Index

NEWSLETTER 24, Oct 2007 Inside a National CCC: United Kingdom

The Clean Clothes Campaign is an international campaign, consisting of a loose, informal international partner network of NGOs, unions, individuals and institutions in most countries where garments are produced, organisations in "consumer" countries where these garments are sold, an international secretariat (based in Amsterdam) and Clean Clothes Campaigns (CCCs) in eleven European countries.

These CCCs are autonomous coalitions consisting of NGOs (consumer, research, women's, fair trade and youth organisations, solidarity groups, churches, etc.) and trade unions, each with a coordinator and a secretariat. CCC coalitions can be found in Austria, Belgium (North and South), France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Although the European CCCs share a common aim and cooperate on joint projects, they each have their own flavour - due to their composition, history, cultural context and style. We'd like to share with you the workings of the different campaigns. Fifth in this series is the CCC in the United Kingdom: Labour Behind the Label (LBL).

LBL in the UK

In the early 1990s, a global development education centre called NEAD, based in the British city of Norwich, started including in its educational work the rights of workers in garment supply chains. At the same time, Women Working Worldwide (WWW), the international network for women workers' rights based in Manchester, was involved in similar pioneering awareness-raising activities. They and others got together and, in 1996, Labour Behind the Label (LBL) was launched, as a project jointly coordinated by NEAD and WWW. The first LBL newsletter came out ten years ago.

Many of the organisations that are part of LBL have been with it since the start. They include trade unions and their local branches, consumer organisations, campaign groups, and charities (see box).

When LBL first started, the focus was on global companies such as Nike and Gap. It was easier to start there as other organisations were already doing work on these big brands. Developing your own policy work takes time. Then, around the turn of the millennium, LBL began to focus more on British brands and retailers.

One outcome of the campaigning by LBL and others in the UK was the formation of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI - see www.ethicaltrade.org) in the late 1990s. This multi-stakeholder initiative brings together companies, NGOs and unions to promote and improve the implementation of corporate codes of practice that cover supply chain working conditions. The emergence of the ETI had a big effect on labour rights work, with a general shift by some NGOs from public campaigning to lobbying work behind the scenes.

LBL, however, thought it was important to continue with public education and campaigning, informed by its members, several of whom are also in the ETI. It has issued a range of significant publications, often in collaboration with partner organisations. Many focus on the ethical performance of the biggest brands and retailers in the UK such as Primark, Asda and Tesco. In 2006, "Let's Clean Up Fashion" was published. The companies' responses to this report were, however, mostly "a combination of procrastination, stalling, and fairly transparent excuses", says LBL. "Only a few companies admitted that there was a problem, and even fewer that they had a responsibility to fix it". So an update has just been published (see image on page 9).

These reports have helped labour rights issues move up the media agenda, with regular coverage in the press and a number of TV documentaries in developement.

Also, LBL has itself recently engaged more in lobbying individual companies, as companies seek to lessen the impact of the public criticism they receive. Increased work on urgent appeals has also resulted in more contact with particular companies.

In 2005, LBL launched a new project: "Fashioning an Ethical Industry" (FEI), which now operates semi-autonomously. This project works with fashion college students and educators to help equip students to play an active role in raising standards throughout the supply chains of the companies they will be working for. This British initiative has helped spawn others in Austria, Poland and the Netherlands, as described elsewhere in this newsletter (see pages 15-16).

LBL's Structure

Both organisations and individuals can belong to LBL. It is governed by a management committee, elected by the members at an annual general meeting (AGM), which gives organisational and policy direction. Apart from the AGM, there is a campaign meeting for member organisations roughly every two months.

LBL encourages its individual members to become active volunteers, joining in actions such as consumer leafleting, writing letters, and responding to urgent appeals.

UK Context

The structure of the fashion industry in the UK is different from that in other countries. There are many strong British brands, and the dominance of supermarkets is more of an issue in the UK than, for instance, in Scandinavia.

The UK does have a large NGO movement. This makes their voices strong, but can result in "compassion fatigue" among the public, as many organisations fight for their attention.

Having the ETI in the country also provides a defining context for the campaign. Companies have become used to discussing/defending their policies, and some LBL member organisations are therefore more involved in dialogue with companies than similar organisations at other CCCs might be. It has also created a "CSR community": corporate people and consultants see each other regularly at meetings, and are used to rehearsing the same arguments! Of course, the ETI also creates more opportunities for the sector-wide collaboration necessary to address many key labour rights issues.

LBL's Future Priorities

LBL is growing and doing better and better, but continues to develop as an organisation. It is keen to get more unions to join in, and to increase the amount and involvement of other NGOs. LBL's urgent appeals work, fashion colleges project, and policy reports have boosted its profile among companies, the fashion industry and the labour rights community; these are all areas of work which LBL plans to continue. The media coverage that LBL and its members have achieved is helping to turn up the heat on companies, and it will be important to keep up the pressure.

LBL's goal is also to increase both the depth and breadth of its individual supporter base. A new bite-size "action update" is being produced for supporters, to encourage them to take more action. LBL will also continue to build its e-supporter base, with more and better online actions.

Labour Behind the Label / CCC UK
38 Exchange Street
Norwich NR2 1 AX
United Kingdom
+44-16-03-66-61-60
info@labourbehindthelabel.org
www.labourbehindthelabel.org

Member organisations of Labour Behind the Label/CCC UK

• Women Working Worldwide
• War On Want
• Oxfam
• CAFOD
• National Group on Homeworking
• HomeWorkers Worldwide (UK centre for Homenet)
• Central America Women's Network
• PCS trade union for public sector workers
• Unison trade union for public sector workers
• GMB trade union: London and Lancashire regions
• Transport and General Workers' Union: Region 4 (Wales),Region 5 (Midlands), and Region 7 (Scotland)
• Community trade union
• Ethical Consumer magazine
• Tearfund