garment workers news and archive

Rana Plaza - ten years later

How many times have we rolled our eyes when there was an emergency drill, maybe at school, work or college? Happening at the most inopportune times (just like a real emergency) - we may get up grudgingly, follow a dedicated co-worker or fellow student to an emergency meeting point and from there to the nearest exit. Grumbling about the...

Fashion Featured

American garment workers paid as little as 1.58 dollars per hour

American garment workers are paid as little as 1.58 dollars per hour, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor. A survey of Southern California garment-sewing contractors and manufacturers has found workers making garments sold by many of the nation’s leading fashion retailers often continue to be victims of wage theft and...

Business

Pakistan finally announces International Accord workplace safety program

After a decade-long push towards safer garment factory in Pakistan, the International Accord was finally announced on Wednesday, cheered on by 187 brand signatories, Pakistani unions and NGO witness signatories. The new agreement is modelled on the Bangladesh Accord, which was signed after the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse. “After years of...

Business |BACKGROUND Featured

A visit to one of Bangladesh’s green garment factories

Once considered a cheap sourcing location with unsafe factories by some international buyers, Bangladesh has come a long way in just ten short years: After the deadly fire at Tazreen Fashions in 2012 and the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in 2013, Bangladesh sourcing seemed at an all-time low, its reputation tarnished as a manufacturing...

Business

Inditex and IndustriAll extend agreement to protect garment workers

Fifteen years ago, Spanish fashion company Inditex entered into an agreement with the global union federation IndustriAll to improve the working conditions of workers along its supply chain. According to the two partners, three million workers worldwide have benefited from their Global Framework Agreement (GFA) since. To celebrate the milestone,...

Business

Study: Garment workers in Eastern Europe, Turkey often earn less than in Far East

According to recent figures by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), garment workers are on average poorer when they earn the applicable minimum wage. The share of the minimum wage as part of the EU poverty line fell from 65 percent to 61 percent between 2018 and 2021, despite nominal increases in minimum wages in many countries. In Eastern Europe...

RetailFeatured

Myanmar's garment workers face abuse and harassment under military rule

At least 60,800 garment workers in Myanmar have experienced alleged labour and human rights abuses according to a report by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRC). Since February, when a military coup illegally gained power, Myanmar’s garment workers, of which 90 percent are women, are at the front lines of the country’s civil problems...

Business |Interview

Union leader: “Some changes but still long way to go for garment workers”

Indian women's rights activist and trade unionist Rukmini V. Puttaswamy received the 17th Solidarity Award from the German Senate Chancellery of the city of Bremen. Women’s rights organisation Femnet recently organised a meeting with Puttaswamy when she came to Germany to receive the award on 20th June. Reason enough for FashionUnited to...

Business

Rana Plaza - nine years later

Sunday marked the ninth anniversary of a collapse that shook not only the foundations of the Rana Plaza building but also those of the fashion industry, as the tragedy in Savar, Bangladesh highlighted grievances in other manufacturing countries as well. Safe workplaces were unveiled as a myth, supported by everyday occurrences such as blocked...

Business

Sri Lanka: new union-employer agreement addresses key worker rights issues

Garment worker unions in Sri Lanka have signed a ground-breaking agreement with employer association Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) on Monday, in which both parties reached an understanding about how to address vital workplace issues for garment workers, especially during the pandemic. Sri Lankan unions and workers groups have been...

Business

California passes Garment Worker Protection Act

On Monday, September 27th, 2021, governor Gavin Newsom signed the Garment Worker Protection Act (SB62) into California law. This means that the more than 45,000 Californian garment workers will receive at least a minimum wage for their labor, currently 14 US dollars per hour. In comparison, garment workers have been struggling for decades under...

Fashion Featured

Asian garment workers owed almost 12 billion dollars in wages amid pandemic

As fashion brands and retailers across the world return to profitability following what has been an immensely difficult period of international store courses and plummeting demand for fashion, for those making the world’s clothing, the story is far from over. According to a new report by the Clean Clothes Campaign, Asian garment workers are owed...