Publications from the Clean Clothes Campaign
Statement on the need for occupational health and safety in Cambodia after a tragic building collapse
At least 28 workers were confirmed dead as of 27 June after the collapse of a seven-storey building in Sihanoukville Province, Cambodia. In the aftermath of the deadly collapse over 100 civil society organizations and human rights defenders jointly released this statement, calling upon the Government of Cambodia and private developers to take immediate action for a long-term solution to prevent similar tragedies. The statement includes a set of recommendations.
Tailored Wages 2019: The state of pay in the global garment industry
No major clothing brand is able to show that workers making their clothing in Asia, Africa, Central America or Eastern Europe are paid enough to escape the poverty trap, according this June 2019 research report, which analyses responses from 20 top clothing brands about their progress in implementing a living wage for the workers who produce their clothes. Whilst 85% of brands had some commitment to ensuring wages were enough to support workers’ basic needs, no brand was putting this into practice for any worker in countries where the vast majority of clothing is produced. The report covers Adidas, Amazon, C&A, Decathlon, Fast Retailing, Fruit of the Loom, GAP, G-Star RAW, Gucci, H&M, Hugo Boss, Inditex, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Primark, Puma, PVH, Tchibo, Under Armour, and Zalando.
Bangladesh Government's Safety Inspection Agencies Not Ready to Take Over Accord's Work
The government of Bangladesh is using proceedings before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to prevent the Accord on Fire and Building Safety from operating, thereby putting workers’ safety at risk. The government’s justification for trying to end the Accord’s work depends entirely on its claim that the government is ready to assume responsibility for the 1,688 factories under the Accord’s purview, but this research published 2 April 2019 by the Accord’s NGO witness signatories – Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Worker Rights Consortium – shows a shocking level of unreadiness.
Statement of the Bangladesh Accord Witness Signatories on the Imminent Expulsion of the Only Credible Factory Inspection Program in Bangladesh
Less than two months remain until the Bangladesh High Court’s decision to lift the restraining order against the Accord is set to expire, which would force the premature cessation of the Accord’s inspection program in Bangladesh. The purpose of this statement is to outline our expectations for company signatories should this occur and actions we believe can and should be immediately taken by company signatories, even at this late stage, to prevent this from happening. The only way to prevent the premature departure of the Accord’s inspection program from Bangladesh – and the dangerous consequences to worker safety as well as brands’ own finances and reputation it would bring – is for signatory brands to take immediate action. Details of the above-mentioned scenario, as well as our recommendations for how to avoid it, are outlined below.
Employment Injury Insurance in Bangladesh: Bridging the Gap
[April 2018] Despite being the second largest exporter of clothing, and the location of some of the worst recent factory disasters, Bangladesh is one of only a handful of countries that entirely fails to provide for a national employment injury scheme for workers who are injured in private workplaces. This position paper makes the case for swift action to put in place a national employment injury insurance system in Bangladesh, with a bridging solution to serve as a stepping stone and to support workers and their families affected by factory incidents since the Rana Plaza collapse.
Five years since the Rana Plaza collapse: What has happened in the field of prevention and remedy?
[April 2018] On 24 April 2013, the world watched in astonishment and shame as horror of the Rana Plaza building collapse was broadcast across the world’s media. This was where the race to the bottom had led the garment industry: factories housed in unsafe buildings and workers afraid to enter a workplace with visible cracks in the walls, but even more afraid to lose their wages if they refused. The Rana Plaza collapse was a moment in which all pledged to do better and to start respecting the lives of the women and men working long hours for low pay to make our clothes. Five years on, we take stock. This memo aims to give an overview of the promises made in 2013, and what has – and has not – changed following the world’s worst ever garment factory disaster. It also serves as a guide to the excellent pieces of research that have become available at this moment of retrospection for labour rights in the garment industry.
