News

Worker Rights Consortium Urges Apparel Brands to Join International Safety Accord on Anniversary of Deadly Factory Fire

Since the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry went into effect in September, 155 apparel brands and retailers have signed this new binding agreement which expands the model pioneered by the Bangladesh Accord for protecting worker safety. The signatories include many of the world’s leading apparel brands and retailers….

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Daw Myo Myo Aye, leader of the STUM Union, is released from prison, but the threat to trade unionists and workers in Myanmar remains high

After six months of detainment in Myanmar’s notorious, Covid-ridden Insein prison,[1] Daw Myo Myo Aye, leader of the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar, was released and reunited with her family along with 5,000 other political prisoners on October 21, 2021. Among those released alongside Myo Myo were three workers from Xing Jia Footwear, whose only…

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On Anniversary of Bangladesh’s Deadliest Garment Factory Fire, Worker Rights Consortium Urges Walmart and Other Laggard Retailers to Join Acclaimed Safety Program

Two months after the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry went into effect in September 2021, 150 apparel brands and retailers had already signed this new binding agreement which expands the model pioneered by the Bangladesh Accord for protecting worker safety. The signatories include H&M, Zara, American Eagle Outfitters,…

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Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan Unions Call for Health and Safety Protections for Garment Workers

The Covid 19 pandemic has posed new health and safety risks for garment workers in factories around the world. In addition to the dangers workers already faced from excessive temperatures, unsafe machinery, and factory fires, workers now must also now contend with the spread of a potentially deadly respiratory virus in factories where, too often,…

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OSH specialists looking at building.

NGO Signatories to Bangladesh Accord Welcome New Binding Worker Safety Agreement

Labor rights groups say “every brand that values workers’ lives” will sign the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry Today, apparel brands and labor unions announced agreement on a new International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, thereby preserving, extending, and expanding the model…

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Bangladesh Accord expiration poses liability risk to apparel brands

An analysis of existing and upcoming human rights due diligence legislation in relation to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, published today, shows that apparel brands will expose themselves to considerable liability risks if they fail to negotiate and sign a follow up agreement to this ground-breaking safety program, which will expire…

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Garment Workers Face Mounting Forced Labor Risks

1000+ Interviews Reveal Destructive Brand Practices Contributed to Unpaid Earnings, Threats and Abuse, Skyrocketing Debt, and a Dangerous Lack of PPE New research by the University of Sheffield and the Worker Rights Consortium finds that declining income and working conditions for workers in garment supply chains amid the Covid-19 pandemic has increased workers’ vulnerability to…

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$1.3 Million Wage Theft from Salvadoran Workers Who Made Disney/ABC-licensed Grey’s Anatomy Scrubs for Barco Uniforms

One year after the factory closed, workers are still owed an estimated $1.3 million The Industrias Florenzi factory in San Salvador, El Salvador, dismissed its 210 workers in the first half of 2020, finally ceasing operations in July. One year later, however, workers still have not been paid the $1.3 million in terminal compensation which…

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No more Rana Plaza we want Accord

Brands and Unions Have Three More Months to Agree on an International Binding Agreement for Garment Worker Safety

by Clean Clothes Campaign, Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Worker Rights Consortium Global unions and negotiating signatory companies have announced that they agreed upon a three month extension of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh to allow for more time to conclude negotiations on a…

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Brands Should Consult Unions before Resuming Sourcing in Myanmar

Within the past two weeks, several apparel brands that put a pause on sourcing from Myanmar in response to February’s military coup in the country resumed their sourcing, drawn by cheap prices for apparel and a labor movement constrained by arbitrary arrests and violent suppression from the police and military. Despite the military’s unwillingness to…

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