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Joint press release by FEMNET e.V. and Public Eye

Zurich/Lausanne, Bonn. FEMNET and Public Eye have jointly analyzed the reporting of fashion companies whose products are certified with the "Green Button" of the German Ministry of Development. The sobering result one year after the start of the Green Button: Public reporting by many companies is inadequate. Standard and testing process have shortcomings, so that the Green Button does not deliver in practice, which many of them promise: Clothes and textiles produced without exploitation or pollution. Sealers and seal holders urgently need to improve.

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Before the FEMNET team enters the company holidays (21.12. – 02.01.), let us look back once again at a year that will echo for a long time to come.

‘2020 will be a great year ...’, with this expectant outlook we said goodbye to the Christmas and New Year’s Eve break exactly one year ago.

In retrospect, the year actually appears overwhelmingBut in a sense that no one expected. The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot. Plans became obsolete, projects stopped, changes needed.

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© Anne Bienias

Since the beginning of the corona crisis, textile workers around the world have been protesting for the continued payment of their wages and for the preservation of their jobs. The loss of wages, even for goods already manufactured, is immense. Many companies evade their responsibility towards textile workers because they do not have to fear consequences. However, the international protests are also achieving their first successes.

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© Sina Marx ⁇ FEMNET, Dhaka 2019

November 25th is Women's Violence Day. Convention 190 against Violence and Harassment in the Workplace was adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in June 2019. However, despite the support of many countries, it has not yet been ratified in the EU. Individual states reject the agreement. FEMNET and the Clean Clothes Campaign CCC) now publishes a Position paperThat shows the urgency.

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Since the beginning of the crisis, this has combined the risk of COVID-19 infection with the exacerbated risk of extreme economic hardship for workers. In addition, since the beginning of the crisis, trade unions have been increasingly exposed to discrimination. In view of the economic crisis, some manufacturing countries, in particular India and Indonesia, are relying on lowering the standards of protection in their labour laws.

The “Synthesis report: impact of COVID-19 on the textile industry” (PDF file) compiles concrete options for action and best practices based on a systematic analysis of existing reports. The recovery options show how companies can avoid or at least mitigate negative effects of the COVID-19 crisis on workers in the supply chain and thus comply with human rights due diligence obligations.

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How can sustainability criteria be specifically anchored in procurement procedures? For this purpose, a Germany-wide specialist audience discussed at the online networking & training meeting on 23 and 24 October 2020.

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© FEMNET

It is not only in this country that the economy and society fear the consequences of the partial lockdown. In Bangladesh, there is growing concern among textile suppliers.
Factory owners of the country, which is considered the second largest manufacturer of clothing in the world, choose strong words to express their desperation. It was a catastrophe, he said. Fashion network the supplier Siddiqur Rahman, which produces for the fashion giants H&M and GAP, among others. European customers, who have been under pressure since spring, demanded price reductions of up to 15%. The hope of being able to count on rising orders again in the second half of the year and with a view to the Christmas business has broken down.

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