Labour Without Liberty - Female Migrant Workers in Bangalore's Garment Industry (full report)
[January 2018] Female migrants employed in India’s garment factories supplying to big international brands like Benetton, C&A, GAP, H&M, Levi’s, M&S and PVH, are subject to conditions of modern slavery. In Bangalore, India’s biggest garment producing hub, young women are recruited with false promises about wages and benefits, they work in garment factories under high-pressure for low wages. These are some conclusions from the report ‘Labour Without Liberty – Female Migrant Workers in Bangalore's Garment Industry’ - published by the Indian Garment Labour Union, the India Committee of the Netherlands and Clean Clothes Campaign
Labour Without Liberty - Female Migrant Workers in Bangalore's Garment Industry (abstract)
[January 2018] Female migrants employed in India’s garment factories supplying to big international brands like Benetton, C&A, GAP, H&M, Levi’s, M&S and PVH, are subject to conditions of modern slavery. In Bangalore, India’s biggest garment producing hub, young women are recruited with false promises about wages and benefits, they work in garment factories under high-pressure for low wages. These are some conclusions from the report ‘Labour Without Liberty – Female Migrant Workers in Bangalore's Garment Industry’ - published by the Indian Garment Labour Union, the India Committee of the Netherlands and Clean Clothes Campaign
European Union and the Bangladesh garment industry: The case for a trade investigation
[April 2017] This paper sums up the situation in Bangladesh since the wage strike of December 2016 and the crackdown on labour that follows and makes the case for the need of a trade investigation by the European Union.
Follow the Thread. The Need for Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment and Footwear Industry
[April 2017] Together with 8 NGOs and Global Trade Union Federations, Clean Clothes Campaign reached out to over 70 brands to sign a Transparency Pledge, promising to disclose information about their supply chain before December 2017. This report highlights the importance of supply chain transparency and sums up the answers companies gave us.
Four years after Rana Plaza: Steps in the right direction but a lot remains to be done
[April 2017] Monday, 24 April, marks the fourth anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, the deadliest disaster in the garment industry. The workers who died that day paid the ultimate price of the low cost, cut-throat industry that continues to put vast profits ahead of the lives and dignity of the women and men it employs. As we are approaching this tragic anniversary, our thoughts are with those who died, the families they left behind and with the survivors who continue to suffer the physical and psychological scars of this terrible disaster. We also use this moment to call on brands, governments and employers to defend the improvements won after Rana Plaza, and to go much further in tackling roots causes of the disaster, including the repression of workers rights and the lack of transparency in the industry.
Bangladesh Accord: Brief Progress Report and Proposals for Enhancement
[April 2017] Founded in 2013, three weeks after the deadliest disaster in the history of the global apparel industry, the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety has made factories safer for more than two-and-a-half million garment workers. The improvements in structural, fire, and electrical safety accomplished under the Accord have helped avert further factory fires and building collapses in an industry long plagued by grossly unsafe working conditions. As witness signatories to the Accord, we offer in this memorandum a concise assessment of the Accord's performance to date and our concrete recommendations for the continuation of the Accord for another five years, beyond its current 2018 expiration date.
Update on the Labour Rights Crisis in Bangladesh
[April 2017] This document provides an update about the labour rights crisis in Bangladesh since the agreement signed in February 2017 between trade unions and the government.
The European Union and the Bangladesh garment industry: the failure of the Sustainability Compact
[October 2017] In this white paper released in October 2017 and sent to the European Commission, Clean Clothes Campaign, the International Trade Union Confederation, the European Trade Union Confederation, IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union provide clear evidence that, despite signing a “Sustainability Compact” with the European Union four years ago, the Government of Bangladesh remains in violation of this Compact, failing to make vital reforms required to ensure its garment industry complies with core international labour standards. In light of this new evidence, the authors renew 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.
Joint position on Sri Lanka GSP+ Status
March 2017 - Clean Clothes Campaign, IndustriALL Global Union and the International Trade Union Confederation CCC urge the European Union to adopt a roadmap with strict measures before establishing a GSP+ relation, as Sri Lanka is in breach of core labour conventions.
