| publications overview |
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September 2006 Let’s clean up fashion Labour Behind the Label The state of pay behind the UK high street  Recent publications  Join the CCC Urgent Action Network!Reports from the factory floor Workers themselves and others report on the labour situation and where codes and national labour standards are violated. To order CCC publications please send your requests to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it For over a decade, consumers, workers and campaigners have been calling on fashion brands to make sure the workers who produce the clothes they sell are paid a living wage. At the start of 2006, Labour Behind the Label decided it was time to check in with the fashion industry, to see what progress has been made. This report presents the results of our investigation, revealing who is - and isn’t - doing what. Download the report here >>  June 2006 Who pays for cheap clothes? Labour Behind the Label5 questions the low-cost retailers must answer  Something new is sweeping through the high street. Whereas five years ago, style-conscious teenagers would never be seen, like, dead in a bargain clothes shop, today the Saturday afternoon high street is awash with Primark bags and their proud owners boasting the bargains they have found. What everyone wants to know is: do their contents come from sweatshops?The four companies this report focusses on, Asda, Tesco, Primark and Matalan, are to fashion what McDonalds and Burger King are to food: mass produced, hassle-free, fast, popular, and reliant on exploitation down the supply chain to keep things that way. It asks what impact this trend is having on workers' rights, and challenges these retailers to ensure that workers are not paying for our cheap clothes with their human rights. Download the report here >> May 2006 Sweet FA? TUC/Labour Behind the LabelFootball Associations, workers' rights, and the World Cup  The world's Football Associations will make over £200m from sponsorship and licensing arrangements this year, while their sponsors are expecting hundreds of millions of pounds in additional revenue from World Cup goods. Meanwhile, the people stitching the footballs, sewing the shirts and glueing the boots that will earn this money are working late into the night, six or seven days a week, for poverty wages. Those that attempt to form trade unions to try to improve their working conditions are persecuted and often lose their jobs.Download the report here >> June 30, 2006 The Life of Football Factory Workers in Thailand Thai Labour CampaignNew Thai study reveals workers at football factories don’t earn enough to live in dignity  While sportswear companies rake in their profits and World Cup players and fans enjoy the matches in Germany, the Thai women who put together footballs for major brands such as adidas earn so little they can do little more than buy food.  July 2006 Is this in Fashion?Social Observatory Institute - São Paulo, Brasil C&A sells clothes produced in clandestine sweatshops that exploit illegal immigrants. Download the report here >> May 2006Offside!Oxfam Oxfam publishes report on labour rights and sportswear production in Asia  This publication is part of a broader drive within the Clean Clothes Campaign to provide a gender analysis of labour rights issues. The report concludes that sportswear companies are failing to ensure that workers making their products have the right to freedom of association. Although some companies are involved with positive initiatives which have led to improved conditions in some factories, still their overall approach to trade union rights has been inconsistent and at times contradictory. December 2005 Made by WomenClean Clothes Campaign This 128-page publication published by the CCC International Secretariat includes feature articles on important themes relating to gender and labour rights and 17 profiles of women involved in different ways in the movement for garment workers' rights.  This publication is part of a broader drive within the Clean Clothes Campaign to provide a gender analysis of labour rights issuesThis publication is part of a broader drive within the Clean Clothes Campaign to provide a gender analysis of labour rights issues, and specifically to document and re-state gendered concerns that relate to workers’ rights in the garment and sports shoe industries. Also it is part of CCC efforts to document examples of initiatives that do address these concerns, and to present ideas on how these concerns should be explicitly integrated in the work of the CCC. The CCC envisions this publication as a resource for building awareness among those directly involved in the Clean Clothes Campaigns and among CCC supporters, and more extensively among other NGOs and trade unions. It could possibly be a resource for those in the industry and the multi-stakeholder initiatives hat seek to address labour practices in the sector. Clearly, a lot of learning still needs to be done on many levels, and the CCC believes this publication an be a tool to clearly communicate what the issues are and possible ways for addressing them. Download the report >> Download this report in French >>  Le systeme des appels urgentsClean Clothes Campaign Le systeme des appels urgents de la clean clothes campaign Solidarite avec les travailleurs de la confection du monde entier  La Clean Clothes Campaign réunit à l’échelle internationale des ONG et des syndicats travaillant de concert pour obtenir de meilleures conditions de travail dans l’industrie de la confection et pour renforcer la capacité d’action des travailleurs de ce secteur. Dans ce contexte, la CCC s’engage à mener des actions de solidarité directe afin de soutenir les travailleurs de la confection dans leur lutte pour le respect de leurs droits. 