News about Our Work -

Übergreifende Informationen zu den weiterführenden Aktionen und Themen der Kampagne für Saubere Kleidung.

Together with 200+ allies we carry the Just Fashion Manifesto. We share the vision of a fair fashion system that puts people above profits.

Fashion can never be sustainable if the people who make our clothes are underpaid, overworked and unprotected. Fashion can never be fair when pollution and garbage are the norm. Social justice and climate justice are two sides of the same coin. The Just Fashion Manifesto formulates principles for a just fashion system. The manifesto was initiated by the global network "Clean Clothes Campaign". The final version was published worldwide on 1 May 2026 and takes into account hundreds of contributions, comments and points of view, including from industry representatives worldwide.

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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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Basic wage demo 27 July 2018. Photo: © NGWFPhoto: © NGWF

Bonn. Following the recent revision of minimum wages in the textile sector, thousands of workers have taken to the streets in Bangladesh in protest. In the capital Dhaka, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd, after which one worker died and many others were injured.

‘The campaign for clean clothing strongly condemns the violent curtailment of the right to demonstrate“, says Artemisa Ljarja, Rapid Action Coordinator of the Clean Clothes Campaign.

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Green buttonThe Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is planning to introduce a state-owned metaseal for the textile supply chain ("Green Button") and therefore invited to a round table in September 2018 to discuss the implementation concept of this metaseal. The Clean Clothes Campaign took part in this discussion and is now sharing its views in writing with this opinion:

The Green Button (GK) is supposed to be a state metaseal, which initially only refers to the stage of assembly. If they want to use the GK, companies must prove that:

  1. they comply with their corporate due diligence obligations, accepting as evidence the recognition of a roadmap within the framework of the Textile Alliance.
  2. the products covered by the GC comply with the minimum social, environmental and credibility requirements for a product label rated ‘good’ and ‘very good’ on the comparison platform ‘seal clarity’.

Despite criticism of the fundamental weakness of product seals, the campaign for clean clothing welcomes the combination of company and product-related criteria in the awarding of the GK. However, we have massive requests for the previously planned design of this combination, which concern the claim level, the reach, the control, the communicable ability and thus also the credibility of the planned metaseal.

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Development Minister Gerd Müller plans to introduce the ‘Green Button’ label for textiles soon. However, the campaign for clean clothing warns urgently of the danger of dilution.

Through the seal, Development Minister Gerd Müller wants to make it clear to consumers at first glance whether the purchased garment was also produced under ecologically good and socially acceptable conditions. ‘Such a label is desirable for consumers under two conditions: If it includes demanding social and ecological standards and if it covers the entire textile value chain, i.e. from the cotton field to the hanger. However, there is a risk of dilution with the voluntary "Green Button" seal", says Ingeborg Mehser from the Church Service in the World of Work.

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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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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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Protests in front of the German Embassy in Jakarta.On March 30, 2017, the Indonesian trade unions GSBI and FSPMI organized a protest in front of the German embassy in Jakarta to draw attention to the fate of 4,000 workers who worked for a supplier of the German companies s.Oliver and Gerry Weber. In April 2015, the insolvent textile factory Jaba Garmindo in Indonesia closed. To date, thousands of predominantly female employees, who were laid off at the time, are waiting in vain for four outstanding monthly salaries as well as severance payments totaling almost $11 million. The Clean Clothes Campaign calls on s.Oliver and Gerry Weber to participate in the compensation payments.

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Logos of the organisations and associations involved

In a written appeal to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and the local Association of Textile Companies (BGMEA), the Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE), the Gesamtverband textile+mode, the Campaign for Clean Clothes (CCC) and the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) are committed to upholding international human rights standards in the textile sector.

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Textile trade unionists on strike on 10.02.2017. Photo: © NGWFTextile trade unionists on strike on 10.02.2017. Photo: © NGWFBonn/Berlin. Since December 2016, many trade unionists and workers in Bangladesh have been arrested and trade union offices have been closed for participating in a peaceful strike to triple wages. In addition, hundreds of workers have been reported as unidentified and over 1,500 workers have been dismissed from factories producing clothing for H&M, Inditex (Zara/Bershka), VF (North Face) and Gap. Bangladesh's textile industry has one of the lowest wages in the region, which hasn't risen in three years despite inflation.

Bangladesh benefits from the EU’s ‘Everything But Arms’ trade agreement, which is part of the International Tariff Preference System (GSP) and guarantees duty-free access to the European market for all goods except arms and ammunition for 49 least developed countries, including Bangladesh. But can this tariff relief be granted in the case of a massive violation of elementary rights such as the core labour standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO)? As Bangladesh is keen to benefit soon from the GSP+, which explicitly links the granting of duty-free status to compliance with social standards, the CCC considers it necessary for the EU to launch a review of Bangladesh's compliance with human rights and the cessation of trade facilitation if labour rights continue to be violated.

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