Workers Rights & Ethics
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Thursday, 19 May 2022Vietnam launches COVID migrant worker study
HO CHI MINH CITY - A new seven-month study has been launched into the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant workers in apparel and footwear factories in Vietnam. The reluctance of migrant workers to return to work following coronavirus… -
Wednesday, 18 May 2022Factory safety programme launches in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH - A programme launched in 2019 to improve garment worker safety in Vietnam and India - with support from brands such as Bestseller, Gap, Target, VF Corp and Walmart - is expanding to Cambodia. The Life and Building Safety (LABS)… -
Tuesday, 17 May 2022Call for global fund for garment workers
ITHACA - A global severance fund paid for, in part, by brands should be established to protect garment workers in supply chain countries which often lack adequate social protection systems, according to a new study. Researchers at Cornell… -
Monday, 16 May 2022Industry reacts to proposed US FABRIC Act
WASHINGTON DC - The US fashion industry has cautiously welcomed a new bill which aims to protect the wages of garment workers by outlawing piece-rate pay and also encourage the fashion industry to move production back to the country. The Fashion… -
Friday, 13 May 2022ETI issues warning to brands on Myanmar
YANGON - The Ethical Trading Institute (ETI) is urging western companies to stop investing in Myanmar and to consider pulling out of the country because of the deteriorating situation for workers following the coup. ETI previously urged brands and… -
Thursday, 12 May 2022
Bid to train garment workers in digital skills
DHAKA - The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has launched a new project to help 135,000 garment workers in Bangladesh - mostly women - to build financial and digital literacy skills. UNCDF has partnered with wage access platform Wagely, digital… -
Tuesday, 26 April 2022Garment worker abuse 'increased in pandemic'
INDIA - Women garment workers at factories in India which supply major brands and retailers have been subjected to widespread gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study. Entitled 'Unbearable… -
Monday, 25 April 2022More brands urged to back International Accord
DHAKA - The UNI Global Union has marked the ninth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster by calling on more brands to sign the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Garment and Textile Industry. It named US companies Walmart, Disney and… -
Friday, 22 April 2022China ratifies ILO treaties on forced labour
BEIJING - China has ratified two International Labour Organization (ILO) treaties on forced labour despite ongoing allegations about the widespread use of forced labour in the Xinjiang region's cotton industry. The National People’s Congress… -
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Brands urged to help threatened garment workers
KOGGALA - Trade unions and workers' rights campaigners are urging brands to help 1,500 garment workers at two closure-threatened factories owned by the apparel manufacturing giant Esquel in Sri Lanka. The Free Trade Zones and General Service… -
Wednesday, 20 April 2022Sri Lankan firm bites back over report allegations
COLOMBO – A new report has accused Sri Lanka’s largest garment manufacturer, Brandix Lanka, of breaching COVID-19 guidelines in the run up to what was a deemed a ‘superspreader’ event in October 2020, and subsequently cracking down on unions that… -
Tuesday, 19 April 2022Workers plead with brands over severance pay
JAKARTA – Former employees at an Indonesian garment factory which closed in 2015 have written to the bosses of fashion brands Uniqlo and s.Oliver pleading for US$5.5 million in severance pay. The two brands are said to have abruptly pulled orders… -
Wednesday, 13 April 2022Lycra Company buoyed by Higg FSLM score
WILMINGTON – Textile fibre manufacturer the Lycra Company has announced that its manufacturing site in Maydown, Northern Ireland, has completed technology company Higg’s Facility Social and Labour Module (FSLM) with a score of 83. That places… -
Monday, 11 April 2022Boohoo opens its own factory in Leicester
LEICESTER - Fast fashion giant Boohoo, which was caught in controversy over the treatment of garment workers in its supply chain factories in Leicester, has officially opened its own manufacturing facility in the city. The company says the… -
Wednesday, 06 April 2022Rights deal in Myanmar 'could be blueprint'
YANGON - A pioneering agreement to protect freedom of association for garment workers in Myanmar - which was halted because of the coup - could become the blueprint for other garment manufacturing countries, according to a new report. The Danish… -
Friday, 01 April 2022H&M agreement to address factory harassment
TAMIL NADU – Fashion giant H&M Group has signed a legally-binding agreement with one of India’s largest garment suppliers to put an end to sexual violence and harassment against women, following the death of a 20-year-old worker last year. The terms… -
Friday, 01 April 2022
Vietnam accused of 'laundering' Xinjiang cotton
SAIGON - A coalition of campaigners has accused Vietnam of "laundering" cotton from Xinjiang to help China bypass the US's new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The US legislation, which bans most imports from China's Xinjiang region on the… -