Answer to the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety
In November 2016 the Accord witness signatories ILRF, WRC, CCC and MSN published the Dangerous Delays report about the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and its overstating of progress in factory repairs. After Alliance representatives responded to the report in the press, the witness signatories in December 2016 came with this answer.
Dangerous Delays on Worker Safety
Three and a half years after the catastrophic Rana Plaza building collapse, major apparel brands and retailers that are part of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety – including Gap Inc., Target, VF Corporation, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), and Walmart – are failing to fulfill their commitments to make their supplier factories safe, leaving hundreds of thousands workers at risk. This report of November 2016 by International Labor Rights Forum, Worker Rights Consortium, Clean Clothes Campaign, and Maquila Solidarity Network shows that rather than hold member companies accountable, the Alliance is concealing their lack of action by refusing to publish detailed information on factory progress and by reporting some factories as “On Track” on safety renovations when, in fact, they have failed to implement key renovations by mandated deadlines.
Living Wage Now synthesis report
The Living Wage Now Forum was organized in Brussels from 12 to 14 October 2015 by achACT, the Schone Kleren Campagne and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC). They invited militants, garment workers, brands and political decision-makers to discuss concrete proposals to provide a living wage for women and men working in the clothing industry. The report, published in October 2016, sums up the results.
Reflection on decent work in global supply chains on the agenda of the 105th session of the International Labour Conference
CCC reflects on the outcome of the Committee on Decent Work in Global Supply Chains at the International Labour Conference in June 2016.
Position on decent work in global supply chains
At the occasion of the 105th Session of the International Labour Conference in June 2016, Clean Clothes Campaign emphasizes the need of an institutional framework for remedy and prevention that can be scaled up and an enforcement framework.
H&M Factories Still Not Safe
During August 24 to September 1, 2015, the Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Worker Rights Consortium reviewed the Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) posted on the website of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (“the Accord”). Our report focused on H&M’s strategic suppliers, studying each of the 32 Accord CAPs available for these factories. Between January 11 and 16, 2016, the four NGO witness signatories to the Accord conducted a new review of CAPs for the same 32 H&M strategic suppliers. In this update of May 2, 2016, the four Accord witness signatories, have again reviewed the most recent corrective action plans and progress reports for the same set of 32 factories checked before. For the first time, the latest corrective action plans for 22 additional H&M strategic supplier factories were included as well.
Clean Clothes Campaign position paper with demands on transparency
Clean Clothes Campaign presented this position paper on transparency to the European Commission on 25th April 2016 during the conference on responsible management of the supply chain in the garment sector. The garment industry has complex chains of production and responsibility, with many actors at different levels playing a part in production. Poor transparency in supply chains of European companies and lack of data have long been a barrier to improvement of human rights and working conditions. There is a clear need to elaborate on this soft legislation in the UNGPs to make it clearer what transparency (“show”) looks like for companies and governments.
Rana Plaza Three Years On: Compensation, Justice and Workers' Safety - Full Report
Following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24th April 2013 a significant number of campaigns were undertaken to ensure the survivors and the families of the workers killed receive just and fair compensation, and to ensure that future building safety accidents would be prevented. These campaigns contributed to several initiatives including the Rana Plaza Arrangement (set up to provide compensation) and the Bangladesh Fire and Building safety Accord (set up to improve building safety). They also resulted in promises to improve the legal climate regarding Freedom of Association. This report, published by the Clean Clothes Campaign and the International Labor Rights Forum on the eve of the third anniversary of the tragedy in April 2016, provides an update on the key developments and outcomes in each of these three areas.
