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Report: Watch Your Step

Report: Watch Your Step

by | Dec 14, 2017 | Blog, reports, Resources - Shoes, Shoes

A Study on the Social and Environmental Impacts of Tanneries in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, India.

Every one of us wears shoes every day. But do we ever ask ourselves where the leather comes from to make our shoes? How is the skin of an animal turned into a shoe? Who does this work and under what conditions? This report takes us on a journey to the beginning of a leather shoe. The report looks at the leather industry in India and reveals the social and environmental impacts of tanneries. It provides a glimpse at the adverse conditions at tanneries in India, where people work with minimal or no protective gear, for payment below the minimum wage and no social security benefit. The workers themselves suffer from occupational diseases and the communities around the tanneries have to deal with polluted rivers and drinking water and the dumping of solid waste without regard to environmental standards and rules.

 

Read the main report: Watch Your Step Report

Read the factsheet: Watch Your Step Factsheet

 

Published in 2017. 

Tanneries in India

Compensation agreed for victims of Pakistan factory fire

Compensation agreed for victims of Pakistan factory fire

by | Sep 13, 2016 | Blog, Campaigns, News, Resources - Worker safety, Worker safety

After four years of campaigning and months of negotiations, an agreement has been reached to pay more than US$5 million in compensation to the survivors and families of workers killed in Pakistan’s worst industrial accident.

On 11 September 2012, more than 250 workers lost their lives and over 50 were injured in a fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Karachi.  Workers burnt to death trapped behind barred windows and locked doors. Others jumped for their lives from the upper floors, sustaining permanent disabilities.

German retailer KiK, Ali Enterprises’ only known buyer, has now agreed to pay an additional US$5.15 million to fund loss of earnings, medical and allied care, and rehabilitation costs to the injured survivors and dependents of those killed in the disaster.

It is a day of respite for the victims’ families as their cries have been heard. We know that our nearest and dearest will never come back, but we hope that this kind of tragedy will never ever happen again. The government, brands and factory owners must seriously observe labour and safety standards in factories.

 

Saeeda Khatoon, a widow and vice president of Ali Enterprise Factory Fire Affectees Association, who lost her only son in the fire.

 

Previously KiK paid US$1 million to a relief fund. However, it has taken joint campaigning by the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), PILER, IndustriALL Global Union, to which NTUF is affiliated, Clean Clothes Campaign (represented in the UK by Labour Behind the Label) and other allies including UNI Global Union, to secure proper compensation.

The new funding Arrangement follows negotiations facilitated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) between IndustriALL, CCC, and KiK, at the request of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Arrangement is intended to supplement payments due to victims by public social security schemes in Pakistan to meet compensation levels required by ILO Employment Injury Benefits Convention 121. Additional periodical payments to victims are expected to begin in early 2017.

This historic agreement is unprecedented in the context of Pakistan’s labour movement. After four years of struggle the victims of this tragedy get justice and their pain and suffering are acknowledged internationally. We are thankful to IndustriALL and CCC who represented the workers’ case successfully. The ILO has also played a vital role to make this landmark agreement possible. Let it remind us that safety in the workplace is a right, not a privilege.

 

Nasir Mansoor, deputy general secretary of the National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan

 

Just weeks before the fatal fire, Ali Enterprises received SA 8000 certification from the auditing firm Social Accountability International, meaning it had purportedly met international standards in nine areas, including health and safety. The ensuing tragedy underlines the failure of social auditing models and raises serious concerns about the standard of safety inspections in Pakistan as well as the implementation of labour laws and building safety codes.

Ineke Zeldenrust of Clean Clothes Campaign stated: “We very much welcome KIK’s recognition of its duty to provide remedy. This Arrangement is an excellent example of how buyers can and should take responsibility for workplace related deaths and injuries in their supply chain, especially in countries where workplaces are known to be unsafe. Garment workers in Pakistan continue to be at risk. All buyers must now focus on ensuring that proper and effective due diligence and remediation measures are put in place in order to prevent terrible incidents like these in the future.”

The Arrangement is the third in a line of compensation agreements negotiated by the labour movement following large-scale disasters in the garment industry at Tazreen fashions in 2012 and Rana Plaza in 2013, both in Bangladesh.

