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After four years of public protest and months of negotiations, there is now an agreement to compensate the victims. The victims and relatives of the killed workers of the Ali Enterprise factory in Pakistan are to receive US$5 million in compensation.

The agreement on compensation for victims is the result of long negotiations between IndustriALL, CCC, and KiK, which were conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) at the request of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

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If the devastating production conditions in the fashion industry are to change fundamentally, we need legal, binding requirements. These should oblige German and European companies to ensure compliance with social standards along their entire supply chain. If they do not comply with their duty of care, sanctions must follow. Only when companies pay their producers for violating human rights and labour standards can disasters like Rana Plaza be avoided.

FEMNET continues to represent this position. The women's rights organization sees additional voluntary measures by companies as a supplement to legal rules. For two years now, FEMNET has been actively involved in the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, or Textile Alliance for short, initiated by Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. The aim is an action plan for a sustainable textile supply chain.

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Saeeda Khatoon and Nasir Mansoor report on the suffering and struggle of those affected by the factory fire in Pakistan. Photo: © Holger Priedemuth Saeeda Khatoon and Nasir Mansoor report on the suffering and struggle of those affected by the factory fire in Pakistan. Photo: © Holger Priedemuth Justice for 260 dead and 32 injured: This is what the survivors and survivors of the fire disaster in the textile factory Ali Enterprises in Karachi (Pakistan) demand. Four of them filed a lawsuit against the German textile discounter KiK at the Dortmund Regional Court in March 2015. KiK was, according to its own information, the main customer of the factory that burned down in September 2012. Today, the court ruled: It considers itself competent and the applicants receive legal aid. This decision is the first step to ensure that a case of human rights violations by German companies abroad is also heard in a German court.

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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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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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