Rana Plaza Three Years On: Compensation, Justice and Workers' Safety - Summary
Following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24th April 2013 a significant number of campaigns were undertaken to ensure the survivors and the families of the workers killed receive just and fair compensation, and to ensure that future building safety accidents would be prevented. These campaigns contributed to several initiatives including the Rana Plaza Arrangement (set up to provide compensation) and the Bangladesh Fire and Building safety Accord (set up to improve building safety). They also resulted in promises to improve the legal climate regarding Freedom of Association. This summary, published by the Clean Clothes Campaign on the eve of the third anniversary of the tragedy in April 2016, provides an update on the key developments and outcomes in each of these three areas.
Clean Clothes Campaign Position on the new Fairtrade Textile Standard
Fairtrade International published its new Fairtrade Textile Standard on 22 March 2016. Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) raised concerns and gave detailed input during the Standard’s development and remains critical today. In this position paper from March 2016 CCC states that in order to improve working conditions, a sector-wide approach is needed and corporate behaviour has to change, not only some selected supply chains.
Position paper on human rights due diligence
In this paper from March 2016 Clean Clothes Campaign explains its position on human rights due diligence as explained in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP).
Ongoing Safety Delays at H&M Suppliers in Bangladesh
This memo from January 2016 is an update to the analysis of H&M key supplier factories' compliance with the Bangladesh Accord from September 2015.
Living Wage Now magazine
A digest of interviews, background and campaign information from the Clean Clothes Campaign network from October 2015.
Evaluation of H&M Compliance with Safety Action Plans for Strategic Suppliers in Bangladesh 2015
An Evaluation of H&M Compliance with Safety Action Plans for Strategic Suppliers in Bangladesh by the Clean Clothes Campaign International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network and Worker Rights Consortium from September 2015.
Italian Living Wage report
This report was conducted by Campagna Abiti Puliti, the Italian section of the Clean Clothes Campaign. It is a survey on pay conditions in the clothing and footwear sector in Italy to see whether in Italy too there is a real living wage problem. This report sets out the findings of the survey, which was conducted from April 2013 to August 2014 by members of the campaign and a team of Italian researchers represented by Devi Sacchetto, Veronica Redini and Davide Bubbico. The report was published in 2014.
Migrant workers in Thailand's garment factories
Clean Clothes Campaign and MAP Foundation launched an in-depth study into the working conditions of migrants from Myanmar (Burma) working in the Thai apparel industry. The report documents how workers are not only denied the right to collective bargaining and minimum social security; it also shows they are denied the legal minimum wage which is tantamount to wage theft. The report was published in 2014.
Asia Wage Report
The Clean Clothes Campaign and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance believe that being paid less than a living wage is a violation of an individual’s human rights. This report looks at the low wages being paid across six of the major garment producing countries in Asia – Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. It also looks at the responsibilities of both state and global apparel brands and their suppliers in addressing poverty wages and the steps that must be taken immediately if the garment industry is to provide a decent life for those working within it. The report was published in 2014.
Stitched Up: Poverty wages in the garment industry in Eastern Europe and Turkey
This is an in depth research report on the situation facing garment workers in 10 countries, busting the myth that "Made in Europe" means better wages and conditions. The report was made in 2014.
Tailored Wages
An in depth look at the practices and policies the 50 largest clothing brands operating in Europe are taking to implement a living wage from March 2014.
Still Waiting
This report from October 2013 shows how six months after history's deadliest apparel industry disaster, workers continue to fight for compensation. This report by the Clean Clothes Campaign and the International Labor Rights Forum looks in detail at the Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashion disasters and where the battle for compensation stands six months after the Rana Plaza disaster.
Executive Summary: Breathless for Blue Jeans
This provides an overview of the July 2013 report from CCC and partners War on Want, SACOM and IHLO that highlights that three years after the voluntary ban on sandblasting by global clothing brands the practice continues in China, putting workers at risk of the deadly lung disease silicosis.
