Social Auditing and Ethical Certification Persistent problems have been documented in the effectiveness of social auditing and ethical certification schemes when it comes to preventing, detecting and addressing forced labour. In recent years, the social compliance industry has awoken to these limitations and there is growing discussion of the need to improve forced labour detection and remediation systems. To date, reform efforts have centred around improving ethical certification standards and audit methodologies on paper, but there is little evidence that incremental improvements are leading to meaningful change on the ground. Mehr Details
Whoever Raises their Head Suffers the Most - Worker’s Rights in Bangladesh’s Garment Factories This 78-page report is based on interviews with more than 160 workers from 44 factories, most of them making garments for retail companies in North America, Europe, and Australia. Workers report violations including physical assault, verbal abuse – sometimes of a sexual nature – forced overtime, denial of paid maternity leave, and failure to pay wages and bonuses on time or in full. Despite recent labor law reforms, many workers who try to form union to address such abuses face threats, intimidation, dismissal, and sometimes physical assault at the hands of factory management or hired third parties. Mehr Details
Country profile: Slovakia The country profile provides basic information on the clothing and footwear industry and wage situation in Slovakia. In terms of wages, average wages, minimum wages and subsistence wages are discussed. The country profile shows wage-related labour and human rights violations and formulates demands on brands and retailers. It summarizes the results of an on-site investigation and statements from interviews with workers and gives case studies.The country profile is linked to the study ‘Abandoned: Women workers’ poverty wages in garment factories in Eastern Europe and Turkey’ Mehr Details
Feasibility of servitization: Transforming fashion value chains to circularity through service innovation Servitization is a growing phenomenon to improve resource efficiency, leading to positive effects for the environmental and for society. Product service systems are one of the most effective instruments to attain a resource-efficient circular economy.This report demonstrates an economic feasibility assessment, by specifying two examples of servitization for circularity in the apparel and fashion industry, and outlining potential business models, along with prospects for future research. Mehr Details
Breaking point: Wage theft, violence and excessive workloads are pushing garment workers to breaking point during the pandemic This research provides a snapshot of how workers in Nike, Primark, and H&M’s supply chains have been impacted during the pandemic in terms of their wages, working conditions, and labour rights. The research links the struggles of workers in Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia directly to the wealthy brands who have profited from their labour. When reports provide a generalised overview of the industry, brands often deny that reported violations occur within their own supply chains, defending their business models with unsubstantiated claims. While this report takes a deeper dive into three brands’ supply chains, we recognise that many other garment brands have similar violations in their supply chains. Mehr Details
