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12.09.2022: News from KW 36

Studies and Co.

Defend our health "The problem with plastic: How Polyester and PET Plastic Can be Unsafe, Unjust, and Unsustainable Materials" (PDF): Defend our health Investigated 20 popular drinks packed in plastic bottles and found the carcinogenic plastic chemical antimony in every single bottle. This liver- and heart-damaging additive is used to accelerate the final reaction in the production of PET plastic for bottles and other packaging, as well as polyester for clothing and stuffed animals. Clothing and textiles can decompose over time, allowing microplastics and antimony to be released into our homes, deposited in dust, and entering our bodies when we breathe, eat, and touch things around us.

ILO "World Social Protection Report 2020-22" (PDF): The report provides a global overview of recent developments in social protection systems. Despite the unprecedented global expansion of social protection during the COVID-19 crisis, the ILO According to more than 4 billion people worldwide, social protection continues to be completely unprotected (social protection includes access to health care and income security, in particular with regard to age, unemployment, illness, disability, accidents at work, maternity or loss of the main income recipient, as well as for families with children). Currently, only 47% of the world's population is actually covered by at least one social protection benefit, while 4.1 billion people (53%) do not receive any income security at all through their national social protection system. There are significant regional inequalities in social protection. Europe and Central Asia have the highest coverage rates, with 84% of people covered by at least one benefit. At 64.3%, the American continent is also above the global average. There are significant supply gaps in Asia and the Pacific (44%), the Arab states (40%) and Africa (17.4%). According to the "Regional Companion Report for Asia and the PacificIn Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, only 28.4% and 36.4% of workers are covered by at least one social protection system. India spends less than 5% of its GDP on social protection, so the amounts transferred under non-contributory benefits are usually too low to provide adequate protection. The report notes that three out of four workers in the Asia-Pacific region are not protected in the event of an illness or accident at work.

News

Living wages: The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) continues its 13-year tradition and publishes new and revised figures for living wages in Asian garment production countries. Nearly 20 trade unions from seven partner countries of the AFWA in Asia were convened to review the results and vote on the final living wage. Thus, more than 1600 textile workers from over 200 factories were surveyed. With verbena survey: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; without consumption survey: China, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

EU Supply Chain Act: After a meeting of the Federal Cabinet, Federal Minister of Labour Hubertus Heil Last week, she said that Federal Government supports the EU Commission's proposal in negotiations for an EU supply chain law. salvation stated that the German Supply Chain Act had already improved the possibilities for those affected by human rights violations to be able to sue their rights by allowing non-governmental organisations and trade unions to go to German courts on their behalf. The planned EU law would go one step further and also allow for claims for damages under German law. The EU-wide campaign was also launched on 06.09.22. Justice is Everybody's Business, where more than 100 NGOs with 10 concrete demands are campaigning for a strong supply chain law at EU level. More than 60,000 people support the appeal.

transparency: France could soon adopt a regulation requiring every garment sold in the country to bear a label stating the exact impact on the climate. The French Agency for the Ecological Transition (AdemeBased on 500 real garments, 11 proposals are currently being tested on how data can be collected and compared - and what the resulting label could look like for consumers. The European Union consider a similar arrangement for its other members.

Countries of production

Pakistan: On Sunday, September 11th, the fire Ali EnterprisesMore than 250 people died, for the tenth time. Since there is still no binding agreement between the garment brands and the trade unions to protect workers, Pakistani garment and textile workers still live in exactly the same uncertain conditions today. A new report of Clean clothes campaign "Deadly Safety Hazards in Factories Supplying Major International Brands Show an Immediate Need for ACCORD Expansion to Pakistan" (PDF) reveals the Attempts by brands such as H&M, C&A, bestseller and Zaradelaying the extension of the International Agreement on Health and Safety in the Textile and Clothing Industry (ACCORD).

Bangladesh: At the end of June, the Government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with employers, trade unions, the ILO, Germany and the Netherlands, groundbreaking pilot project for the country's first occupational accident insurance scheme for garment workers successfully on the way. This pilot project has been carried out by the ILO since 2015. This pilot programme is the result of almost ten years of work and considerable pressure from Bangladeshi trade unions and civil society organisations, which have been forced by the clean Clothes Campaignbe supported. To show the long history of the EII pilot program, the Clean clothes campaign one Timeline The process is put together.