News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership) 14 October 2014 Statement of the campaign for clean clothing on the planned textile alliance of the BMZ 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. The self-organization of workers in trade unions is an internationally recognized human right and part of the ILO core labour standards. Nevertheless, workers in many producing countries are massively intimidated and dismissed if they organise themselves, including torture and murder of trade unionists. Voluntary commitments have achieved little improvement here to date. Alliance for Sustainable Textiles In light of these facts, the CCC calls for legally binding requirements, such as statutory due diligence obligations for companies throughout their supply chain, as proposed by the UN Guidelines on Business and Human Rights. This would mean that all companies would have to comply with them and not just those who voluntarily join an alliance. However, as a helpful first step, the Clean Clothes Campaign welcomes the political initiative of Development Minister Gerd Müller to establish an alliance on a voluntary basis to implement eco-social standards in the global clothing supply chain and is ready to participate in the alliance. The action plan, which has been developed in a multi-stakeholder dialogue since spring 2014, is an initiative that for the first time aims to bring transparency into the entire supply chain from the cotton field to the ready-made garments and which is oriented towards international social and environmental standards. The accession or minimum requirements are in line with the ILO core labour standards, to which almost every major company has already committed itself in its own code of conduct over the past 15 years. The action plan is backed by generous time targets for achieving further implementation requirements. The Gesamtverband Textil + Mode and Germanfashion claim in their negative statement of the textile alliance of 10.10.2014 that they share the goals of the planned alliance, but at the same time write that many goals are not achievable. They make themselves unreliable. HDE’s and AVE’s press releases also state that ‘a number of social and environmental requirements cannot be met’, in particular for SMEs. Which of these requirements is not explained. Living wages? Prohibition of discrimination? On the one hand, this is an admission by the association that its members let produce under unworthy working conditions, even though they constantly claim the opposite. On the other hand, the association considers social and ecological minimum standards such as decent working conditions to be too demanding. This says enough about the self-image of these associations and underlines once again the need for legal regulations. Now it is up to the individual companies to show how seriously they take the implementation of their statements. A positive signal would be the numerous accessions of fashion (trade) companies to the Alliance and credible transparent reporting on the progress made. Therefore, the campaign for clean clothing welcomes the initiative of the Federal Minister Dr. Gerd Müller (CSU) and the Federal Government on 16 October 2014 to launch a textile alliance for eco-social standards in the global supply chain. Similar initiatives have been launched by the governments of many other European countries. Therefore, the German Textile Alliance is by no means a ‘national solo effort’, but an important contribution by Germany to Europe’s responsibility for sustainable global development. Campaign for Clean Clothes Germany Contact persons: Christiane Schnura, Kampgane Coordinator, Tel.: 0202-89004 316Gisela Burckhardt, FEMNET/CCC, Tel: 01520-177 40 80Berndt Hinzmann, INKOTA/CCC, Tel. 49 (0)30 42 08 202-0Sabine Ferenschild, Südwind/CCC, Tel.: 0 22 8 - 76 36 98 16Sandra Dusch-Silva, CIR/CCC Tel. 0176-641 907 09 The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is committed to fair working conditions in the production of clothing and sporting goods. The Clean Clothes Campaign is an alliance of campaigns in 17 European countries with a network of over 250 partner organisations worldwide. On the subject: Video of 'Beautiful! Dyer'
