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On a tour of Germany, two activists from Bangladesh have opened their eyes to people about the labour and human rights violations in their country's textile industry. They have shown consumers in Germany what the fight for better labour rights means for trade unionists and activists in Bangladesh: In view of the threat of harassment, insult, dismissal, imprisonment and use of force, it takes a lot of courage. Kalpona Akter and Mim Akter prove this courage day by day through their work. Here's the video of your trip.

 

 

 

Control group of the Textile Alliance at the Klausurtagung on 23.11.2017. Photo: © Covenant of TextilesControl group of the Textile Alliance at the Klausurtagung on 23.11.2017. Photo: © Textile allianceThe Textile Alliance has been in existence for three years now, but it was only since June 2015 that the textile (trade) companies joined the alliance. Today, around 90 companies are members, responsible for around half of textile sales in Germany. In addition, the Federal Government, under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), around 20 NGOs, standard organisations such as GOTS and Fairtrade and trade unions are active differently in the alliance depending on the organisation.

The year 2017 marks the end of an intensive test phase in the Textile Alliance: All members had to create individual action plans (roadmaps) for 2017. These action plans were thoroughly examined to see whether they were in line with the Alliance's self-imposed objectives and constituted progress for the respective member. Finally, at the end of November, the Steering Committee of the Textile Alliance adopted binding time and quantity targets for the years 2018 to 2020, which each member must work on. So a lot has happened in the Textile Alliance – and yet important decisions are still to be made in 2018.

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© Sina Marx/FEMNET

In November 2017, Sina Marx, responsible for the Solidarity Fund at FEMNET, visited the FEMNET partner organisations Cividep and Munnade in South India. Together with Cividep, she looked at childcare in clothing factories in Bangalore. As part of a joint project, FEMNET and Cividep have been committed to improving childcare in the supplier factories of large brand companies since 2015. Campaign #WhoFits? This is also strong in Germany.

Together with the FEMNET-backed non-governmental organisation Munnade and the Garment Labour Union (GLU), she visited seamstresses at home. Here she talks about her experiences.

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Today, four years ago, on November 25, 2013, the fashion group H&M made a landmark announcement. By 2018, the approximately 850,000 seamstresses producing for the company are to receive a living wage. In Bangladesh, seamstresses in H&M supplier factories currently earn around $87 per month. This average income is just below the poverty line of $88 per month calculated by the World Bank.

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Mim Akter (left) and Kalpona Akter report on the struggle for survival in the Bangladeshi clothing industry. Photo: © FEMNETMim Akter (left) and Kalpona Akter report on the struggle for survival in the Bangladeshi clothing industry. Photo: © FEMNETBangladeshi activists report on the daily struggle for better working conditions in the garment industry

Wages in Bangladesh's apparel industry are among the lowest in the world. Working conditions have not improved significantly since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in April 2013, with over 1,100 dead and 2,500 injured. However, the Accord building and fire protection agreement has increased the safety of workers before a collapse or fire. But this does not mean that women's discrimination, massive overtime and trade union persecution have disappeared. When thousands of workers went on strike for a higher minimum wage in December 2016 in the Ashulia textile region of Bangladesh, factory owners and the government relentlessly beat back to intimidate workers and trade unions. 600 workers and trade unionists were charged, 1500 were simply fired, dozens were imprisoned.

Almost a year after the brutal suppression of the protests, Kalpona Akter and Mim Akter are in Germany at the invitation of FEMNET e.V. and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation to report on the struggle for better working conditions and fairer pay. During public events and lectures in front of students, at symposia, discussion rounds and press conferences, the two emphasized international solidarity as essential support for their struggle.

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Spinning mill in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Photo: © Gisela BurckhardtSpinning mill in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Photo: © Gisela Burckhardt, FEMNETPress release of the Clean Clothes Campaign

For 2017, the members of the Textile Alliance had to set targets for the implementation of environmental and social standards in their supply chains for the first time in so-called roadmaps. The publication of these roadmaps is still voluntary this year, but mandatory from 2018. The first roadmap process was therefore still in the ‘trial run’ this year and thus a challenge. Contrary to civil society expectations, only a few member companies published their roadmap in 2017. In total, this was 19 out of 87 reporting member companies, i.e. around 22 percent.