303 kb Download reportEnglish version December 5, 2006 Transparency Report CardETAG Canadian groups release Transparency Report Card  The Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG) released an 95-page study, "Coming Clean on the Clothes We Wear : Transparency Report Card." The Transparency Report Card assesses and compares 25 major retailers and brands selling apparel products in the Canadian market in terms of their efforts to address worker rights issues in their global supply chains and on how and what they report on those efforts.  Nov 2005Workers’ Voices Clean Clothes CampaignThe situation of women in the Eastern European and Turkish garment industries  The conclusion from 256 interviews with garment workers from 55 workplaces is that all basic labour standards continue to be violated in Eastern Europe and Turkey. 303 kb Download report September 2005 Asda Wal-Mart – The Alternative ReportClean Clothes Campaign The second in a series of War on Want alternative company reports looks at the world’s largest retail company Wal-Mart  The second in a series of War on Want alternative company reports looks at the world’s largest retail company Wal-Mart. The September 2005 report describes how Wal-Mart’s pursuit of the lowest possible prices has taken a heavy toll on its employees and suppliers. This report reviews Wal-Mart’s record over and against its rhetoric on corporate social responsibility and also recommends action to redress some of the damage inflicted by the company’s operations.Available at www.waronwant.org November 2005 Work in progress:Sanne van der Wal & Bart Slob - SOMO Labour policies of workwear companies supplying public authorities in Europe  The main objective of this research was to provide the CCC with detailed information about the workwear sector and selected workwear companies that supply European public authorities. To support their campaign on ethical public procurement, the CCC needs further information on the workwear sector and suppliers. 612 kb Download report Nov 2005Looking for a quick fixClean Clothes Campaign How weak social auditing is keeping workers in sweatshops  The large majority of companies (...) did very little to implement or enforce their codes of conduct. Social audits to check working conditions in production facilities emerged in the mid-1990s after a number of high profile companies were widely scrutinized for substandard working conditions in their supply chains. At that time, a growing number of companies-for example Nike, Gap, Levi Strauss, and C&A-had adopted codes of conduct that in essence were pledges to prevent exploitation and abuse of workers producing their goods.Labour advocates soon challenged these companies to demonstrate conformity to the standards they had adopted. Calls for independent, civil society based forms of workplace assessments were made. The large majority of companies ignored these calls and actually did very little to implement or enforce their codes of conduct. (2654kb) Download the report May 2005Building International Solidarity: African Asian NetworkingClean Clothes Campaign Report on the Solidarity Workshop for African Garment workers held in Swaziland  The workshop aimed to develop campaigning initiatives to improve working conditions in Eastern and Southern African garment factories.The workshop focused specically on developing initiatives to address working conditions in Asian manufacturer multinationals, producing for large retailers, especially Wal-Mart. In cooperative solidarity, trade unions, shop stewards, and NGOs shared information and developed an action plan in order to improve working conditions in the region. (6.944 kb) Download the report 2005A booklet series for garment workers in AfricaIRENE, CSRSC, SOMO, EED AND FNV As the number of Multinationals that either produce or source in Africa continues to increase so do the challenges that are faced by workers and trade unions.  Workers have risen to meet these challenges and it is in support of their struggle that these booklets have been produced. The booklets have been designed as an educational tool to provide a wide range of information, from contextual issues of the garment sector in global trade to practical considerations for shop stewards. June 8, 2005 The Play Fair at the Olympics CampaignAuthor: Jeroen Merk © Clean Clothes Campaign, ICFTU, Oxfam The Play Fair at the Olympics Campaign: an evaluation of the company responses  The Play Fair at the Olympics Campaign (PFOC) has urged 'sportswear companies and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to bring about an industry-wide solution to the abuse and exploitation of workers in global sportswear supply chains'.In the six-month run-up to the Olympic Games (March 2004 - August 2004), the campaign organisers estimate that at a sub-national level, 500 local events (i.e., demonstrations, protest actions, picket lines, etc.) had taken place. This contributed to extensive coverage on television, radio, and in the press. In addition, more than 500,000 people signed a petition in support of the campaign. While these activities were aimed at informing the public about working conditions, they were helpful in placing pressure 'upon those companies that have done too little to meet their incumbent responsibilities'.  