Interactive map showcases the strength of thousands of garment workers Urgent Appeal Annual Review 2012 presents real stories from within the garment industry
AMSTERDAM – As thousands of workers in Bangladesh continue to fight for their right to refuse unsafe working conditions, Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) today launches an interactive Urgent Appeal Annual Review that shows how the organisation supports these -and many other- workers in their struggle for safer work, compensation and freedom of association.
The Facts Behind Fashion annual review of 2012, presents the real stories from within the garment industry worldwide. The online annual review allows visitors to find out about the conditions in some of the factories where their clothes are made – and about how CCC works together with workers, local organisers and trade union leaders to stop violations of workers rights.
CCC took action on 30 urgent appeals to support workers in the garment industry throughout 2012. More than 38 companies were challenged to answer to the plight of the workers involved.
The maps and cases show the labour rights violations that CCC encountered in 2012. We have grouped the types of violations in four categories of labour rights: freedom of association, payment, contracts, health, fire and safety and gender discruimination.
Other labour rights violations include gender discrimination and other extraordinary violations including persecution and murder. 2012 also witnessed some of the worst factory fires to hit the garment industry in many years with 398 garment workers losing their lives after being trapped in the fires at Ali Enterprises in Pakistan and Tazreen Fashions in Bangladesh. The annual review includes a timeline – consisting reports, news articles, campaigns and videos – which follows KiK, the German discountretailer who sourced from both factories.
The year saw many highlights including the victory in the Kizone case early 2013, in which Adidas, after intense public pressure, finally agreed to contribute to the US$1.8 million compensation owed to 2800 workers when the Kizone factory in Indonesia shut down.
Many of the urgent appeal cases that have been successes for workers locally have also set precedents that have a significant potential spill-over effect towards improvements on a larger scale: victories gave inspiration to workers facing similar issues in other workplaces.
An Urgent Appeal is a request for support from workers whose rights are not being respected. Sometimes this included consumers taking action to show support for these workers’ demands and urges the factory management or global brands to act. But in many cases support is given behind the scenes. Since the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) was launched over two decades ago, Clean Clothes activists have supported garment and sportswear workers in some 400 cases in 40 different countries where their rights were violated.
Introduction, world map and the cases where CCC supported workers can be viewed here
