News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership) 20 December 2018 Four years of the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles: A process – complex, lengthy, challenging A review of 2018 and outlook for 2019 from the perspective of civil society representatives in the steering committee Bonn/Berlin. Once again, a busy year is coming to an end in the Textile Alliance: In 2018, for the first time, all members had to disclose their environmental and social compliance targets in their supply chains in individual action plans. Previously, these were checked by an external testing organisation for plausibility and compliance with the requirements. The steering committee also defined the topics of living wages, supply chain transparency and impact measurement as priorities for 2018. The following explanations provide an insight into how the progress made last year is assessed by the civil society representatives in the steering committee of the Textile Alliance. Despite the publication of the action plans, the claim is not clear For the first time, all members had to report to the public on objectives in core mandatory areas. These Action plans are publicly available to everyone. The reporting requirements were interpreted very differently by the member companies. For example, in terms of objectives, only a few companies have provided information on the initial situation, the so-called baseline, which makes the comparability of the action plans extremely difficult. This comparability is further complicated by the inconsistent presentation of the action plans. As a result, it cannot be recognized at first glance which goals a company has set and which it has already fulfilled. Based on the published action plans, it is currently not possible to assess whether a company implements good processes for its human rights due diligence obligations in the supply chain.[1] In addition, there is still no monitoring body for the external service provider, in which all stakeholder groups are represented on a parity basis in order to ensure a sufficient level of qualitative support for the audit organisations. The latter can therefore only formally check the plausibility of objectives in the action plans and no company-related qualitative assessment is carried out. From the point of view of civil society, this structural weakness impairs the credibility of the audit process in the Textile Alliance. For the first time, the Textile Alliance is developing concrete requirements for human rights due diligence in a specific sector based on OECD guidelines. In some cases, this has led to a very formalised and thus complex process. This was one reason why many members left or were expelled from the alliance again in 2018. But complaints also brought against the Textile Alliance led to the abandonment of the alliance: After the complaint of the global trade union federation IndustriALL about the obstruction of trade union activities in a separate Roy Robson factory in Turkey, the company refused mediation within the Textile Alliance and simply withdrew from the Alliance. This example illustrates the limitations of a voluntary textile alliance and shows that complementary legal regulations are needed to ensure that the same rules and standards apply to all companies. The example also points to an existing gap, because at the moment there is no complaint mechanism that effectively regulates the handling of such cases. At present, however, it can be positively emphasized that the companies remaining in the Textile Alliance are at least facing up to the Alliance's reporting process. However, this alone will not be enough to drive substantial improvements in the core areas of social standards and labour rights. Setting the course for living wages and complaint mechanisms The Textile Alliance is in its fourth year in 2018. A key issue for all stakeholders from the outset: The far too low wages in the suppliers of the textile and fashion industry. In order to illustrate the relevance of this challenge and to initiate a faster initiative in this core goal, the Steering Committee has defined living wages as a priority for 2018. In autumn 2018, an alliance initiative was adopted for this purpose. One module of the initiative envisages that companies first analyze their purchasing practices using a question grid. Another element is a first country module: The members involved should ask their suppliers in Cambodia to implement a framework collective agreement. This is currently being developed as part of the Action, Collaboration and Transformation (ACT) initiative, which is a strategic partner of the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles. The aim of the Textile Alliance is to develop additional country modules in addition to the Cambodia module. No companies have participated in the civil society proposal to initiate a country module on living wages in Indonesia and there is a lack of willingness on the part of companies that have a relevant purchasing volume in the country, such as adidas and PUMA. However, there are good links to the existing Freedom of Association Protocol in Indonesia. Based on the activities on living wages as part of the alliance initiative, it will be clear in 2019 how consistently companies pursue this goal and become proactive. This would mean that they participate concretely and substantially in alliance initiatives. So far, far too few companies have taken this initiative. This needs to change in 2019.[2] In addition to participation in the alliance initiative, an important indicator of commitment in this area is an ambitious goal of living wages in individual action plans. These will be published in the summer of 2019 and the public can take stock in this way. The Textile Alliance also wants to work on the subject of complaint mechanisms and a group has formed for this purpose. Each member must set a binding goal for 2019. In addition, existing complaint mechanisms will be analysed and compared, possibly also resulting in an alliance initiative. Supply chain transparency and impact measurement The goal of making the supply chains of the Alliance members more transparent has not yet achieved a breakthrough in 2018. For some companies, publishing suppliers is a red line, as they fear losing their suppliers to competitors. Individual companies that have published their individual supplier lists or the Dutch counterpart to the textile alliance, the Dutch Covenant (AGT), with a joint supplier list of all members, show that transparency is a prerequisite for improvements in the supply chain. It is important for civil society representatives that the supplier data can be used to resolve complaints and measure the impact of member actions. The Steering Committee agreed that there should be a consultation with all members at the beginning of 2019 to find out the reasons why parts of the economy are refusing to publish the supplier list. The question of the impact of the textile alliance is not just a question for the critical public. Impact measurement has been a central concern for civil society members since the beginning of the work in the Textile Alliance. In order to anchor an impact measurement, a concept was developed and adopted by the control group. From the point of view of civil society representatives, there is still a need for improvement, especially in the field survey. The key point here is how the concrete and direct impact of the individual suppliers of the Alliance members is actually measured and how trade unions and local civil society are involved. There has been a very positive development in the area of corruption prevention. It was here this year Compulsory targets developed and adopted. The Alliance Initiative for Combating Forced Labour in South Indian Spinning Mills, introduced by FEMNET e.V., also shows a positive development. The The initiative was launched on 1.7. 2018 officially launched and is now in the process of being implemented. Challenges ahead The textile alliance must come into effective and broad implementation in 2019. This requires a significant participation of companies in the alliance initiative, among other things, living wages. In this key issue of the Sustainable Textiles Alliance, it is essential that companies take initiative, analyse their own purchasing practices and that actual wage increases occur in suppliers. Here, the mandatory targets for living wages in 2019 will provide important clues in the action plans. In addition, significant progress has to be made in the above-mentioned core areas in order to actually make a significant contribution to better working and environmental conditions in the supply chains of the textile and fashion industry. In the case of the individual action plans, further binding targets will be developed in the coming year, which must be much more ambitious. Ultimately, sound impact measurement, involving local trade unions and civil society, is essential for the Textile Alliance to demonstrate that it can bring about change. [1] First analyses of the published roadmaps can be found in these two articles: 20.09.2018: First preliminary assessment of the submitted roadmaps of companies in the Textile Alliance and 29.08.2018: No Bio at KiK and Primark (Südwind-Blog) [2] See for more Information on living wages also this opinion (05.11.2018)
