Commentary Archive

Photograph of workers protesting

“Organized theft on a massive scale”: the reality of severance theft in Indonesia

June 26, 2019

Abruptly and without warning, the Indonesian garment company Jaba Garmindo shut down operations at its two factories in April of 2015, leaving over 4,000 workers without their legally mandated severance. The sudden departure reflects a consistent trend within garment factories around the globe; in response to intense market pressure to cut production costs, many factories…

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Photograph of workers at Alta Gracia

The False Promise of Corporate Living Wage Commitments

June 1, 2019

In the face of mounting pressure from workers, unions, and civil society organizations who have documented widespread labor exploitation in global supply chains, apparel brands have adopted ambitious public commitments to provide living wages to the workers sewing their clothes. But according to a new study by researchers at the University of Sheffield, the world’s…

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