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Tazreen factory. Photo:© FEMNET e.V.Tazreen factory. Photo:© FEMNET e.V.Berlin. Through the Foundation for the Compensation of the Tazreen Victims, all workers and survivors received their compensation payment in June 2016. The Clean Clothes Campaign and the International Labor Rights Forum welcome this development.

On 24 November 2012, a fire broke out at the Tazreen Fashions textile factory in Bangladesh, killing 113 workers and injuring nearly 200. Only three years later, in September 2015, the Tazreen Claims Administration Trust (TCA) was finally established on the basis of an agreement between C&A, the C&A Foundation, IndustriALL Global Union, and the Clean Clothes Campaign.

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Bangalore's textile industry comprises nearly 1,200 production sites. In about 96% of these factories there are no functional cribs. According to a 2011/12 study by the ‘State Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights in Karnataka’, 12 out of 118 factories reported having no functioning crèches. In the factories with cribs, there was only one crib for every 1,000 employees. According to the law, all factories with more than 30 permanent women must offer a crib for children under the age of six on the factory premises. In fact, although companies designate a space as childcare, no child- and care-friendly environment is created. That's why mothers don't bring their children to the factory. There is a lack of well-trained educators and toys. The children spend their days sitting around inactive or sleeping.

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Panel discussion at the A+A with FEMNET CEO Gisela Burckhardt. Photo:© FEMNET e.V.Panel discussion at the A+A with FEMNET CEO Gisela Burckhardt. Photo:© FEMNET e.V.More than 65,000 visitors came from the 27th. – 30.10.2015 to the world's largest conference on occupational health and safety in Düsseldorf to gather information from 1,887 exhibitors from 57 countries on trends in occupational health and safety, occupational health promotion and safety management.

Fairly produced protective clothing was exhibited by a total of 9 manufacturers and retailers and presented vividly at the booth of Engagement Global, Eine Welt Netz, FEMNET e.V., CIR and SKEW as ‘Fair Fashion Performance’. In addition, a comprehensive specialist forum and information programme at the aforementioned stand informed about fair workwear and production methods and brought experts and actors from organisations into dialogue with decision-makers and employees of municipal contracting authorities and companies.

Textile workers in Bangladesh. Photo © G.BurckhardtTextile workers in Bangladesh. Photo © G.BurckhardtIt was only after tough negotiations that a number of companies joined the Textile Alliance in June 2015. They had refused to do so when the alliance was founded in October 2014. The action plan they helped develop was too demanding for them at the time, while other companies such as Hessnatur and Vaude immediately joined. FEMNET is also involved in the development of the action plan from the outset and is represented in the interim steering committee. But what ultimately led companies to join?

 

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Textile workers in Bangladesh.Photo © FEMNET e.V.Press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign on the accession of the leading associations and individual companies to the Sustainable Textiles Alliance

The knot in the large textile associations has burst. The majority of the associations (the Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE), the Bundesverband der deutschen Sportarktikelindustrie, the Foreign Trade Association of the German Retail Trade (AVE) and textile+mode) as well as a large number of their member companies have joined the alliance. The basis for a broad impact of the alliance has now been created by the accessions.

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Textile workers in Bangladesh.Photo © FEMNET e.V.Press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign on the accession of the leading associations and individual companies to the Sustainable Textiles Alliance

The knot in the large textile associations has burst. The majority of the associations (the Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE), the Bundesverband der deutschen Sportarktikelindustrie, the Foreign Trade Association of the German Retail Trade (AVE) and textile+mode) as well as a large number of their member companies have joined the alliance. The basis for a broad impact of the alliance has now been created by the accessions.

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This year, FEMNET took part in Boys Day for the first time. An exciting experience for us as a women's organization as well as for two boys (Joshua, 13, and Ingmar, 14 years old) from two Bonn schools. The organizers of the Girls and Boys Day had chosen the date perfectly: On the occasion of the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, FEMNET organised the ‘RanaPlaza Payup Now’ protest campaign, a great opportunity for students to experience campaign work up close.

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Textile workers in India. Photo © CIVIDEPTextile workers in India. Photo © CIVIDEPWith Cividep in Bangalore, South India, FEMNET has started a new project. It is supported as a small project by the BMZ and runs throughout 2015. It is a commitment to the creation of crèches in textile factories in Bangalore, which are required by law but not implemented. Seamstresses often do not know where to leave their toddlers and if there is care, she is so bad that the women do not want to entrust their children to the factory.

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Statement by the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network and the Clean Clothes Campaign on the Textile Alliance (Download as PDF file)

For many years, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network have been committed to upholding human rights and internationally agreed social standards and norms among transnational corporations, their subsidiaries and suppliers.

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Statement by the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network and the Clean Clothes Campaign on the Textile Alliance (Download as PDF file)

For many years, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network have been committed to upholding human rights and internationally agreed social standards and norms among transnational corporations, their subsidiaries and suppliers.

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On 16 October 2014, Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller will establish an alliance for sustainable textiles.

The factory fires at Tazreen in November 2012 and Ali Enterprises in Pakistan, as well as the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013, caused thousands of deaths and injuries. These accidents occurred despite numerous controls and voluntary commitments by companies. To date, the victims and injured persons as well as their relatives have not been compensated fairly and sufficiently, as there is no legal basis for this. So far, there is only a voluntary compensation fund for the victims of Rana Plaza, which is not even half full.

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This report, which was commissioned by the Bundestag parliamentary group Bündnis 90/Die Grünen by Katharina Schaus in the summer of 2013, focuses on standards, seals and political framework conditions of the globalised textile industry.

The overview included in this report includes 52 textile labels that provide incentives for sustainable development and have a health or environmental and socially acceptable orientation. Based on the collected basic information on all labels, a selection was made for which an exemplary analysis (assessment) was prepared according to predetermined parameters such as transparency, positioning, classification and their underlying requirements (criteria), quality, resources, implementation, social compatibility, etc.

In addition to a look at problem factors in the textile industry along the value chain, a look at the market situation of sustainable clothing is also the content of this report.

At the end of the report, recommendations for action resulting from the findings and relevant topics for representatives of politics are summarized.

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