News about Our Work -

© publiceye.ch

Initiated by the Swiss organization Public Eye, we want to put pressure on fashion brands with a wave of inquiries to the customer services of eight fashion companies.

Participate with your request to the customer services of C&A, CALIDA Group, H&M, Strellson, Tally Weijl, Triumph, Zalando and Zara: It's the biggest wave of requests you've ever seen. So we show the companies that concrete steps against exploitation are finally needed.

www.passt-mir-nicht.org

The declarations of intent of most fashion houses only look good on paper. This is the conclusion reached by the Clean Clothes Campaign in its "Company check 2019“, for which it examined 45 of the main European brands. Despite promises to the contrary, none of the companies analysed still ensure that their seamstresses receive a living wage in real terms.

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© Initiative Supply Chain Act

The German government must legally oblige German companies to comply with human rights and environmental standards worldwide. This is called for by a broad alliance of 64 civil society organisations, including FEMNET and the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network, on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the devastating fire disaster at the Ali Enterprises textile factory in Pakistan.

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Berlin / Bonn. Today's presentation of the new ‘Green Button’ textile label by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) uses civil society in the Textile Alliance to determine a critical location. The members of the civil society alliance criticise the fact that the Green Button, like the Textile Alliance, is only a voluntary measure. However, there is an urgent need for a law that makes human rights, environmental and anti-corruption due diligence mandatory for all companies. This law must form the basis for social, ecological and economic sustainability. Voluntary measures such as the Green Button and an improved textile alliance could build on this.

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As a new state meta-seal for eco-socially produced clothing, the ‘Green Button’ is intended to give consumers more orientation in the cash jungle in the future. The pilot phase is scheduled to start in September 2019. However, FEMNET and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) warn against misleading statements.

The label suggests a completely fair and sustainable product through its addition ‘social & ecological – state-certified’. However, it does not cover the entire supply chain, but initially only refers to clothing and wet processes (washing, dyeing). This means that the often bad working conditions, for example in cotton cultivation or in spinning mills, are not checked. However, this is not made clear to consumers.

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Öko-Test has tested 21 jeans for residues in the laboratory. But Öko-Test also wanted to know more about the production conditions under which the jeans are manufactured and therefore asked FEMNET for advice on the development of the questionnaire to the companies and the evaluation of the answers.

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Wuppertal. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) plans to introduce a state metaseal for socially and ecologically produced textiles. This metaseal is to be awarded under the name ‘Grüner Knopf’ on behalf of the BMZ for clothing and other textile products.

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© IndustriAll

Governments and businesses are now required to implement the Convention in practice

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the member states adopted the new International Convention No. 190 against Violence and Harassment in the World of Work by an overwhelming majority at the end of June 2019. This legally binding international treaty, which was supplemented by a recommendation for concrete implementation by the member states, is a historic victory for workers and their representatives:

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Bonn/Berlin. The fashion industry celebrates Berlin Fashion Week – but questions about social and environmental consequences are, as every year, neglected. The Alliance for Sustainable Textiles, founded in 2014, has begun to gradually eliminate the grievances in global textile supply chains. So far, the balance sheet has been meager. A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommends adapting the review process. The civil society in the Textile Alliance sees the reform now planned as an opportunity to make the alliance more effective.

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© Textile alliance

On 6 March 2019, the first major conference of the multistakeholder initiative - Tamil Nadu (MSI-TN), which is supported from Germany by some members of the Textile Alliance as part of an alliance initiative, took place in Coimbature. Around 130 representatives from the government of Tamil Nadu, business associations, trade unions and NGOs took part. They came from Germany: Representatives of BMZ, Hugo Boss, Brands Fashion, FEMNET and the Alliance Secretariat of the Textile Alliance. The theme of the conference was: Better Compliance – Better Competitiveness. The question was whether compliance with social and environmental standards would lead to a higher competitiveness of spinning mills, as the German representatives argued, both on the economic side and on the part of FEMNET. A paper on the topic was also prepared by the MSI-TN. The participants discussed the topic vividly in mixed groups and each group developed recommendations.

Further information on the website of the Textile Alliance

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