"Without international solidarity, we would be lost" Mim 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. Details Published: 01 November 2017 Read more …
Textile Alliance needs legal support: Few companies publish their 2017 roadmaps Spinning 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. Details Published: 21 September 2017 Read more …
17.- 27.10.2017: Round trip: Strong women from Bangladesh – For a fairer fashion industry! Berlin – 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. Details Published: 01 August 2017 Read more …
Anniversary, hunger strike, Nobel laureate: The work of NGWF in Bangladesh: NGWF calls for solidarity with workers 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. Details Published: 01 August 2017 Read more …
FEMNET publishes 'Roadmap' as part of the Textile Alliance As 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. Download the FEMNET Roadmap (PDF file) Details Published: 01 August 2017
Is the textile alliance reaching its next milestone? Civil society urges companies to be transparent Photo: © FEMNETCivil society press release in the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles Download the press release (PDF file) 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. Details Published: 24 July 2017 Read more …
Explosion in Bangladesh textile factory with dead and injured highlights why safety verification of boilers must be part of Bangladesh Accord Fire 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. Details Published: 05 July 2017 Read more …
FEMNET's partner organisations Munnade/GLU in Bangalore/India call for increased minimum wage and better protection against harassment in the workplace Munnade/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. Details Published: 01 June 2017
League for Social Justice calls on Tamil Nadu government to end India's modern slavery in spinning mills Ministry visit. Photo: © READIn the spinning mills of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, young girls have to do the hardest work in the shift system for a starvation wage. Intermediaries lure the girls between the ages of 14 and 18 into the spinning mills so that they work there for three years at the lowest wage, in order to ultimately receive a sum that is supposed to represent their dowry. They are kept in overcrowded and poorly equipped sleeping barracks as if in captivity. They are recruited from poor families of the lower castes. FEMNET already has a lot to offer on this subject. Information and campaign work and in 2016 together with the Indian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) READ A project has been launched to combat this modern form of slavery. Details Published: 01 June 2017 Read more …
Bidders' dialogue on the call for tenders for work and safety shoes at the Office for Landscape Management and Green Areas of the City of Cologne Marie-Luise Lämmle from FEMNET explains: What evidence of fair production conditions is credible? What are the challenges for clean production, especially with work and safety shoes? Photo: © FEMNETTen representatives of manufacturers and trading companies for work and safety shoes discussed the requirements and possibilities of fair production with the city of Cologne. Employees in charge of procurement from numerous other municipalities also sat ‘at the round table’. Companies that apply for public tenders have to face new requirements when municipalities formulate social and environmental claims. Since 2017, we have been supporting the Office for Landscape Management and Green Areas of the City of Cologne in integrating sustainability criteria into its tenders for work and safety shoes. To ensure that the city receives good offers for shoes and that compliance with eco-social production conditions is anchored as a central competitive criterion, we spoke with manufacturers and dealers on 16 May 2017. Details Published: 16 May 2017 Read more …
Rana Plaza Remembrance Day: FEMNET calls for more transparency from the textile industry Bonn. With a street action in the middle of Bonn's city center, the women's rights organization FEMNET has drawn attention to today's memorial day for Rana Plaza. Four years ago today, he died at Factory collapse in Bangladesh More than 1,100 textile workers and 2,000 were injured. In order to address the still widespread lack of transparency in industry and the consequences of fast fashion consumption, the FEMNET activists reconstructed a textile supply chain with three stations ‘in small’ on Bottlerplatz last Saturday, 22 April: In the first room was spun, in the next sewn and in the third, screeching customers rushed to clothes stalls. Countless passers-by stayed with this Pantomime street theatre information about the background of the textile supply chain. Details Published: 24 April 2017 Read more …
New Fair Fashion Guide: All backgrounds on sustainable fashion and how it is made eco-fair Bonn. Sustainable fashion is attractive. This proves the Fair fashion guide (PDF file), which will be published on 22.4.2017, shortly before the day of remembrance of Rana Plaza. In the factory collapse in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013, more than 1,100 textile workers died and 2,000 were severely injured. "The Fair Fashion Guide is a plea for the wardrobe of the future and wants to encourage fashion to live with a clear conscience. With interviews, fashion routes and tips for restyle, in a visual language familiar to the young target group from magazines without using them without criticism," says Friederike von Wedel, editor-in-chief. On 34 pages, professional models show fair fashion, which was produced under human rights responsible conditions. There are also tips for sustainable consumption: from clothing care to sharing and swapping to up-cycling. Details Published: 21 April 2017 Read more …
