PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Sam Heng has issued a notice which will require all employers in the country, including those in the garment sector, to pay former and current employees the seniority pay to…
GLOBAL – A coalition of workers’ rights NGOs have launched a website that lays out proposals for wage reform in the global garment industry. Backed by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) and Workers-driven Social…
KARNATAKA – The author of a case study which has highlighted the unfair dismissal of more than 1,000 workers at a garment factory in Karnataka says the Indian state’s government failed to protect site staff, many of whom will now go without adequate…
DHAKA – New data collected by the team behind BRAC University’s Mapped in Bangladesh (MiB) platform shows that the proportion of women in the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector is diminishing, reportedly due to a rise in automation, wage…
COPENHAGEN – Business consultancy BSR, which is behind the women’s empowerment initiative HERproject, has surveyed more than 1,000 garment workers across Bangladesh, China, India, Vietnam and Egypt to determine the extent to which COVID-19 has…
LONDON – The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) has created ‘dashboard’ pages for 275 of the world’s largest fashion and textile companies, detailing their financial information, alleged rights violations and civil society benchmark…
CALIFORNIA – Workers’ rights organisations and advocates have launched a new campaign to pass the Garment Workers Protection Act (SB 62) next year, after the proposals failed to come up for a vote before this year’s deadline in September. The bill,…
SÃO PAOLO – A widespread lack of demand in the Brazilian textile sector due to the global pandemic has brought about a sharp drop in income for migrant workers – mostly women from Bolivia – as prices for sewn-goods have plummeted. A new survey from…
WASHINGTON – Child and workers' rights non-profit GoodWeave International has surveyed carpet, home textile and garment workers in both India and Nepal on the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted their livelihoods, and warns that “extreme…
LONDON – A new initiative which looks to empower survivors of modern slavery to become leaders of anti-slavery organisations in their communities has gained the backing of the Laudes Foundation, amongst others. This new venture has been established…
BERN – Swiss voters have rejected a proposal that would have held companies accountable for human rights or environmental violations within their global supply chains. Despite the Responsible Business Initiative (RBI) garnering 50.7 per cent of…
GLOBAL – Trade unions, human rights organisations and environmental campaign groups around the world staged demonstrations over the Black Friday weekend criticising e-commerce giant Amazon’s treatment of its suppliers and staff during the pandemic.…
LONDON – The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has today published its fourth Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), assessing 230 of the world’s most influential companies on their human rights disclosure. With scores determined in-line with each…
LEICESTER – An independent inquiry into fast fashion retailer Boohoo’s working practises in Leicester has found significant ‘failings’ in its supply chain following claims in July that garment workers were being paid below the minimum wage and…
AMSTERDAM – The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has today published a Gender Baseline Report, having assessed the commitments and strategies of 36 leading apparel brands around the world. The report looks at the gender data disclosure of each…
UXBRIDGE – Coats Digital, the technological arm of industrial thread manufacturer Coats, has updated its GSDCost software – which helps fashion brands and manufacturers streamline the logistics of their operations – to introduce a new globalised…
LONDON – The Laudes Foundation has forged partnerships with both the Council on Economic Policies (CEP) and the New Economics Foundation (NEF), and will free up €5.5 million to accelerate a push towards a more inclusive and regenerative economy.…
BATH – The risk of modern slavery in garment and textile manufacturing hubs in Asia has risen dramatically on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to consultants Verisk Maplecroft. In its 2020 Human Rights Outlook report, the global risk…
PHNOM PENH – The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has weighed in on the controversial arrests of labour rights activists in Cambodia, and has urged the country’s government to drop all charges against detainees, including those…
JAKARTA – A number of textile workers’ unions and employer associations in Indonesia have issued their joint commitment to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Action in the Global Garment Industry strategy. The plan, first outlined in…
SAN FRANCISCO - A workers’ union of former Everlane employees says it is dropping charges of union busting held against the brand, as it’s “hard to prove” that the company targeted this group of remote workers when it made cut-backs in March. Since…
PHNOM PENH – As many as 79 trade unions, workers’ rights campaign groups and federations in Cambodia have backed a letter addressed to the country’s authorities, strongly condemning the use of violence against peaceful protestors and calling for all…
ARLINGTON – A new report published by the Better Buying Institute (BBI) has concluded that fashion brands and retailers are offloading their financial hardships onto suppliers, with a survey of 147 factories across 30 countries highlighting that…
GREENSBORO – Apparel conglomerate Kontoor Brands, whose brands include Wrangler and Lee, has partnered with BSR’s HERproject to support female workers within its supply chain. It’s HERhealth, a branch of the project, which is of particular…
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s National Trade Unions Coalition (NTUC) has written to the country’s Ministry of Labour with recommendations on how best to address the ongoing plight of workers amidst the pandemic. NTUC council chamber leader Ath Thorn says…
AMSTERDAM - Garment workers in supply chain countries across South and Southeast Asia received 38 per cent less pay than their regular pay on average at the height of the pandemic, according to a new report. The Clean Clothes Campaign said it means…
YANGON – The Complaints and Disputes Committee of the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles has informed workers’ rights organisations SOMO, Action Labor Rights (ALR) and Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) that it will take up its complaint…
GENEVA – An International Labour Convention comdemning the “worst forms of child labour” has become the first in history to be ratified by all member States, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). The convention is the first of…