11 May 2005 Fair Purchasing Practices?Author: Jeroen Merk Paper written for: CCC Round Table on Purchasing Practices © Clean Clothes Campaign Fair Purchasing Practices? Some Issues for Discussion  Addressing the negative impact that purchasing practices or sourcing systems can have on code compliance was one of main demands in the Play Fair at the Olympics campaign. It urged companies to '…change their purchasing practices so that they do not lead to workers' exploitation, with prices being made fair, deadlines realistic, and labour standards given the same status as price, time, and quality'. In other words, it was recommended that sourcing companies address the conflicting logic of simultaneously pursuing lower prices and shorter delivery times whilst at the same time pursuing compliance with labour standards. September 2004 The Global Garment Industry and the Informal EconomyIRENE / CCC Discussion Paper by Nina Ascoly The Global Garment Industry and the Informal Economy: Critical Issues for Labor Rights Advocates This paper has been written as an input for the seminar “Campaigning strategies on informal labour in the global garment industry,” organized by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the International Restructuring Education Network Europe (IRENE), and the Evangelische Akademie Meissen, to be held at the Akademie September 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 2004.  December 2004 Campaigning strategies on informal labour in the global garment industryIRENE/CCC Seminar Report by Nina Ascoly Meissen meeting brings together garment industry labor rights activists and informal economy experts (424kb) Download the report March 2005Action research in the garment sectorEsther de Haan, (SOMO) and Michael Koen, (CSRSC) Action research in the garment sector in Southern and Eastern Africa Between 2000 and 2004, labour conditions in garment supply chains in Southern and Eastern Africa have been researched for trade unions and campaigning organizations. Efforts towards concretely improving the labour conditions have been intensified. by connecting research with concrete actions and follow up. SOMO and CSRSC, together with the regional office of the Global Unions Federation in the sector, the International Textile, Garments and Leather Workers Federation ( ITGLWF- Africa) and the national garment unions in the different countries, have developed and conducted this research.  25 January 2005 Sewing for the world marketSÜDWIND publication Sewing for the world market: Women's work in Export Processing Zones and in the informal economy. Country case studies China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Fashion companies under examination  A considerable share of our clothes is produced in worldwide Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and in sweatshops in the informal economy. Most of the workers in the tax and tariff enclaves in more than hundred countries in the South and in Eastern Europe are women. Their labour conditions are scandalous: extremely low wages, long working hours, sex discrimination and union repression. November 2004 The struggle of the Gina workers in ThailandPhilip S. Robbertson Jr. & Somsak Plaiyoowong (Southeast Asia Research Centre) The struggle of the Gina workers in Thailand: Inside a succesfull international labour solidarity campaign  265kb) The struggle of the Gina workers in Thailand: Inside a succesfull international labour solidarity campaign 25 January 2005 Download the Clean Clothes Urgent Appeal leaflet The Clean Clothes Urgent Appeals system In solidarity with garment workers worldwide  The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is a global coalition of ngos and trade unions that work together to push for better working conditions in the garment industry and for the empowerment of garment workers. In the context of this work, the CCC is committed to carrying out direct solidarity action to support garment workers in their struggle to see that their rights are respected. 274 kb)The Clean Clothes Urgent Appeals system 2004 Campaigns at Work2004, Homeworkers Worldwide Campaigns at Work: a guide to campaigning for home worker groups, unions, campaign groups and activists  A campaign guide for homeworkers and other workers in precarious and informal employment. " Campaigns at Work: a guide to campaigning for home worker groups, unions, campaign groups and activists " provides practical and useful examples to assit a range of groups to develop their own approach to campaigning and engaging consumers in lobbying corporations for workers making their products.Go to: http://www.homeworkersww.org.uk/ resource&material/campaign%20manual.pdf 2004 Developing a strategic response to the trade in used clothing in AfricaCivil Society Research and Support Collective  december 2004 Behind the Brand NamesICFTU Behind the Brand Names: Working Conditions and Labour Rights in Export Processing Zones.  The book looks at the phenomenon of EPZs but focuses on the experiences of the workers. Includes case-studies from different countries and pays special attention to the electronics industry. To download it go to:http://www.icftu.org/www/PDF/EPZreportE.pdf Two company case studies on the Dutch companies GSUS and WE International. The Situation of Burmese Migrant Workers in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Oxfams, Global Unions and the Clean Clothes Campaign, Aug 2004
