FEMNET NEWSLETTER No. 2/2015 - July Content: 1. Campaign work 2. Projects & collaborations 3. fundraiser 4. Further news and activities 5. FEMNET in the media 6. Tips & dates 7. Disclaimer Good day, We have finally achieved what we have been fighting for two years: The compensation fund for the victims of the Rana Plaza disaster is full! But the fact that it took so long makes it clear that voluntary responsibility is not enough. Nevertheless, in Minister Müller's textile alliance, the signs unfortunately remain on a voluntary basis. We denounce that. We have just filed a complaint against the usual auditing practices of TÜV Rheinland on behalf of the BSCI, together with other complaints. It cannot be the case that social audits do not detect massive labour rights violations and this has no legal consequences for TÜV or other audit companies. Read more about our partner organisations in Bangladesh and India. And last but not least:Please support us with your donation! Only in this way can we research, uncover and sustainably stand up for our concern: Human and labour rights of women and girls in textile production worldwide. We wish everyone a relaxing summer! The team of FEMNET e.V. 1. Campaign work FEMNET supports complaint about TÜV Rheinland test report in Bangladesh. More Show than Safety: Certificates in the textile industry Certificates on safety and working conditions in the textile industry serve the image of companies, but they are hardly used by workers in global production and supply chains. This is exemplified by the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Dhaka, where more than 1,130 people died. A few months before the disaster, TÜV Rheinland examined Phantom Apparel Ltd's production facility there. The German certification company did not criticise the building security documents and did not reveal some other shortcomings in its report. Read more... Compensation for the victims: Success of the Rana Plaza campaign! After two years of campaign work, the compensation fund for the victims and survivors of the Rana Plaza disaster is filled. Since the factory collapse in April 2013, FEMNET, together with the campaign for clean clothing, has called on producers and buyers to contribute a share of the total target amount of 30 million euros. It was not until June 2015 that this was finally achieved. More than one million consumers took part in the actions. Thanks to them, those companies had to take responsibility for having clothes made in one of the five collapsed factories of the Rana Plaza high-rise despite the dilapidated state of the building. Read more... Many companies joined: What about the Textile Alliance? Only after tough negotiations did several companies join the textile alliance in June of this year. They had refused to do so when the alliance was founded in October 2014. The action plan they helped develop was too demanding for them at the time, while other companies such as Hessnatur and Vaude joined immediately. FEMNET is also involved in the development of the action plan from the outset and is represented in the interim steering committee. But what ultimately led companies to join? Read more... Gisela Burckhardt causes a stir at Hugo Boss's shareholders' meeting Stuttgart on 12.05.15. Photo:© FEMNET e.V. During her research in Bangladesh for her book ‘Todschick’, Gisela Burckhardt, CEO of FEMNET, also examined working conditions at two Hugo Boss suppliers. While the company adorns itself with fair production standards, the reality among suppliers is different: Overtime, dilapidated factories and no unions. At the shareholders' meeting, Burckhardt had first submitted a motion for non-exoneration of the board of directors and then presented her accusations. The speech received a lot of attention from other shareholders and the press. The internationally renowned Business & Human Rights platform invited Hugo Boss to comment on Burckhardt’s allegations and also gave her the opportunity to respond (see press review). Read more... 2. Projects & collaborations Reports from our partners from Bangladesh and India Amirul Haque Amin. Photo: © G. Burckhardt The President and co-founder of our NGWF partner organisation, Amirul Haque Amin, will receive the 2015 Nuremberg International Human Rights Award in September. This year, for the first time, the award honors an activist who stands up for social and economic human rights. Read more... Maidemo 2015 in Bangalore. Photo: © GLU On the occasion of this year’s May Day, FEMNET’s Garment Labour Union (GLU) partner organisation organised a demonstration followed by a rally bringing together over 600 textile workers from 20 factories in Bangalore. The GLU called for a three-point referendum on the current working conditions:The existing labour law must be abolished immediately.2. the government should introduce a benchmark that ensures fair wages for all textile workers 3. the textile industry needs to step up its efforts to create a work environment free of harassment and harassment put in place. Read more... Cividep survey of women. Photo: © Cividep We recently reported about our kindergarten project with our partner Cividep in Bangalore. Now, Cividep conducted a survey of working mothers in production plants to examine whether and how well their children are cared for in the factories. According to the law, every factory in India is obliged to ensure adequate childcare for its employees. On 29 May 2015, Cividep invited numerous factory managers as well as representatives of purchasing companies such as H&M, C&A, s.oliver to a workshop on ‘Early Childhood Care in Bangalore’s Garment Industry’ in order to jointly find solutions for good childcare. C&A did not appear. (PDF file) Early Childhood Care in Bangalore’s Garment Industry - A Multi-Stakeholder Consultation Read more... Our educational project FairSchnitt Exhibition of Strong Women The exhibition ‘I make your clothes! The strong women from South East Asia’ looks back on a successful six months. Since the beginning of 2015, it has been visited at seven different venues, including fair trade fairs and consumer-critical events. It impressively shows that women in textile production are not only passive victims, but that they have a voice and fight for their rights. Until the end of this year, the exhibition will be on display at the Fair Trade & Friends trade fair in Dortmund from 28 to 30 August, at the A&A in Düsseldorf at the end of October and during the Fair Weeks at the Museum Tuch & Technik in Neumünster and in Karlsruhe. FEMNET e.V. is pleased about the high demand and would like to thank all interested parties. The exhibition can also be borrowed next year. Further information about the exhibition can be found on our website: http://www.femnet-ev.de/starkefrauen , mobile: 0176-2339 3147.exhibition@femnet‐ev.de‐Please send your enquiries to Julia Bühler, ev.de Participants of the Multi-training in April 2015. Photo:© FEMNET e.V. We are proud of theseThe first meeting of the multipliers this year took place on 10 and 11 April 2015 as part of FEMNET's FairSchnitt project in bright sunshine. On the two training days, two modules were tested and four new multipliers took part. In total, we have now developed 12 modules in three years and passed on the content in training courses to competent multipliers. ! balance Read more... 3. fundraiser A large part of our work can only be realized with the help of donations: Our campaigns, our research and analysis to uncover grievances in production, our commitment to women's rights on the ground together with our partners, our intense efforts to put pressure on politics and businesses to finally anchor workers' rights. Thank you for your support! Hannes Jaenicke. Photo: © Carsten SanderHannes Jaenicke “The fashion industry and we, as its willing customers, are responsible for ensuring that women and girls live and work in producing countries as they did in the darkest times of slavery. FEMNET clarifies, exerts political pressure in the manufacturing countries as well as on the multi-billion-dollar textile companies and supports the textile workers on the ground. We should promote and support the work of FEMNET! “Our bank detailsGLS Community Bank eGBank code: 43060967Account: 300800800 IBAN: DE93 4306 0967 0300 800 800 BIC: GENODEM1GLS Do you want to get involved? You can also donate online! ! Become an active member or sponsoring member of FEMNET e.V. 4. Further news and activities Numerous lectures on fair clothing and Rana Plaza Stammtisch in Bonn organizes protest action in front of Benetton Participants of the action on Around 40 FEMNET activists presented an ‘alternative fashion show’ in front of the Benetton branch in Friedensplatz on 23 April 2015 in Bonn to draw attention to the fact that the company refused to pay into the compensation fund for the victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse for almost two years. It was only at the last second that Benetton deposited EUR 1.1 million – a negligible sum given the company’s profits. The event was organized