Femnet e.V.

This report highlights a major step backwards by global fashion brands and their suppliers in ensuring the fundamental and facilitating rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mehr Details

The publication addresses the circumstances of the modern form of slavery in spinning mills in Tamil Nadu, India, which has so far been discussed under the heading of Sumangali, now referred to as modern slavery or camp work.
It focuses on the following three areas:
How do the nature and structure of the textile and clothing industry, together with government funding, influence workers' wages and working conditions at the beginning of the global supply chain?
What are the textile industry, government and civil society doing to improve the working and living conditions of workers engaged in modern slavery?
How can a better balance be achieved between economic growth and the rights of workers in the textile and clothing industry?
These points are dealt with in four chapters with the aim of finding opportunities for change that take into account local, cultural and socio-political circumstances. The study provides an overview of Tamil Nadu’s textile industry, the working conditions there, the proposals, the measures taken by the government, including the non-actions, and finally the responses from civil society.

Editorial team: Burckhardt, Dr., Gisela; Hergt, Johanna; Fischbeck

Mehr Details

H&M operates in 61 markets with 3,900 stores; works with 900 suppliers construct 1,900 factories; And employs more than 116,000 employees across their global production network. H&M saw sales rise globally in 2015 and plans to open 425 new stores in 2016. Brands like H&M wield the potential to transform working conditions through their supply chains. Recognizing their responsibility to uphold human rights at work, H&M has set itself apart from other brands by committing to ensure fair living wages, safe workplaces and accountability for rights violations within their supply chains.
[...] this report revisits the status of H&M’s commitments to decent work through the lens of rights at work as they are protected under International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and other instruments.
Shedding light on gaps in implementation of H&M commitments, violations of international labour standards and challenges H&M may face in upholding commitments to decent work, this report contributes new research collected through interviews with 251 workers in Cambodia and India engaged in H&M supply chains. These recent findings, collected between August and October 2015, are located in context of both previous studies on H&M supply chains in Cambodia and India and the broader context of the global production network.

Mehr Details

In reviews on health protection and occupational safety for workers in the textile and footwear industries, gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) is rarely given the attention it deserves. However, a recent study by TURC in Indonesia (2023) and CIVIDEP in India (2023) reveals that GBVH has significant impacts on the physical and mental health of workers. But what can be done about it? The policy paper “Zero Tolerance in Fashion” provides deeper insights into the connection between GBVH and workplace safety and health protections.

Mehr Details

Cividep’s report and documentary shed light on the lives of 184 women garment workers in KarnatakaRevealing exploitation through low wages, harassment, and unpaid domestic labor extending their workday to 16 hours. The documentary captures their personal stories of hardship, poverty cycles, and how social reproduction subsidizes capitalist profits. Both, the movie and the study call for integrated action between labor and women’s movements to challenge systemic inequities.

Mehr Details