Femnet e.V.

Every one of us wears shoes every day. But do we ever ask ourselves where the leather comes from to make our shoes? How is the skin of an animal turned into a shoe? Who does this work and under what conditions? This report takes us on a journey to the beginning of a leather shoe. The report looks at the leather industry in India and reveals the social and environmental impacts of tanneries. It provides a glimpse at the adverse conditions at tanneries in India, where people work with minimal or no protective gear, for payment below the minimum wage and no social security benefit. The workers themselves suffer from occupational diseases and the communities around the tanneries must deal with polluted rivers and drinking water and the dumping of solid waste without regard to environmental standards and rules. 

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The H&M group is one of the world’s largest retailers with 4,801 shops worldwide. In November 2013, H&M announced that all “H&M’s strategic suppliers should have pay structures in place to pay a fair living wage by 2018. By then, this will reach around 850 000 textile workers.” At the time, those workers made 60% of H&M’s products, sourced from ‘strategic and preferred suppliers’ which H&M grades as gold or platinum. With H&M’s deadline nearing, Clean Clothes Campaign set out to check what workers were making in some of those supplier factories, and how close that was to a living wage. In our understanding, a living wage should be earned in a standard working week and allow the garment worker and her/his family to cover basic needs: food to meet nutritional needs, housing, healthcare, clothing, transportation and education, plus 10% discretionary income for savings, or protection in case of the unexpected. Our researchers spoke with 62 workers in Bulgaria, Turkey, India and Cambodia. This document highlights their key findings as well as some additional facts that shed light on H&M’s supply chain and the brand’s progress in implementing its commitments. 

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A publication exploring solutions for tackling gender-based violence in the garment industry.

The publication revisits the issues that were discussed at the 2017 Gender Forum in Vietnam. It looks at what has changed since the 2017 Gender Forum, charting the progress achieved and the obstacles encountered by country teams over the course of the year —in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam —as they work toward achieving the goals and pledges made during the 2017 Gender Forum.

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The garment industry is Turkey’s second largest industry, responsible for a large proportion of total export, with the European Union (EU) as the biggest purchaser. Although the industry is familiar with international workplace standards as well as the audits of international buyers, improvements are still needed in many aspects of its labour conditions. Small and medium-sized factories with a wide sub-contractor chain dominate the industry, with the working conditions deteriorating throughout the supply chain.

This country study examines the situation in Turkey in 2017, using statistics from that year and previous years. Where relevant, current information from 2018 has been included.

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This paper examines the application of human rights due diligence in the area of wages. In order to wage compliance to be achieved and for wages to improve, both a greater transparency in cost price negotiations between apparel buyers and their suppliers, and a precise determination of the labour component must take place.

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