All the more, civil society in the Textile Alliance welcomes the fact that a total of 40 members (including the Federal Government, two trade unions, 12 NGOs, 4 standard organisations, 2 associations and 19 companies) have already published their roadmap this year.

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Poster FEMNET Rundreise2017Berlin – Hanover – Bonn – Cologne – Düsseldorf – Mönchengladbach

Wages in Bangladesh's apparel industry are among the lowest in the world. Working conditions are catastrophic and accidents continue to occur with many dead and injured, such as the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, when more than 1,100 workers died.

When thousands of workers went on strike for a higher minimum wage in December 2016 in the Ashulia textile region of Bangladesh, factory owners and the government relentlessly beat back to intimidate workers and trade unions. 600 workers and trade unionists were charged, 1600 were fired, 26 were imprisoned.

FEMNET e.V., together with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, is organising an event tour from 17 to 27 October 2017.

Almost a year after the brutal crackdown on the protests, Bangladeshi activists report on the fight for better working conditions and fairer pay.

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NGWF demonstration in July 2017

July was turbulent at FEMNET's partner organization in Bangladesh, the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF): On 22 July 2017, the union celebrated its 34th anniversary. On this occasion, members and guests reviewed the achievements of the trade union and the developments in the Bangladeshi clothing industry over the past three decades.

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FEMNET Roadmap for the Textile AllianceAs a member of the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles, FEMNET has published a catalogue of measures (Roadmap). For 2017, Alliance members have undertaken more than 1,500 measures that will lead to concrete improvements within the framework of the goals set by the Alliance. They relate to topics such as living wages, combating child labour, avoiding chemicals harmful to health or sustainable water use in cotton cultivation.

Photo: © FEMNETPhoto: © FEMNETCivil society press release in the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles

This summer, according to civil society members, the Textile Alliance is in a crucial phase: How many roadmaps (Members’ annual action plans to implement social and environmental objectives) will the plausibility check pass successfully? How many members of the Textile Alliance will publish their roadmap? What level of ambition will these roadmaps have? Will the Alliance agree on binding content requirements for the roadmaps of the coming years, such as steps towards the implementation of living wages?

All members of the Textile Alliance had to create a roadmap for 2017 for the first time and subject it to an external plausibility check by an independent service provider. Many companies have not complied with this obligation and have been excluded from the alliance or have previously resigned. Among the top-selling and publicly known companies that have left the alliance are Engbers, Ernsting's Family, Real, Trigema and Walbusch.

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Fire protection equipment. Photo: copy; Pieter van de BoogertFire protection equipment. Photo: © Pieter van de Boogert Berlin. In the Multifabs Ltd. factory in Bangladesh, a heating boiler exploded on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. At least 10 people were killed and many more injured. The explosion was so violent that parts of the factory collapsed. The factory is part of the Accord for Fire and Building Safety. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) therefore calls on the companies involved in the Accord to include the safety testing of heating boilers immediately in the safety inspections of the factories.

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Munnade/GLU Demonstration on 01.05.2017. Photo: © MunnadeMunnade/GLU Demonstration on 01.05.2017.
Photo: © MunnadeIn 2017, the women's rights organisation Munnade, together with its trade union arm, the Garment Labour Union (GLU), brought together workers from the clothing industry on 1 May to demonstrate for the implementation of labour rights. More than 3,500 workers had come to fight for fair pay and the implementation of labour law.

The unions also called for the implementation of active and functional factory committees to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. The law was adopted in 2013 and requires all employers with more than 10 employees to put in place effective mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment and deal with complaints. However, the requirements are only implemented by a few employers. Sexual harassment by superiors is still common in many factories.

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