by the FEMNET Stammtisch in Bonn, which also participated in a dress exchange party of the Greenpeace Youth. the Bonn Peace Square.Photo © FEMNET e.V. Our regulars' table in Berlin is also very active: Some members went together to Hamburg to visit the to visit. Read more... FEMNET grows and moves Photo: © RainerSturm pixelio.de In order to make our content work in the campaigns, in multistakeholder initiatives or with our partners in India and Bangladesh as intensive as before, we have now been strengthened by an administrative management and a public relations specialist for the FairSchnitt project. In addition, FEMNET moves: On September 1, FEMNET's office will move into new, larger rooms. The new address is: 5. FEMNET in the mediaFEMNET e.V., Kaiser-Friedrich-Str. 11, 53113 Bonn. Our intensive publicity and education work on social working conditions in textile production is bearing fruit. Here is a selection of our articles and press releases on our activities as well as other topics and events that were published in various media in the second quarter of 2015. A further, up-to-date overview of the reporting can also be found on the . FEMNET homepage 02.07.2015: Digital development debates Better brands, better production? In25.06.2015: Lecture at the City of Dinslaken "Fashion and morality - why expensive does not equal FAIR" Report in the Rheinische Post 21.06.2015: Lecture in Vienna at the Kreisky Forum: “Death chick. Noble labels, cheap fashion - inhumanely produced.” 17.06.2015: Business and Human Rights Resource Center: Working conditions in Bangladesh: Hugo Boss comments on allegations of exploitative work in supplier factories 30.05.2015: German Sustainability Action Days: 30.05.- 09.06.2015: 12.05.2015: Travelling exhibition ‘I make your clothes’ – Travelling exhibition by Femnet e.V. Stuttgarter newspaper: Gisela Burckhardt's appearance at the Hugo Boss Shareholders' Meeting ‘Luxury fashion manufacturer from Metzingen – Hugo Boss vehemently denies exploitation.’ 29.04.2015: MDR - Guests for coffee: Gisela Burckhardt – Women’s rights activist 26.04.2015: SR2- Online: Interview with Gisela Burckhardt on her book ‘Todschick’ on SR2 Kulturradio 24.04.2015: Bonner Generalanzeiger: ‘Shopping tour with a clear conscience’ 23.04.2015: Deutschlandfunk: "Two years after Rana Plaza: cheap is by no means fair" 29.03.2015: ARD Europamagazin: EU: What the EU is doing to tackle disastrous working conditions 06.03.2015: Caspar Dohmen in Süddeutsche Zeitung: "Losers in series" 6. Tips & dates Our tip: Fast Fashion - The exhibition in Hamburg In the wonderful Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg there is currently an exhibition, which is almost a mandatory date for everyone interested in the topic. But even people who have not yet dealt with the topic get an interesting and comprehensive insight. The exhibition sheds light on the economic, social and ecological exploitation behind the principle of "fast fashion". It is interestingly curated and comes from multimedia. Right at the entrance, a video of the animal welfare organization PETA shows the brutal practice in which angora rabbits are plucked out of their fur. Other films describe the inhumane production conditions in Asia or report on women sorting the mountains of clothes that we have thrown away. Shopping hauls focus on the fast-paced fashion seasons. A photographer has critically staged models based on the model of an H&M ad. A sweater is printed on the newspaper pictures of the collapsed factory building in Bangladesh. In between, there is graphically well-prepared information on the ecologically and health-problematic effects of various chemicals or on the gap between the statutory minimum wage and the subsistence wage in Asian and Eastern European countries. In a second exhibition area, so-called slow fashion approaches are presented, such as recycling fashion or alternative materials such as milk fibres or salmon leather. This area is located a bit off the beaten track and unfortunately comes across a bit less professionally designed in my opinion.In any case, an exhibition worth seeing, which runs until October 26, 2015.For more information: http://www.fastfashion-dieausstellung.de/de/ http://www.mkg-hamburg.de/de/ausstellungen/aktuell/fast-fashion.htmlhttp://www.stilbrise.de/7. DisclaimerFEMNET e.V.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Economy and Society 53229 Bonn This 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, Andrea Lindner, Franziska Gorgas, Christiane Kühnrich back
