Recommended reading
Gender Based Violence in the H&M Garment Supply Chain
A report by the Asia Floor Wage Coalition and others, as input for the 2018 International Labor Conference
Gender Based Violence in the GAP Garment Supply Chain
A report by AFWA and other NGO's towards the 2018 ILC meeting
Gender Based Violence in the Walmart Garment Supply Chain
A report by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance and others, as input for the 2018 International Labor Conference
Binding Power: The Sourcing Squeeze, Workers' Rights, and Building Safety in Bangladesh Since Rana Plaza
The Center for Global Workers’ Rights at Pennsylvania State University has issued a new research paper assessing worker rights progress in Bangladesh as we approach the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse – the worst disaster, in any country, in the history of manufacturing. Authored by Dr. Mark Anner, the paper addresses the crucial questions of what has changed since Rana Plaza, what hasn’t, and why. The paper focuses on building safety and the impact of the Bangladesh Accord, contrasting the broad progress achieved in the safety arena with the lack of progress in other areas of labor rights.
Workers' Right to Compensation after Garment Factory Disasters: Making Rights a Reality
Although it’s been five years since the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse, in many countries survivors’ right to compensation for death and injury remains reliant on voluntary donations fuelled by media pressure. A new report, written by worker health and safety expert Dr Rebecca Prentice, compares and draws lessons from schemes to pay compensation to injured workers and dependents of those killed in the recent Ali Enterprises, Tazreen and Rana Plaza garment factory disasters. The report calls for the introduction and strengthening of national employment injury insurance schemes that are lacking in many garment-producing countries.
Mutual capacity development
[June 2017] Mutual capacity development is the FGG Alliance's distinct approach to capacity development, to ensure that civil society actors can speak with a loud, collective voice, have the necessary knowledge, advocacy skills and influence, and are able to undertake action freely and safely. In the latest publication, members of Fair Green and Global Alliance explained our distinct capacity development approach that can help address many of the world’s greatest problems. Whereas these problems manifest themselves most visibly and tangibly in low and lower-middle income countries, they are often rooted in global structures and systems. Therefore, solving them is not possible without global cooperation. This includes a concerted effort by strong civil society actors – located in many different places and using different types of leverage – to influence different decision-makers. Mutual capacity development ensures that civil society actors can speak with a loud, collective voice, have the necessary knowledge, advocacy skills and influence, and are able to undertake action freely and safely.
The Myanmar Dilemma. Can the garment industry deliver decent jobs for workers in Myanmar?
After years of sanctions, trade with Myanmar (formerly Burma) has started to flow. Low wages and favourable trade conditions are luring garment production from the region to this fragile democracy. Big and lesser known European brands are tempted to join in with this ‘race to the bottom’, unhindered by poor working conditions. In a report from February 2017, “The Myanmar Dilemma”, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) documents in detail how garments made in Myanmar for brands including H&M, C&A and Primark are produced for very low wages. Researchers found that long working hours and child labour are no exception in this industry. In the development of industrial zones, land rights have also been violated.
ELIMINATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AT WORK
This report from June 2016 presents the findings of a legal capacity-building project conducted during 2015-2016 to empower women garment workers in Bengalaru (Bangalore), Karnataka to challenge sexual harassment and violence at work. Sisters for Change partnered with Munnade, a local NGO working to support women garment workers with close ties to the only women-led garment worker union in Karnataka, the Garment Labour Union (GLU).
Labour on a shoestring
The realities of working in Europe’s shoe manufacturing peripheries in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia; Often consumers in Western Europe believe that “Made in Europe” is a synonym for working conditions that are better than in production countries in Asia. This report from June 2016 shows that this is not always the case, and that problematic working conditions and very low wages in particular, are occurring endemically across global supply chains worldwide. In Europe’s lowwage countries, the clothing and shoe industry is notorious for poor pay and bad conditions.
