Femnet e.V.

This study attempts to depict a complicated and multi-dimensional picture of labour standards in the GSCs of garments, footwear, and electronics within the context of international trade regimes and the national industrial development of Vietnam.

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The study discusses the transformation of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) in an era of declining membership utilizing the power resources model. Union membership among factory workers had declined from around 60,000 in 2000 to less than 20,000 in 2016. The decline in membership means a fall in the structural power which had defined the union in terms of its vibrancy and strength in collective bargaining and visibility in the Nigeria labour movement since inception in 1978. The study shows that the union has tried to regain strength and vibrancy through different phases of challenge in the industry by building capacities to expand associational and societal powers through organizing of self-employed tailors and campaigns and advocacy for the revival of textile factories. Organizing strategies for self-employed tailors have promoted a transition from manifest to active membership and integration into the union. In particular, the union endeavors to consider the peculiar needs of the self-employed tailors for protection, access to credit, as well as capacity and skill development. To sustain and deepen this process, it is important that union education and training strategies must address both the soft and hard skills requirement of the self-employed tailors. 

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The ways in which women's engagement in paid work shapes their experiences of violence in the home and workplace is widely debated, particularly in Bangladesh, but rarely considered together. We undertook 23 in-depth interviews with female garment workers living in slums in Bangladesh, and nine interviews with key informants (factory managers and supervisors, male workers, and employees from non-governmental organisations). Data came from two studies conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh – the first between August and September 2011 and the second between June and August 2015 - and were analysed using thematic analysis. In both settings, women experienced similar forms of violence, including emotional, physical, sexual, and economic, although from different perpetrators. Despite violence in the home and violence in the workplace typically being considered separately, we identify four overlaps between them. First, violence in both settings is shaped by how patriarchal norms and structures of institutions intersect with institutions economic structures. Second, dominant representations of female garment workers as sex workers or sexually promiscuous enables violence against them. Third, economic violence is used as a way to control and limit women's autonomy. Fourth, women develop strategies to continue working and maximize the benefits of work for themselves. Finally, we suggest how interventions could work to prevent violence in the home and workplace.

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The recent breakthrough in the feminization of employment that took place in the Ready-made Garment (RMG) industries of Bangladesh has been accompanied by vigorous debate among scholars, policymakers and stakeholders about its effect on women in terms of gender in/equality. Because although women’s labor force participation tends to increase with economic development, this relationship is often not straightforward or consistent with the elimination of gender discrimination. Based on an analysis of this debate on gender inequality of labor market, this paper explores how garment female workers view and experience gender inequality in their everyday lives in respect to family-market-state relations. Applying a range of qualitative method and revisiting dual-systems theory, the analysis draws on in-depth interviews with twelve female garment workers and on interviews with thirty female garment workers at three garment industries located in different areas of Dhaka city. Empirical findings demonstrate that the new feminization of employment in the ready-made garment industries has portrayed the coexistence and intersections of multiple gender disparities within male-dominated power structures both at family and workplace. It is also evident that capitalist interests along with patriarchal norms and values influence the use of women as a cheap, flexible and docile labor to earn the maximum profits at the minimum possible cost. Findings further reveal that the role of the state is also insufficient to ensure gender equality in the ready-made garment industries. The paper concludes that the increasing rate of feminization of employment in Bangladesh ready-made garment industries does not coincide with the elimination of gender disparities to any larger extent.

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The fashion supply chain is being challenged by a rising global population, increasing wealth and consumerism in the emerging markets, and the phenomenon of fast consumption in the developed world. Enormous strains are put on natural resources to keep up with consumer demand and solutions are needed for the massive waste flows downstream. Currently the main solutions for garments that cannot be reused are landfill, incineration for energy recovery, and downcycling. The latter is the recycling of garments into lower value products, such as insulation or wipers. Landfill and incineration cost money and these options do not deal with the natural resources issue since they do not displace the virgin fibre textiles industry. Downcycling does displace virgin fibre production, but applications have low profitability. High value recycling or “garment to garment recycling“is the concept of recycling used garments and textile waste into new garment products. This concept can reduce some of the pressure on virgin resources, while at the same adding value to waste to make recycling profitable for companies. This research assessed the environmental performance of two garment to garment recycling systems and one scenario as well as one downcycling system, in comparison with their equivalent ones made from virgin materials. The approach was based on life cycle assessment, and the impact categories chosen were climate change, acidification, eutrophication and water consumption. The study included primary data from different processes in the life cycle, including mechanical and chemical recycling, textile collection and manual and automated sorting. 

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