Breathless for Blue Jeans: health hazards in China's denim factories
The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) alongside with War on Want, SACOM and IHLO in July 2013 releases this research which shows that the practice of sandblasting - used in order to give jeans a worn or ‘distressed’ look - is still widespread in China despite most Western brands banning the practice three years ago because of its link to silicosis, a deadly lung disease that has already caused the deaths of many garment workers.
Fatal Fashion - Analysis of Recent Factory Fires in Pakistan and Bangladesh
The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) in March 2013 published a report analysing two recent factory fires in the export-oriented garment industry in Bangladesh and Pakistan in which more than 400 lives were lost. ‘Fatal fashion’ is an urgent call upon governments, suppliers, brands, retailers, audit firms and certification bodies for a fundamental game-change to protect and respect workers’ rights.
Hazardous workplaces: Making the Bangladesh Garment industry safe
The safety record of the Bangladesh garment industry is one of the worst in the world. This briefing from November 2012 aims to give an overview of what action needs to be taken by the different actors involved in order to improve the safety of garment factories in Bangladesh, what has been achieved so far both in preventing future tragedies and compensating the victims of previous incidents and what more could and should be done by the brands, retailers and employers to ensure that the workers of Bangladesh are not risking their lives for the sake of cheap fashion.
Presentation: Fatal Fashion in Bangladesh
This presentation from June 2013 outlines working conditions in Bangladesh, the series of factory fires and collapses that occurred since 2005 with special attention to the Rana Plaza collapse, the worst industrial disaster in the garment industry. Lastly it covers the content of The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh which aims to make garment factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces.
10 Years of the Better Factories Cambodia Project - A critical evaluation
Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) is a monitoring program initiated by the ILO. It seeks to promote decent working conditions in the Cambodian garment industry. This report by Clean Clothes Campaign and Community Legal Education Center from August 2012 assesses the achievements and limitations of the BFC project. It concludes that while the program has its strengths, working conditions are still very poor. The report formulates recommendations around six areas where the BFC program could be improved.
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the human rights of workers to form or join trade unions and to bargain collectively
Respect for the human rights of workers is fundamental to the human rights and business debate. With this paper from November 2012, we reaffirm the centrality of industrial relations to both the exercise of due diligence and the remediation of adverse human rights impacts within the framework of the UN Guiding Principles. This paper sets out what it means for a business enterprise to respect the rights of workers to join or form a trade union and the right to bargain collectively. Written by the International Trade Union Confederation, IndustriALL Global Union, the Clean Clothes Campaign and UNI Global Union.
Deadly Denim: Sandblasting in the Bangladesh Garment Industry
Sandblasting has become the key method for finishing most modern jeans requiring that ‘worn-out’ look. Under the sandblasting process the denim is smoothed, shaped and cleaned by forcing abrasive particles across it at high speeds. The process is fast and cheap and demand for pre-worn denim has led to a massive rise in its use. But this fashion comes at a price: the health and even the lives of sandblasting workers. The Deadly Denim report from March 2012 describes the true cost of these blue jeans.
Deadly Denim - Summary
Sandblasting has become the key method for finishing most modern jeans requiring that ‘worn-out’ look. Under the sandblasting process the denim is smoothed, shaped and cleaned by forcing abrasive particles across it at high speeds. The process is fast and cheap and demand for pre-worn denim has led to a massive rise in its use. But this fashion comes at a price: the health and even the lives of sandblasting workers.
Road Map to an Asia Floor Wage: 10 steps brands and retailers can take toward implementing a minimum living wage
This document from May 2011 outlines 10 recommendations for global buyers (brands and retailers) that will help achieve the Asia Floor Wage (AFW). The proposed recommendations should not be considered individually and should instead be combined to form a road map. There is no magic bullet regarding the implementation of the AFW, but it should be the result of serious engagement of several (if not all) of this document‟s recommendations.
