labour standards news and archive

Ethiopian garment workers paid the lowest wages in the apparel industry

With newly built industrial parks and a range of financial incentives, Ethiopia is working hard to become the world’s next garment exporter. “We will make Ethiopia the leading manufacturing hub in Africa”, Dr. Arkebe Oqubay, Special Economic Adviser to the country’s Prime Minister, recently said. The efforts seem to be bearing fruit, as...

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Business

Factory abuse starts with brands’ purchasing behavior, says Human Rights Watch

A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) confirms once more that global fashion brands are contributing to unsafe and unfair working conditions at garment factories in countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by pressuring suppliers to drive down prices and produce faster. The study was based on hundreds of interviews...

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Fashion

Leading fashion firms call on Cambodian government to improve labour standards

Leading fashion companies including Nike, PVH, Levi Strauss, Esprit, Adidas and Under Armour have signed an open letter to the Cambodian government urging it to improve its labour standards. The companies, who claim to contribute 9.5 billion US dollars (7.26 billion pounds) to Cambodia’s exports through their work with the country’s suppliers,...