Labour on a shoestring - factsheet
Often consumers in Western Europe believe that “Made in Europe” is a synonym for working conditions that are better than in production countries in Asia. This report shows that this is not always the case, and that problematic working conditions and very low wages in particular, are occurring endemically across global supply chains worldwide. In Europe’s lowwage countries, the clothing and shoe industry is notorious for poor pay and bad conditions.
A tough story of leather
This report has been produced by Centro Nuovo Modello di Sviluppo (CNMS) and the Campagna Abiti Puliti in 2016. A Tough Story of Leather analyses the situation for workers in the Italian tanning industry. This research, which forms part of the Change your Shoes project, focuses on the so called Leather Republic: the Santa Croce District.
Did you know there's a cow in your shoe? (factsheet)
Factsheet on the leather and labour that go into your shoes produced by by Centro Nuovo Modello di Sviluppo (CNMS) and the Campagna Abiti Puliti in 2016. The research is part of the Change your Shoes project.
Advocacy for Development: Effectiveness, Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation of advocacy for development is an emerging field. Many CSOs, donors and evaluators are now involved with advocacy. Questions of how to understand and assess programmes are urgent. This e-book from 2016 seeks to contribute to practical capacity on this front on the basis of lessons learned during the largest evaluation of advocacy for development in history.
Undress corruption. How to Prevent Corruption in The Readymade Garment Sector: Scenarios from Bangladesh
This study by Transparency International from January 2016 reveals that irregularities along the entire RMG supply chain have become a de facto rule. Violations of existing labor and safety laws are being “overlooked” through bribes which is also used to hide deficiencies of quality and quantity and non-compliance with buyers’ Codes of Conduct. In this atmosphere of failing governance and accountability of stakeholders, extortion is an additional “tool” used to maximize profit.
Our Voices, Our Safety: Bangladeshi Garment Workers Speak Out.
A 100-page report published by the International Labor Rights Forum in December 2015 and based on in-depth interviews with more than 70 workers, shows that workers will not be safe without a voice at work. New interviews with Bangladeshi garment workers make clear that a climate of fear and intimidation prevails in the country’s industry, two and a half years after the Rana Plaza building collapse and the launch of the first industrial reform programs to address the pervasive fire and structural hazards in Bangladeshi garment factories.
Employment, wages and working conditions in Asia's garment sector
Finding new drivers of competitiveness. This paper by the ILO presents regional trends and national estimates of exports, employment, wages, productivity and working time in the garment, textile and footwear industries in developing Asia and the Pacific based on official trade statistics and national labour force survey data.
Made in Myanmar
In Myanmar, the garment industry is booming thanks to an upsurge in investment by international brands, but garment workers are facing tough conditions. This briefing paper from December 2015 presents the research findings of and makes recommendations for international sourcing companies and factories to help them protect garment workers’ rights.
Compensating the Victims of Rana Plaza What Role for the OECD and the National Contact Points?
Written by TUAC and OECD Watch this report from June 2014 looks at the role of the OECD and National Contact Points in ensuring compensation is received by all survivors and families of victims of the Rana Plaza Building Collapse.
Crackdown in Cambodia
The following report from March 2014 was written in response to the violent crackdown of garment workers in Phnom Penh in January 2014. It discusses the current human and labor rights crisis affecting garment workers in Cambodia; its relationship to the underlying issue of inadequate wages; the response of university licensees to the WRC’s recent communications to them on this subject; and the WRC’s recommendations for further action by licensees and other brands and retailers doing business in Cambodia.
Making Global Corporations' Labor Rights Commitments Legally Enforceable: The Bangladesh Breakthrough
One of the most distinctive attributes of the recently signed Accord on Building and Fire Safety in Bangladesh ("Accord") is that, unlike nearly all initiatives since the advent of global manufacturing to address the safety and wellbeing of supply chain workers, the agreement entails commitments by multinational enterprises that are legally enforceable. This brief document outlines the agreement’s key elements and enforcement provisions, their significance in the current debate on global labor rights, and the objections to them that have been voiced by some apparel brands and retailers. Written by the US-based Worker Rights Consortium in June 2013.
