Index

NEWSLETTER 14, JULY 2001 Editorial

As most of the readers of this newsletter already know, the Clean Clothes Campaign is all about improving working conditions in the garment and sports shoe industry. All of our activities are geared toward reaching that goal. That's why we feel it's important to share the information we have on just what the working conditions are where clothing and sports shoes are produced. In this issue of the newsletter we present information from garment workers in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. What they've told us is not good -- the instances of union repression, harassment, low wages and long hours, to name just a few of the problems, is alarmingly frequent. We hope that these stories are informative, but also that they motivate people to take action to change the current reality in so many workplaces around the world.

The CCC has been doing quite a lot of thinking lately on just what forms of action make the most sense in the current context. We've just wrapped up a process of evaluating our activities during the past 10 years and have gotten to work on strategizing for the future. Much of the thinking that's gone into all this evaluation and future planning took place at a gathering of all the CCCs and the wider CCC network of partners from around the world. An article on this meeting, which was held in March in Barcelona, is included in this issue of the newsletter.

One of the important initiatives that the CCC is involved in is a project to better understand the possibilities and the limitations of different models of independent verification of working conditions in the garment industry. Five CCCs are currently involved in initiatives to test monitoring and verification systems and have regularly been coming together, via a one-year project, to share information and reflect upon the lessons that have been learned during these experiences. An article on this project informs readers on how far these initiatives have gone and on some of the specific concerns the CCC has with the process of monitoring and verifying production facilities. As always, the newsletter also includes reports from several of the CCCs. For regular updates on CCC activities we encourage readers to visit our websites.