Oxfam New Zealand - 2004
The phase-out of the multifiber arrangement
Clean Clothes Campaign, March 2004
Oxfams, Global Unions and the Clean Clothes Campaign, March 2004
Oxfam, Feb 2004
Trade and investment agreements Experiences in Organising Garment Workers A Brief Report Seminar on ‘Experiences in Organising Garment Workers’, held on January 17, 2004 during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, looked at the organising strategies employed in differnt countries, which have led to an improvement in working and living conditions of garment workers and their collective strength. It also examined the nature of their organisation, their national as well as international linkages and their effectiveness in making political impact at the respective governmental levels. Clean Clothes Campaign, Jan 2004
Clean Clothes Campaign Jan 2004
Women Working Worldwide, 2003
East and Southeast Asia regional labor research report Nina Ascoly and Ineke Zeldenrust, Dec 2003
Somo, November 2003
Barbara Rimml, 2003
Challenges in China Clean Clothes Campaign, Oct 2003
ICFTU, Sept 2003
SOMO & ITGLWF Africa, Sept 2003
Report on export processing zone in Indonesia Worker Rights Consortium, Aug 2003
Asian TNCs and supply chains Somo, July 2003 Research published on informal sector workers in Sri Lanka
Asia Monitor Resource Centre, April 2003 Working conditions in Morocco Spanish Clean Clothes Campaign in colaboration with Intermon (Oxfam Spain) May 2003
Education booklet for workers March 2003
Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) and the Human and Labour Rights Commission of the Tehuacan Valley. China - Unfair Trade for Unfair Toys
Clean Clothes Campaign, Dec 2002
The suffering zone: Findings from Madagascar " Mauritius: No paradise for foreign workers"
Football Stitching Industry of Pakistan Report summary: India: "Child Labour and Labour Rights in the Sporting Goods Industry: A Case for Corporate Social Responsibility " The Workers’ Story:
Clean Clothes Campaign (Europe), Oxfam Community Aid Abroad (Australia), Oxfam Canada, , Global Exchange (USA) and the Maquila Solidarity Network (Canada), March 2002
International Council on Human Rights Policy, Jan 2002
Labour Behind the Label, Nov 2001
"Milking cow for investors": findings from Botswana "Taking the devil's rope": Findings from Swaziland `Our voices... will be heard’ Unraveling the MultiFibre Agreement (MFA) "Selling our people": Summary report on garment production in Lesotho , SOMO, July 2001 Methodology Report: Consultation with Footwear Factory Workers (Report of a pilot study)
Sustaining the Rag Trade "Taiwan" shoes' makers: Thai Workers Report of the conference on “Global standards in focus” Human Rights and the Transnational Garment Industry in South and South-East Asia : a Focus on Labour Rights
Controlling corporate wrongs :
" Indonesian cheap production for German fashion TNC's - Steps towards alternatives"
Clean Clothes Campaign, March 1999 Almost everything you always wanted to know about independent monitoring Thailand: Stories of Worker Struggles Sri Lanka: Stories of Worker Struggles
Clean Clothes Campaign, 1998
Clean Clothes Campaign, 1998
Clean Clothes Campaign, 1997
Sialkot, Pakistan - The football industry From Child Labour to Workers' Rights Keeping the work floor clean - Monitoring models in the garment industry Fashion Victims: Workers and Consumers Rights in the Garment Industry
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532 runners for fair working conditions 532 runners supported the action "Let's run fair!" of the Austrian Clean Clothes Campaign at the Vienna City Marathon, among them a barefoot runner and the winner team "Clean Runners". At the 19th of April 532 runners wore Clean Clothes-shirts and -stickers to publicly show their support for better working conditions in the sporting goods industry.... Saturday, 18 April 2009 Read more |
Aldi Flashmob in Germany On April 18th, the action coalition for fair global trade (Aktionsgemeinschaft Gerechter Welthandel, AGW) did a flashmob in an Aldi shop in Bonn, Germany to protest against working conditions in Aldi supply factories. At exactly 2pm, 20 activists lied down on the shop floor in the middle of surprised costumers. On their backs they had slogans readi... Friday, 17 April 2009 Read more |
Fourth anniversary of the Spectrum factory collapse in Bangladesh SPECTRUM/SHAHRIYAR UPDATE #14 April 11 2009 marks the fourth anniversary of the Spectrum factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed 64 and injured 80, of which 54 seriously. CCC is very pleased to report that, following years of delay, the Relief Fund that was set up by former buyer Inditex (Zara), cooperating with the International Textile, Gar... Thursday, 9 April 2009 Read more |
Turkish Workers Tour Europe to Tell of Repression at Prada Suppliers PRESS RELEASE--Emine Arslan and Nuran Gulenc to Visit Italy, France and Spain--For Immediate Release(Amsterdam) Two workers from Turkish factories that supply Prada and other luxury brands begin their tour of Europe today to share their story of exploitation and union repression. The workers are being hosted by the Clean Clothes Campaign, an allia... Wednesday, 4 March 2009 Read more |
