarity: the workers of Falc East have won their first fight
After two weeks of strike, an agreement was reached on Friday 16 June that meets the workers' demands. A new phase of industrial relations begins, and the Clean Clothes Campaign network will continue to monitor the case and support the workers.
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June 6, 2023
CCC organisations support wage struggle of Falc East workers in Knjaževac
Organisations within the Clean Clothes Campaign network have signed the following open letter in solidarity with the striking workers at the Falc East factory in Serbia.
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June 1, 2023
Clean Clothes Campaign, welcomes the European Parliament’s report on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) approved today with a broad cross-political majority. This vote marks an important step towards due diligence obligations for companies and corporate accountability.
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May 30, 2023
Open union letter to adidas CEO about the sale of the Yeezy shoes
In response to adidas' announcement on May 19th, 2023 to start selling its stock of Yeezy shoes starting tomorrow, May 31st, the unions united in the Pay Your Workers - Respect Labour Rights union committee have written an open letter to adidas' CEO Bjørn Gulden welcoming the decision to use parts of the profits for good, but also urging him to dedicate another part of the profits to compensating workers for lost wages and severance.
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May 15, 2023
Ten years after groundbreaking factory safety pact signed, major fashion brands still refuse to join
Ten years ago today, apparel companies, forced into action by the Rana Plaza factory collapse, finally signed a binding agreement with local and global union federations, and civil society organizations as witnesses to protect Bangladeshi garment workers. Now the third iteration of the programme is supported by almost 200 brands and the life-saving work is expanding to Pakistan. Yet there are still brands who will not support factory safety with the proven industry's best standard.
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May 11, 2023
Activists call on adidas investors to protect workers’ rights at AGM
Today (May 11th), as adidas holds their annual general meeting (AGM) for shareholders, activists are uniting globally to call on the sportswear giant to go beyond corporate posturing and take real steps to protect workers’ rights by signing the legally-binding Pay Your Workers Agreement.
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May 3, 2023
Good news: major wins on Pay Your Workers factory cases
Three cases of severance and wage theft and union busting that the Pay Your Workers coalition campaigned on as part of its struggle for a binding agreement on back wages, severance and freedom of association have been won recently!
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April 19, 2023
s.Oliver gives 100K Euros to Jaba Garmindo workers owed $5.5 million, but where is Uniqlo?
Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Jaba Garmindo factory bankruptcy in Indonesia and the former workers (who produced for Uniqlo and s.Oliver, among others) are still fighting for $5.4 million legally owed to them in severance pay.
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April 18, 2023
Shining a light on abusive trading practices in fashion supply chains in Europe
A new report released today by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) and based on field research undertaken by Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) Europe demonstrates the existence of unfair trading practices in the European apparel industry. Based on interviews with suppliers, experts and trade union representatives in six EU member states – Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Italy and Germany – the report "Fast Fashion Purchasing Practices in the EU. Business relations between fashion brands and suppliers" paints a clear picture of the volatile, risky and unbalanced trade relations between brands and manufacturers.
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April 13, 2023
What has changed in the ten years since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in April 2013? This is a much-asked question this month, marking a decade since the tragedy. In an attempt to give a nuanced answer to this question, a new timeline of events, launched today, lists key developments in the fields of worker health and safety, compensation, wages, and freedom of association.
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March 28, 2023
Apparel brands must ensure workers in Turkey are paid and kept safe
The devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria last month affected a region in Turkey with a large amount of textile and garment production. International brands sourcing from the area, together with factory owners and the Turkish government, must ensure that workers don't face additional financial hardship on top of the suffering inflicted by the earthquake. We call upon brands and retailers to pay their suppliers on time; to ensure workers receive their full, regular wages (or severance in the case of layoffs); and to make sure factories are not reopened until they are verified as safe.
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March 8, 2023
Adidas’ profits blunder ignores rights violations on International Women’s Day
Adidas celebrates International Women's Day by ignoring the violations against women workers in their supply chain and focusing on their profits.
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March 7, 2023
Ongoing union busting at adidas' Myanmar supplier
Adidas considers the Pou Chen case 'resolved' however there are reports of ongoing union busting at the factory.
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March 2, 2023
Labour rights organisations urge brands to take responsibility for their workers in Sri Lanka
A new research brief published by Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) reveals that workers in Sri Lanka have not been receiving the full Emergency Relief Allowances meant to alleviate their desperate situation in the wake of the current severe economic crisis in the country. The brief calls on major brands sourcing from Sri Lanka to take responsibility for their workers’ survival as well as their right to organise and to decent labour standards.
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February 16, 2023
More than 30 major fashion brands commit to factory safety in Pakistan
Today, exactly one month since the start of the sign on process for the Pakistan Accord, a binding safety programme based on the model of the lifesaving International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, 33 have signed on to the programme, which means the programme will cover over 300 factories.
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January 30, 2023
Solidarity with workers in Myanmar on the second anniversary of attempted coup
Updated demands to international brands sourcing from Myanmar, in light of the ongoing violence and repression by the military junta.
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January 15, 2023
Activists’ high-profile hoax highlights adidas' hypocrisy
Yesterday (Monday 16th), in a high-profile hoax, stunt activists The Yes Men, working with Clean Clothes Campaign, highlighted adidas' hypocrisy when it comes to garment workers' rights. It began with a surprise announcement from ‘adidas’, detailing their bold new plan to prioritise and protect workers’ rights.
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