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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.

Clean Clothes Campaign supports Bangladeshi unions in their 23,000Tk minimum wage hike demand

For the first time in five years, the Bangladeshi government has formed a Wage Board to revise the minimum wage for the country’s RMG sector which employs roughly 4 million workers. The current minimum wage of 8,000 taka (roughly 74 USD) was already insufficient for a decent living when it came into force in 2019. Since then, workers had to endure the additional pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent high inflation without seeing their wages increase at all.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

It is your turn Olymp! Former Olymp workers submit a complaint at the German OECD national contact point

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).

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!

Global Sportswear brands are leaving Cambodian garment workers to languish beneath the poverty line, according to a new report

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).

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.

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: EU legislators reach landmark political agreement but more is needed to guarantee workers’ rights

Early this morning, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) reached an agreement on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

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.

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.

Bangladesh Minimum Wage talks on the brink of failure? Employers table an outrageous monthly wage offer of $95 as brands remain silent

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.

Bangladesh government proposes new poverty wage of 12,500 BDT ($113) per month, ignoring the workers’ desperate calls

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.

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.

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.

The Yes Men strike again: adidas’ failure to meet workers’ compensation demands highlighted in adiVerse hoax

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.

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.

Leading rights groups call on Nike to push its supplier Ramatex to remediate supply chain abuses in Cambodia

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.

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.

European Parliament brings us one step closer to corporate accountability but key improvements are still needed

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.

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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