Parliamentary Questions in the NetherlandsAs a result of the Cashing In report , members of two Dutch political parties (ChristenUnie and Socialistische Partij) have asked parliamentary questions of the State Secretary of Economic Matters and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Among other things, the members asked if the government, in light of its policy on corporate responsibility, was pr... Wednesday, 18 February 2009 Read more |
CCC Belgium South Launches "Meiller Marché" Campaign In Belgium South the CCC (Campagne Vêtements Propres) launched it's campaign on giant retailers under the name "Meilleur Marché". The campaign coaltion promoted the release of the French translation of the "Cashing In" research report. The campaign in Belgium South is planning to focus its efforts on international retail giants Carrefour, Aldi and ... Monday, 9 February 2009 Read more |
Action at Aldi, Brugges Launches Campaign in Belgium North The CCC in Belgium North launched the CCC's "Cashing In" report by presenting Aldi, one of the companies featured in the report, with a giant shopping list (see photos). Aldi representatives in Brugges where willing to accept the report but refused to speak to the CCC or the press.Ongoing campaigning activities are planned; for more info and update... Monday, 9 February 2009 Read more |
Update on Mink Tekstil - UEFA and IPM Deny ResponsibilityUpdate on Mink Tekstil - UEFA and IPM Deny Responsibility During the summer 2008, the Clean Clothes Campaign protested against labour rights violations at the Mink Tekstil factory in Turkey. The factory management had dismissed 52 workers after they had joined a labour union and campaigned for better working conditions. Sunday, 1 February 2009 Read more |
Tesco Nominated for Worst Company at the Public Eye Awards Tesco PLC, one of the world’s biggest retailers, was among those nominated to enter the “Hall of Pain” as part of the annual Public Eye Awards, handed out in conjunction with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland by the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace.Every year the Public Eye Awards are handed out to remind the world’s economic leaders o... Wednesday, 28 January 2009 Read more |
Serious Doubts about Fairness Trial in Attack on Chinese Worker Advocate On January 16, 2009, the hearing of five suspects in the Huang Qingnan case took place before the Shenzhen Longgang District People's Court. This trial followed upon the November 2007 attack on Huang Qingnan of the Dagongzhe (DGZ) Migrant Worker Centre* in Shenzhen in China (see also the previous CCC postings on this case). Huang Qingnan was serio... Monday, 26 January 2009 Read more |
Good News: Release of Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun Good News: Release of Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun Good News for the New Year! After nearly five years in prison, two innocent men who were convicted of killing Chea Vichea, then president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), have been provisionally released from prison pending a retrial. ... Monday, 5 January 2009 Read more |
Indian Play Fair 2008 Supporters Host Workers' Organizers Exchange The Center for Education and Communication (CEC) in India organized an event to better engage sportswear workers in the Play Fair 2008 campaign: a Workers’ Organisers Exchange Programme. This exchange brought together workers' organisers from across Asia to share organizing experiences and discuss strategies. The event was held August 13-18 at vari... Sunday, 17 August 2008 Read more |
Thousands mobilized at Esperanzah! festival, Belgium Representatives of J.O. Propres, the 15-organization coalition running the Play Fair 2008 campaign in French-speaking Belgium, were out in full force at the Esperanzah world music festival August 1-3 in Abbaye de Floreffe, Belgium. Over 8,000 people signed onto a Play Fair petition directed at the Belgian Olympic Committee, while supporters took pa... Sunday, 3 August 2008 Read more |
Olympics: IOC Inaction on Labour Rights Shameful For immediate releaseInternational mobilization in 35 countries calls for positive action to clean up Olympic supply chains3 August 2008, Hong Kong – Campaigners in Hong Kong, backed by the Play Fair 2008 global coalition, have today confronted the International Olympic Committee for its failure to act on widespread exploitation of workers in the m... Saturday, 2 August 2008 Read more |
Play Fair Activities Across Spain in July During July Play Fair supporters organized activities throughout Spain, including in Barcelona, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Pamplona, to bring the 2008 campaign in that country to a close. Thursday, 31 July 2008 Read more |
CCC Calls on Primark to Take Positive Action for Home Workers and ChildrenCCC Calls on Primark to Take Positive Action for Home Workers and ChildrenThe UK Clean Clothes Campaign, Labour Behind the Label, is calling on Primark to reverse its decisionto cut and run from three Indian suppliers. A BBC Panorama investigation on June has uncovered the wide spread use of subcontracting in the manufacture of embroidered goods, ... Tuesday, 24 June 2008 Read more |
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