LONDON – A new report published today by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) suggests that trade union members in apparel manufacturing supply chains have been unfairly targeted for dismissal over recent months, with unscrupulous…
PHNOM PENH – A prominent Cambodian labour leader has been arrested for speaking out on “politically sensitive matters” relating to the government’s handling of its borders with Vietnam. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions,…
LONDON – The newly relaunched Good Work Investor Coalition (GWC), the worker rights arm of responsible investment charity, ShareAction, says it’s exploring ways to influence privately owned companies to engage more openly in tackling poor employment…
PHNOM PENH – The United Nations has sent a letter to Cambodia’s government over allegations it attempted to intimidate a representative of workers’ rights group Licadho by threatening jail time. Licadho’s monitoring manager Am Sam Ath was quoted on…
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Apparel, the factory which was closed in June after more than 350 of its staff caught COVID-19 leading to the deaths of four, has reopened and been tipped to become a gold standard for garment manufacture amidst the…
LONDON – Responsible investment charity ShareAction (SA) says the COVID-19 crisis could trigger significant growth of insecure work practices in sectors such as textiles and apparel and is calling for investors and companies to ‘deeply consider’ how…
LOS ANGELES – Ayesha Barenblat, the founder of workers’ rights organisation Remake, has called on Dov Charney – owner of Los Angeles Apparel, the factory which registered more than 300 COVID-19 cases and four deaths over recent months – to take…
WASHINGTON DC - The US has announced sanctions against 11 Chinese companies - said to include current and former suppliers to Patagonia, Nike, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and Muji - over alleged links with human rights violations against…
OAKLAND – The Cradle to Cradle Innovation Institute has opened up the latest draft of its product standard version 4 for public review, having similarly turned to the industry for feedback in August of last year. Having incorporated changes off the…
NEW DELHI – A group of workers’ rights organisations have called on fashion brands and retailers to establish to make a Supply-chain Relief Contribution (SRC), through which two per cent of their total sourcing budget from the preceding 12 months…
XINJIANG – Footage which has emerged on the social media platform TikTok has raised fresh fears over the sufferment of China’ Uyghur Muslim population, as it shows what are believed to be forced labourers in transit. In March, research from the…
JORDAN - More than 140 women garment workers had to be taken to hospital after they inhaled toxic gases during spraying to control insects and rodents at their factory. Doctors said it appeared the concentration of the chemicals used for the…
PHNOM PENH – The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has urged the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and those supporting its Call to Action to throw down their support for postponing Cambodia’s partial suspension from the…
YANGON – A collective of workers’ rights organisations has submitted a complaint against fashion titan C&A to the Complaints and Disputes Committee of the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles, accusing the retailer of turning a blind…
CHATTOGRAM – The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has established a new 50-bed hospital in the export processing zone of Saltgola in Chattogram. The facility will be used to treat garment workers infected by…
DHAKA – Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the OHS (Occupational health and safety) Initiative for Workers and Community is launching an emergency response project to support garment workers, their families and communities across the Bangladeshi…
DHAKA – The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is teaming up with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BKMEA) to establish a virtual platform…
PHNOM PENH – A survey of suspended factory workers, whose sites have closed either temporarily or permanently in light of the coronavirus pandemic, highlights the severity of their financial difficulties with respondents suggesting they’re eating…
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s Minister of Labour Ith Samheng has urged his peers in authority to address the plight of workers amidst the coronavirus pandemic, after yet more protests over factory closures and uncertainty over pay. In a meeting with the…
ZUG - The C&A Foundation has released its fifth and final annual report after handing over the reins to its successor organisation, the Laudes Foundation. As well as reviewing its achievements in 2019, the report highlights some of the…
PHNOM PENH – Stakeholders in Cambodia’s garment manufacturing industry will meet next month to begin what are expected to be contentious discussions over a new minimum wage for workers. Union representatives, employers and government officials will…
LONDON – The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and FairWear have jointly published both a factory checklist and discussion sheet in an effort to ensure worker health and safety remains paramount whilst COVID-19 is a threat. The guidance material…
Founded in 2006, Ecotextile News is the environmental magazine for the global textile and fashion industries and provides unrivalled daily coverage, comment and expertise in both print and online formats.
Focused on sustainable innovation and industry best practice, subscribers enjoy:
Daily breaking news on our market leading website.
Six printed magazine issues delivered to your door.
A weekly e-bulletin delivered to your inbox with all the latest developments
Unlimited access to our daily news website, including premium content
Digitised versions of every printed issue we’ve published since February 2007
Unlimited access to the MCL News and Media app with breaking news from our four market leading publications.
Exclusive discounts on MCL News & Media reports and magazines.
You will learn about:
Inside track on the environmental strategies of brands and retailers
Influential commentary on MRSL’s and supply chain compliance
Exclusive interviews with key industry figures
New technology for sustainable textile production
Textile recycling, closed loop systems and recycled synthetics
Reports on social compliance and labour in developing nations
Guidance on environmental regulation and textile standards
How to select sustainable raw materials
Expert comment and analysis on textile dyeing and chemistry
Live reporting from global textile exhibitions and conferences
Breaking news on environmental policy briefings
The impact of natural resource consumption by the textile sector
Independent commentary on third-party sustainability tools
Textile manufacturing case studies
News on downstream pollution and wastewater treatment
Implications of trade agreements on environmental and social concerns