FEMNET NEWSLETTER No. 4/2018 - September Content: Political & campaigns News from our partner organisations Education & consulting Tips & dates Support FEMNET Disclaimer Dear friends of FEMNET, Our commitment to the rights of textile workers must not diminish, as the developments of recent months clearly show. The Accord agreement brings improvements in building safety in Bangladesh and must therefore not expire. Unfortunately, the minimum wage there remains far too low, we protest against it. H&M does not keep its promise to pay its seamstresses fair wages. We support the Clean Clothes Campaign. We wish you a good read! The FEMNET team Your signature for better childcare in textile factories: weact.campact.de/p/werpasstauf Political & campaigns Your voice for women's rights in fashion Cividep talking to seamstresses in front of a factory. Photo: © CIVIDEP With your support, we can win a prize money of 10,000 € for our women's rights work in Asia. FEMNET has been nominated for Schwarzkopf's Million Chances Award. Please support our application for public voting! With just one click (with prior registration) you can vote until October 7 for our application "We bring women's rights into fashion". Please note: There may be technical problems with the Firefox browser, so it is better to use an alternative such as Chrome or Safari for voting. Minister Müller wants the Green Button – what clothes will he get? The CCC takes a stand on the concept of the Green Button.Photo: © Campaign for Clean Clothes The Green Button (GK) is a state metaseal awarded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). At first, it will only refer to the stage of assembly. FEMNET and the campaign for clean clothing point to numerous weaknesses of such a seal and formulated in a letter to the BMZ requirements that such a seal must meet in order to be credible. The complete statement can be found online. Textile alliance: Companies have published roadmaps – what does it say? Each member of the Textile Alliance had to draw up a roadmap and publish it for the first time this year. Gisela Burckhardt is positive that a first important step has been taken in the textile alliance with the binding targets and the mandatory publication of the roadmaps. However, it criticises the lack of transparency in the presentation (no evidence) and the purely formal examination. So far, the roadmaps provide only limited information on how much companies are committed to human rights in their supply chains. The analysis of the roadmaps can be found here Workers in H&M supply chains receive starvation wages CCC campaign calls for livelihood wages for H&M seamstresses Research reveals that many workers live below the poverty line in H&M’s flagship supply factories, despite H&M’s promise of living wages for 2018. Under the slogan #TurnAroundHM, actions for the CCC campaign take place worldwide. In the press release of 25.09.2018 you will find all the background information. News from our partner organisations Bangladeshi Government Sets Outrageously Low Minimum Wage of €80 The trade union NGWF demands a minimum wage of 160,- EUR. Photo: © NGWF There has been no wage increase for five years. The government has now increased the minimum wage from 5,300 Taka (€54) to 8,000 Taka (€80). This is far from enough just to absorb the increased costs of recent years, let alone to achieve a real wage increase. The unions demand 16,000 Taka (160,-€). Here you can read how this decision was made. German companies support call for extension of fire protection agreement Members of the Textile Alliance, as well as companies that have signed the Bangladesh Accord, are writing a joint letter with the Clean Clothes Campaign to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh regarding the extension of the Accord for at least 6 months. This extension is strongly questioned by the Bangladesh Business Association, although an agreement was reached between all parties in October 2017. You can read the writing online. Education & consulting Evaluation of FEMNET educational work at universities Find out what the speakers themselves think of the educational project in the video! From August 2017 to January 2018, Dr. Hildegard Scheu, Avigato Consulting, in collaboration with Kristin Herold, intern at FEMNET, Evaluation of educational work carried out at universities. We thank both women for their commitment and the valuable recommendations that can be derived for our work. Our nationwide Network of speakers includes around 20 experts from various fields of practice. By the way: Our Material database We are constantly updating, it contains an extensive repertoire of publications. Tips & dates 09.10.2018: FairQuatschen - the open FEMNET meeting in Bonn 13.11.2018: ‘Stop the sale’ event with activists Kalpona Akter (BCWS, Bangladesh) and Khin Nilar Soe (YRIWU, Myanmar) at VHS Bonn 13.11.2018: Public lecture by activists Viyakula Mary (SAVE, India) and Deepika Rao (Cividep, India) at EinWeltHaus Munich The two women also speak on 9 November in Leipzig and on 12 November in Augsburg. Place and time will be announced on the homepage. 15.-16.11.2018: FEMNET Conference 2018: "SEWlutions for the future of the garment industry? Human rights and machinery" - Programme and registration of the conference 15.11.2018: Award ceremony for the university competition ‘Let’s Change The Fashion System’ Support FEMNET Our work convinces you? We look forward to your support! Disclaimer FEMNETKaiser-Friedrich-Str. 1153113 BonnThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Tel. 0228 18038116 Board of Directors: Dr. Gisela Burckhardt, Vanessa Püllen, Susanne Kupka, Britta Amorinn, Christine Pflüger Editorial team: Katharina Edinger and Dr. Gisela BurckhardtResponsible within the meaning of § 5 TMG: Dr. Gisela Burckhardt Disclaimer: Despite careful content control, we assume no liability. File number VR 9568B at the District Court of Bonn. back