Friday, 25 March 2022ILO launches worker rights inquiry in Myanmar
GENEVA – The International Labour Organization (ILO) has decided to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the decline of workers' rights in Myanmar since the military coup of February 2021. The Commission of Inquiry will investigate the… -
Monday, 21 March 2022China launches sustainable cotton standard
BEIJING - China has introduced its own sustainable cotton standard, covering issues including workers' rights, environmental impact and the use of fertilizers, which comes into force from the beginning of next month. The China Cotton Association… -
Friday, 18 March 2022Bangladesh garment workers' rights 'violated'
BRUSSELS - Garment workers in Bangladesh are suffering from violations of workers’ rights because of a lack of government action, according to a new report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). They suffer discrimination and… -
Friday, 18 March 2022
Brands urged to stop sourcing from Myanmar
YANGON - An exiled Myanmar trade union leader is calling on western brands and retailers to sever all times with garment factories in her home country to support the movement to restore democracy. Khaing Zar Aung, president of the Industrial Workers… -
Thursday, 17 March 2022How best to help women garment workers - ILO
GENEVA - A new report from the International Labour Organization details the lessons learned from various projects to increase gender equality in the garment industry. It follows a public call from the ILO’s Decent Work in Garment Supply Chains Asia… -
Thursday, 17 March 2022Chinese brand hit by forced labour claims
BEIJING - Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning is facing a double-pronged attack over alleged supply chain links with forced labour in both the Xinjiang region of China and in North Korea. First, Norway's US$1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the… -
Wednesday, 16 March 2022Garment workers' plight overlooked in Indonesia
JAKARTA - A new academic study of Indonesia's emergence as an Islamic fashion capital says the country's 'exploited' garment workers are not getting their fair share of the credit or the rewards. Annisa Beta, a lecturer at the University of… -
Tuesday, 15 March 2022ILO welcomes end of Uzbek cotton boycott
TASHKENT – The International Labour Organization (ILO) has welcomed the decision by the Cotton Campaign to lift the global boycott of Uzbekistan cotton products amidst hopes that forced labour has been eradicated there. The ILO also congratulated… -
Thursday, 10 March 2022
Uzbek forced labour cotton boycott ends
TASHKENT - The Cotton Campaign collective of NGOs, trade unions, apparel brands and investors has ended its call for a global boycott of Uzbek cotton after a second report in a week found no evidence of forced labour in last year's harvest. For the… -
Wednesday, 09 March 2022Leveson's final report praises and warns Boohoo
LEICESTER - Sir Brian Leveson's fifth and final report to Boohoo's board of directors declares the fast fashion company's Agenda for Change (A4C) programme a success but warns that vigilance will be needed if progress is to be maintained. The… -
Monday, 07 March 2022M&S programme for garment workers resumes
LONDON - A Marks and Spencer (M&S) programme to promote gender equality in garment factories in its global supply chain is resuming after a two year halt triggered by the global coronavirus pandemic. The POWER (Providing Opportunities to Women for… -
Thursday, 03 March 2022
Breakthrough in garment worker pay dispute
KARNATAKA - The majority of garment manufacturers which had been refusing to pay their workers the minimum wage since April 2020 in the Indian state of Karnataka have finally agreed to pay up. The Worker Rights Consortum (WRC) says that it has… -
Wednesday, 02 March 2022Uzbek cotton 'free of child and forced labour'
TASHKENT - Uzbekistan has succeeded in eradicating systemic child and forced labour from its cotton industry, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO). An estimated two million children have been taken out of child… -
Tuesday, 01 March 2022
Bid to engage with Leicester garment workers
LEICESTER - The Labour Behind the Label (LBL) initiative has launched a project to engage with garment workers in Leicester where factories supplying clothes to UK fast fashion company Boohoo have been accused of exploiting their employees. LBL has… -
Monday, 28 February 2022Laudes Foundation launches transparency platform
AMSTERDAM - The Laudes Foundation has launched an online platform to help the fashion industry adapt to new legislation such as the European Union's proposed mandatory due diligence legislation. The philanthropic organisation, controlled by the… -
Friday, 25 February 2022Garment firms 'fail to tackle slavery risks'
PERTH - A new report on the impact of modern slavery legislation on the garment industry in the UK and Australia says too many firms are failing to comply with the minimum requirements. Entitled Beyond Compliance in the Garment Industry, the study… -
Monday, 21 February 2022Protecting women garment workers from robots
