Femnet e.V.

Unworthy working conditions for workers in the textile industry are fundamentally a problem that affects people regardless of their gender. Nevertheless, there are gender-specific disadvantages for women, which lead to the fact that they often work under exploitative conditions in the various production facilities along the textile chain. Due to the widespread hierarchies in the production facilities, many women, in addition to verbal violence by superiors, also experience physical violence again and again. This ranges from extensive body searches to sexual abuse. In order to improve the protection of workers against sexual harassment, an ILO convention against gender-based violence in the workplace would be necessary.

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Tamil Nadu is the center of yarn production, in this region there are about 2,000 spinning mills. Tamil Nadu’s textile industry is often characterised by violations of workers’ fundamental rights along the entire supply chain. For foreign producers and brand companies, it is particularly difficult to influence the lower stages of production, such as spinning mills. There is usually little transparency and there are major challenges in terms of social standards and working conditions: Exploitation through flat-rate contracts, wages below the official minimum wage, excessive overtime, repression of trade unions, lack of freedom of association and gender-based violence pose dangers to local workers. In most cases, there is no lack of relevant laws and regulations, but rather of compliance and enforcement. In addition, the lack of knowledge of workers about their rights and the lack of awareness of violations on the part of management prove to be a problem. The aim of the alliance initiative is the systemic improvement of working conditions in the textile and clothing industry in Tamil Nadu, South India.

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The global garment and footwear industry settings heavily on the work of women, who represent up to 80% of its global workforce. The current living wage debate presents both opportunities and risks for the millions of women workers in this industry. A living wage is a central enabling human right: As such, it is a powerful tool not only to improve the working situation of women workers but also to create an environment in which they can realize their full capabilities. However, if the benchmark for a living wage is set too low, it risks cementing their current situation, in which they face poverty-related gender-specific consequences and multiple burdens of work, including care work, and the challenges arising from income poverty, such as the need to work overtime, engage in multiple jobs, or search for the cheapest food, all of which result in absolute time poverty. This paper therefore argues that it is imperative to adopt a gender-sensitive approach in the living wage discourse, and to look at the implications that such an approach has on the methodology of calculating a living wage and on the measures to implement it.

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Scientists from Ulm University and Reutlingen University of Applied Sciences are researching and working for a turnaround in the textile industry. The ‘Dietenheim Attracts’ project aims at the sustainability-oriented revitalisation of the textile city of Dietenheim in southern Germany through different approaches. Furthermore, a local, sustainable transformation of the textile value chain will be focused. In cooperation with companies and stakeholders in the local textile industry, the entire textile value chain is tried to be experienced regionally and transparently for the customer. The focus here is on the presentation of ideas, innovative concepts and business models of sustainable textile production and more conscious textile consumption. However, the project not only aims to appeal to producers, but also to encourage consumers to rethink their thinking. Through various participation opportunities, end-users are integrated into the design process, for example, and taught to repair or design purchased textiles themselves. The aim is to create a deeper understanding of the quality, time and appreciation of the garment and local production. From November 2015 to January 2016, a survey of all residents took place in Dietenheim on the subject of the real-world laboratory ‘Sustainable transformation of the textile industry at the Dietenheim site’. The results of this survey on how to deal with clothing and past habits in textile consumption are reported in the study.

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People and the environment around the world repeatedly suffer from poisons that have their origins in the leather industry. Workers get sick, the environment gets polluted, and people living near tanneries feed on toxic water and food that enters the food chain through polluted soils and rivers. And even with those who buy the leather shoes at the end, toxic residues can cause skin diseases.
This leaflet gives an insight into leather production, especially the tanning process and its consequences for humans and the environment. The focus is on chrome tanning, as the majority of leather today is tanned with chrome.

Editorial team: Bullerdieck, Lena

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