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In 2025, the WRC’s engagement with buyers secured reinstatement with full back pay for nine workers who were fired in 2022 and 2023 from Hansae Haiti, a garment factory located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The workers were fired for leading or joining protests against poverty wages and their dismissals represented a violation of workers’ right to…
Read MoreFollowing the closure of Haiti Premier Apparel in April 2023, the factory owners were unable to meet 100% of their legally required severance obligations to workers. The factory reported that, at the time of the closure, its customers Cintas and Superior Uniform Group both made contributions for workers’ severance. Additional severance funds were covered by…
Read MoreWhen the garment factory Haiti Premier Apparel closed in April 2023, roughly 100 of its former workers in that country did not receive their legally required severance. However, thanks to a contribution from the US workwear company Careismatic Brands, which is a former buyer from the factory, the workers will now be paid in full.…
Read MoreVald’or, a garment factory located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, fully closed operations in January 2022. The US-based company failed to pay the factory’s more than 1,100 workers the severance payments to which they were entitled under the law. Vald’or was also delinquent in other payments to workers, including health and pension payments, which it deducted from…
Read MoreApril 3, 2025 Dear Colleagues, We are witnessing a tectonic shift in US trade policy. Given the potential impact of sweeping new tariffs on the apparel sector and other industries, we have arranged for one of Washington’s leading experts on trade and tariffs to join the WRC Annual Meeting on April 22. Lori Wallach, Director…
Read MoreA set of ground-breaking agreements were reached on November 14, 2009 between Russell/Fruit of the Loom and the union representing Jerzees de Honduras (JDH) workers and, separately, between the company and the WRC to address labor rights issues in the company’s operations in Honduras. The agreements were the culmination of WRC investigation and remediation efforts spanning a twenty-six month period.
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WRC Advances Workers’ Rights on Global Stages: OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector and United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 2025 Highlights
OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector The WRC shared our analysis and experience from the field at three side events during the 2025 OECD Forum. These discussions addressed due diligence, the realities of state-imposed forced labor, and the power of binding agreements in protecting worker rights. Recordings for two of…
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