Deadly Denim - interview on Making It Magazine
The Killer Jeans Campaign, launched in November 2010, called on major brands and retailers to stop sandblasting, a method of giving jeans a worn-out look. The process can seriously damage workers’ health if performed without suitable protective equipment. Over 40 major brands and retailers have issued a ban on sandblasting but, as Dominique Muller explains in this article from September 2012, garment workers are still being asked to risk their lives for fashion.
Freedom of Association protocol - Indonesia
A historic agreement signed in 2011 regarding trade union rights in factories in Indonesia. The pact was signed by Indonesian textile, clothing and footwear unions, major supplier factories and the major sportswear brands, including Adidas, Nike and Puma.
Missed the Goal for Workers: The Reality of Soccer Ball Stitchers in Pakistan, India, China and Thailand
This report presents the key findings of the International Labor Rights Forum’s research in the four largest soccer balls producing countries: Pakistan, India, China and Thailand. This report also highlights the need to rethink the strategies being utilized by companies to encourage suppliers to adhere to strong labor standards. Written by the International Labor Rights Forum, 2010.
Bargaining for a Living Wage: A Trade Union Guide
Report from October 2008 by the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation. One of the key issues of concern to workers in our sector in all parts of the world is the level of wages they need to subsist and the hours they need to work in order to earn that wage.
Wal-Mart's Sweatshop Monitoring Fails to Catch Violations: The Story of Toys Made in China for Wal-Mart
Field research by Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) conducted in 2007 shows that Wal-Mart consistently fails to catch and stop serious labor violations in its Chinese supplier factories. Indeed, the working conditions in Wal-Mart’s Chinese supplier factories are increasingly falling below the International Labor Organization’s defined minimum standard for socially acceptable work. Interviews conducted between June 2005 and December 2006 with eighty-two workers at five Wal-Mart toy supplier factories in the industrial zones of Shenzhen and Zhuhai in Guangdong province uncovered widespread illegal and unethical labor practices that previously eluded Wal-Mart auditors.
The Life of Football Factory Workers in Thailand
While sportswear companies rake in their profits and World Cup players and fans enjoy the matches in Germany, the Thai women who put together footballs for major brands such as adidas earn so little they can do little more than buy food. Report written by the Thai Labour Campaign in 2006.
Building International Solidarity: African Asian Networking
The Africa - Asia Labour Networking Garment Workshop was held in Swaziland in May 2005. The workshop aimed to develop campaigning initiatives to improve working conditions in Eastern and Southern African garment factories. The workshop focused specifi cally on developing initiatives to address working conditions in Asian manufacturer multinationals, producing for large retailers, especially Wal-Mart. In cooperative solidarity, trade unions, shop stewards, and NGOs shared information and developed an action plan in order to improve working conditions in the region.
Asian Multinationals in Africa - Booklet 1
This is a strategy guide from 2005 designed to provide unions with information on Asian Multinationals in the global supply chain and is to be used in seeking ways combating the effects of global trade on African workers in the garment sector. It presents various tools and institutions for regulating the labour practices of these MNCs and presents some food for thought in an alternative development model for Africa’s textile and garment industry.
Organising and Campaigning: Developing Union Strategy and Capacity - Booklet 2
This second booklet from a publication series from 2005 for garment workers in Africa. This booklet is about the practice of combatting multinational producers and retailers and aimed at trade union organisers and shop stewards with some experience already. It assumes a basic working knowledge of union concepts and issues in the industry.
A story of organising - A Shopfloor Workbook - Booklet 3
This third booklet from a publication series from 2005 for garment workers in Africa. This book is created as a workbook to be used to guide discussion and education on some of the struggles that face workers in the garment sector in Africa. To do this the book uses three methods, story telling, information notes and guided discussion activities.
Experiences in Organising Garment Workers
Seminar on ‘Experiences in Organising Garment Workers’, held on January 17, 2004 during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, looked at the organising strategies employed in differnt countries, which have led to an improvement in working and living conditions of garment workers and their collective strength.
Rethinking Bilateral Investment Treaties: critical Issues and Policy Choices
This book is available in many digital formats