False Promises: Migrant Workers in the Global Garment Industry
Migrant workers are becoming an increasingly important part of the workforce within the global garment industry. These workers are in a particularly vulnerable position in terms of workplace exploitation – in addition to low pay and long working hours, they often experience debt bondage, threats of violence and deportation - and they face specific barriers to voicing and demanding their rights as workers. This CCC Discussion Paper from 2009 shares research that will help raise awareness of the experiences of migrant workers in the garment industry and provides an input to ongoing discussions on how the CCC network and others can move forward to support respect for migrant workers’ rights.
Stitching a Decent Wage Across Borders: The Asia Floor Wage Proposal
All garment workers in Asia need a wage increase. But often, when workers struggle to improve their wages and conditions in one country, companies relocate to another country, where wages and conditions are lower. So workers are afraid to fight for better wages, because they might lose their jobs. This report from 2009 outlines the proposal for a basic wage for all workers in Asia.
Cashing In - Giant Retailers, Purchasing Practices, and Working Conditions in the Garment Industry
Read “Cashing In” the CCC’s report from 2009 on five top global retailers: Carrefour, Walmart, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl, that sheds light on the poor working conditions where these discounters produce their clothes and takes the companies to task for failing to take sufficient action to address these problems. Addressing purchasing practices is one of the key issues included in the CCC’s recommendations for the retailers.
The Structural Crisis of Labour Flexibility: Strategies and Prospects for Transnational Labour Organising in the Garment and Sportswear Industries
This paper from May 2008 is part of an ongoing evaluation and strategising process through which the CCC's aims and activities can be accessed, reviewed, redefined and adapted. The central question here is what strategies, tools, campaigns would help to achieve our objectives? The paper first discusses why poor working conditions are so persistent in the global garment industry, despite fifteen years of codes of conduct. The second section discusses three main strategies the CCC has employed over the last 15 year to improve working conditions. It includes an overview of how the debate on codes of conduct, monitoring and verification has evolved. Finally, the third section discusses the three broad strategies that might increase the impact of voluntary, private instruments on working conditions. It discusses three different contexts in which voluntary initiatives can contribute to improve working conditions.
Full Package Approach to Labour Codes of Conduct
Four major steps garment companies can take to ensure their products are made under humane conditions. In this guide from 2008 the Clean Clothes Campaign offers guidelines on what companies can do to better assess, implement, and verify compliance with labour standards in their supply chains, and eliminate abuses where and when they arise.
Looking for a quick fix - How weak social auditing is keeping workers in sweatshops
This report from 2005 researches the weaknesses of social auditing. Social audits to check working conditions in production facilities emerged in the mid-1990s after a number of high profile companies were widely scrutinized for substandard working conditions in their supply chains. At that time, a growing number of companies-for example Nike, Gap, Levi Strauss, and C&A-had adopted codes of conduct that in essence were pledges to prevent exploitation and abuse of workers producing their goods. Labour advocates soon challenged these companies to demonstrate conformity to the standards they had adopted. Calls for independent, civil society based forms of workplace assessments were made.
From Code Compliance to Fair Purchasing Practices: Some Issues for Discussion
Paper written for CCC Round Table on Purchasing Practices, May 2005. This paper discusses the main elements related to purchasing practices and their relation to the CCC’s campaign activities. It's based on experiences from the Play Fair campaign concerning purchasing practices. The paper concludes with questions for further discussion. The Play Fair campaign was the first public campaign in which purchasing practices emerged as an important element. This was certainly important as both a learning experience and as a way of getting the topic discussed. However, it is important to raise some questions about how far campaigners should go down this road.
Made by Women: Gender, the Global Garment Industry and the Movement for Women Workers' Rights
This 128-page publication published by the CCC International Secretariat in 2005 includes feature articles on important themes relating to gender and labour rights and 17 profiles of women involved in different ways in the movement for garment workers' rights.
The Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) A Critical Perspective
On 30 November 2004 the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) was officially launched. Under the aegis of some of Europe’s largest retailers, this initiative sets out to audit and monitor the social performance of their suppliers world-wide by utilising one common system. Since the BSCI aims to become a major monitoring initiative, which has already attracted several of Europe’s largest retailers, there is a great need for more background information. This document is a first attempt at supplying this essential information.
The Play Fair at the Olympics Campaign: an evaluation of the company responses
In the six-month up to the Olympics Games in Athens August 2004, the Play Fair alliance approached sportswear companies, the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industries (WFSGI), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a number of recommendations and suggestions to improve working conditions in the global sportswear Industry. This report from June 2005 gives an overview of how Asics, Fila, Kappa, Lotto, Mizuno, Puma and Umbro responded to the Play Fair 2004 campaign.
Play Fair at the Olympics Fila case study
Based on research interviews conducted in July 2004, it shows how workers’ lives are affected by current practices in the industry and gives a sense of what the personal impact could be if the industry made a concerted effort to respect human rights. It does this by presenting an in-depth look at the lives of workers in just one factory, the PT Tae Hwa Indonesia factory (hereafter “Tae Hwa”) in Tangerang in West Java.
The Global Garment Industry and the Informal Economy: Critical Issues for Labor Rights Advocates
This paper has been written as an input for the seminar “Campaigning strategies on informal labour in the global garment industry,” organized by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the International Restructuring Education Network Europe (IRENE), and the Evangelische Akademie Meissen in 2004.
Clean Clothes Communities: Ethical Public Procurement of Work Wear
Clean Clothes Communities projects are aimed at local and regional authorities which adopt a resolution in order to ensure that only work wear made under good labour conditions is purchased. That means formulating an ethical procurement policy and developing a plan of action so that within a specified period of time buying "clean" uniforms becomes a reality. This is a Reader from February 2004.
Monitoring & Verification Term guide
The following is a glossary of commonly used terms in the current field of monitoring and verification of codes of labor practice in the garment and sportswear industries. The aim of this terminology guide from August 2003 is to clearly define key concepts in order to harmonize terminology and thereby better facilitate debate and improve the quality of work being done in relation to monitoring and verification.
We are not machines: Indonesian Nike and adidas workers
Despite some small steps forward, poverty and fear still dominate the lives of Nike and Adidas workers in Indonesia, March 2002.
Made in Southern Africa
Report on labor conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Clean Clothes Campaign, 2001.
CCC Solidarity Action: Making a Difference for Workers
A publication about the CCCs Urgent Appeal Action Network.
Expectations in relation to Factory Closures and Mass-Dismissals
Bulletins about factory closures from 2007, written to inform the CCCs network and to encourage debate on key issues related to our work.
The Clean Clothes Urgent Appeal System
Developing and circulating appeals for urgent action (called “urgent appeals” for short) is one way that the CCC supports garment workers in specific cases where their rights have been violated. A CCC urgent appeal contains a request from workers or their organizations that people take action to demonstrate support for workers’ demands in a situation where their rights are not being respected.
Joint letter to the EU
Joint letter from March 2015 to the EU regarding the flagship initiative for the responsible management of the supply chain in the garment sector.
Fair, Green and Global alliance: 'Strength of lobbying and advocacy'
The Fair, Green & Global alliance presents clear insights into the many shapes and forms of policy influencing according to ten factors that lead to success, including recommendations for policy support measures in this 2014 report. The Fair, Green & Global alliance consists of Clean Clothes Campaign, Both ENDS, ActionAid, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), SOMO and the Transnational Institute.
Sector Wide Solutions Indonesia (Revised version 2009)
This document sets out sector-wide solutions for the sports shoe and apparel industry in Indonesia. These solutions are put forward by Oxfam Australia, the Clean Clothes Campaign and a network of labour rights groups worldwide (which include consumer groups) who remain concerned about continued and pervasive labour rights violations in the supply chain1 of major buyers (retailers and brands) in Indonesia. Written by Oxfam Australia and Clean Clothes Campaign, 2009.