DHAKA - The winners have been announced of a competition set up to protect women garment workers in Bangladesh from the threats posed to their livelihoods by automation. The Stitch for RMG Global Innovation Challenge was launched by the H&M… -
Friday, 18 February 2022Under Armour, Macy's linked to 'forced labour'
KUALA LUMPUR - US sportswear brand Under Armour and department store chain Macy's are among companies sourcing from Malaysian garment factories where an investigation found migrant worker conditions consistent with the use of forced labour. The… -
Tuesday, 15 February 2022ILO highlights 'coercive measures' in Xinjiang
GENEVA — An International Labour Organization (ILO) report which considers the work conditions of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China notes signs of "coercive measures" indicative of forced labour. The 870-page annual report from an ILO… -
Wednesday, 09 February 2022Eye problems hit garment workers' wages
NEW YORK - Female garment workers in Bangladesh are receiving lower salaries because of high rates of untreated near vison problems, according to a new study from the Orbis International eyecare non-profit. The report, published in a special issue… -
Tuesday, 08 February 2022Australia urged to strengthen slavery laws
CANBERRA - The Australian government is being urged to strengthen the country's modern slavery laws following a critical report from a coalition of human rights groups, churches and academics. The report, entitled Paper Promises, says that 77 per… -
Friday, 04 February 2022GIZ funds SAC to manage due diligence project
SAN FRANCISCO – The Initiative for Global Solidarity, a project set up by the German government, has provided around €1 million to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) to coordinate a new project on due diligence in global textile supply chains.… -
Friday, 04 February 2022
Breakthrough in Karnataka minimum wage dispute
KARNATAKA - India's biggest garment exporter, Shahi Exports, has become the first manufacturer to commit to paying workers arrears owed in a dispute over the minimum wage in the Indian state of Karnataka. The company, which produces apparel for… -
Friday, 28 January 2022AAFA urges factories to pay garment workers
KARNATAKA – The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) is urging factory owners in the Indian garment hub state of Karnataka to honour a hike in the minimum wage which has gone unpaid since April 2020. More than 400,000 garment workers who… -
Thursday, 27 January 2022WRAP partners on consumer-facing campaigns
LONDON – UK waste recycling charity WRAP has teamed up with non-profit social enterprise Behaviour Change to raise awareness amongst consumers of the environmental impacts associated with the products they buy. The pair deem their skillsets… -
Monday, 24 January 2022BGMEA, ILO programme to improve workplace safety
DHAKA – The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has teamed up with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in a bid to improve workplace sectors in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. The pair met over the weekend… -
Thursday, 20 January 2022Bergans to launch subscription repair and return service
ASKER – Outdoor company, Bergans of Norway, has partnered with brand identity specialist, Trimco Group, to launch a subscription-based option for kidswear, where parents can order and return specific snowsuits or coveralls for the winter season and… -
Thursday, 20 January 2022River Island to boost supply chain transparency
LONDON - High street retailer River Island (RI) has partnered with Segura, a SaaS-based platform for next generation supply chain transparency, to help validate whether its suppliers are ethical, sustainable, efficient and compliant. -
Friday, 14 January 2022Spinnova joins UN Global Compact
JYVÄSKYLÄ - Textile innovator Spinnova has joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) in a commitment to support the initiative’s 10 principles which centre on protecting human rights, eliminating unfair labour, conserving the natural world and… -
Thursday, 13 January 2022Cambodia to protect workers from Omicron
PHNOM PENH - The Cambodian government has drafted new principles on health and safety in a bid to limit the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 though the country's garment factories and other workplaces. The Labour Ministry has developed the… -
Tuesday, 11 January 2022Worker violations at US cotton ginneries
ATLANTA - Investigations by the US Department of Labor (DOL) have found that eight of ten cotton ginneries in the south-east of the country are underpaying their workers. Employers were found to be in breach of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),… -
Friday, 07 January 2022Forced labour fears over Olympic merchandise
BEIJING - Campaigners are urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to disclose what due diligence steps it has taken to identify and eliminate products made with forced labour from its merchandise. The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the… -
Wednesday, 05 January 2022
Study links garment workers to forced labour
KUALA LUMPUR - Migrant workers employed in Malaysia's garment industry experience conditions consistent with the use of forced labour, according to a new study by the Transparentem NGO. Investigators interviewed around 45 workers from Bangladesh,…
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