Summary of compensation agreement

  • The US$5.15 million to be funded by KiK will include a US$250,000 margin for a fluctuation in costs, meaning that US$4.9 million will go to the affected families and survivors.
  •    The implementation, administration and governance of the Arrangement will be developed in a process facilitated by the ILO. It will involve close consultation with relevant constituents and stakeholders, as well as a supervisory role for the Sindh High Court.
  •     In total, the Arrangement will provide US$6.6 million for the compensation process, with US$5.9 being provided by KiK and US$700,000 being funded by Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI).
  •     Claimants will be paid a monthly pension. The amount will differ according to the individual’s financial situation and number of dependents.
  •     The pensions will be not at living wage levels, as the international standards for workplace injury are based on actual wages earned. In the Ali Enterprises Arrangement however the proxy used for the actual earned wages is generous and pensions are indexed to meet the inflation rate.
  •     The Arrangement does not cover damages for pain and suffering.
Shop demo 18th April 2016: H&M

Shop demo 18th April 2016: H&M

by | Apr 28, 2016 | Blog, News, Resources - Worker safety, Worker safety

Shop demo 18th April: H&M

H&M was one the first brands to sign the Accord: a legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions to work towards a safe garment industry in Bangladesh. Yet despite this early commitment 55% of H&M’s factories are still not safe for workers and 13% of theirs suppliers in Bangladesh still have locks on the doors of their fire exits. With 205 out of 229 suppliers behind schedule, the ongoing safety delays at H&M’s suppliers is unacceptable.

The few H&M supplier factories can be called safe is the shocking reality of an industry that is dysfunctional and exploitative. If H&M can continue to reap profits, its workers should be working in safety. It’s really that simple.

On 18th April Labour Behind the Label travelled to London’s H&M store on Oxford Street along with supporters and our friends War on Want to demand that H&M fix their factories. We think H&M along with other big brands and their suppliers have a responsibility for their workers. No worker should go to work everyday with fear of their safety and for another Rana Plaza disaster.

Missed the demo?

You can still tell H&M to fix their factories.

Report: Rana Plaza Three Years On: Compensation, Justice and Workers’ Safety

Report: Rana Plaza Three Years On: Compensation, Justice and Workers’ Safety

by | Apr 28, 2016 | Blog, Living wage, News, reports, Resources, Resources - Worker safety, Worker safety

Report: Rana Plaza Three Years On

Compensation, Justice and Workers’ Safety

On the eve of the third year anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy a new report has been published by the Clean Clothes Campaign and the International Labor Rights forum. The report provides an update on the key developments and outcomes of the three main areas of focus following the collapse: the Rana Plaza Arrangement; the Bangladesh Fire and Building safety Accord and to improve the legal climate regarding Freedom of Association.

Download the report >> here.

Published in 2016.

Join the global day of action to remember Rana Plaza, 24th April 2015

Join the global day of action to remember Rana Plaza, 24th April 2015

by | Apr 11, 2016 | Campaigns, Worker safety

The 24th April 2015 will be the two year anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse, the deadliest disaster in the history of the global garment industry. Join this global day of action, uniting with people worldwide to demand justice for the victims, to hold brands and retailers accountable and to ensure that vital and lasting changes are made in the global apparel industry.

 

Why we must act
On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, housing five garment factories, came crashing down. At least 1,134 people lost their lives. Many were killed instantly. Many more were buried alive under eight stories of concrete and machinery, among the remains of the garments that they were producing for global corporations. Thousands were injured and severely traumatized. Some people were forced to amputate their own limbs in order to escape this concrete grave.

 

In the days and weeks immediately following the Rana Plaza disaster, the world united in pledging support for the survivors and victims’ families. Governments, apparel brands, and the public called for urgent change to the industry. Unfortunately, change has been slow in coming, and many initial promises made have since eroded.

 

Action remains urgently needed and necessary. Some multinational brands are still refusing to pay what they owe in compensation. This is unacceptable.

 

Join us! It’s easy.
Here’s how:

  • Download the action menu for a full list of things to do
  • Commit to taking action on, or in advance of, April 24, 2015, by signing up to this facebook event.
  • Check if there is a demonstration already happening near you on this map. If there isn’t one that you can join, find a Benetton or Asda store near you, and plan a demonstration for April 24th with some friends. Add it to the map!
  • If you only have a few minutes, post a solidarity message on facebook or twitter such as: ‘No one should die for the price of cheap t-shirt. Remember #RanaPlaza.’ or ‘Cheap Ts cost lives. Remember #RanaPlaza. #Solidarity’
  • Set a reminder on your phone to hold a minute of silence on 24 April, at 11.34 to remember the 1134 people who died two years ago


What we want
On the Global Day of Action (April 24th), and leading up to then, join us to call for industry reforms, demanding that people are put above profit, and safeguarding workers’ welfare and livelihoods.

 

IMMEDIATE DEMANDS:

  • We demand that Rana Plaza survivors and victims’ families receive the full compensation they are entitled to.
  • We demand all apparel brands and retailers doing business in Bangladesh sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

 

LONG-TERM DEMANDS:

  • We demand transparency and due diligence.
  • We demand accountability and access to justice.
  • We demand freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

 

There must never be another Rana Plaza. The only way to ensure this is to thread these principles through the foundations of the industry.

 

Together we will continue to remember the victims who died for the price of the cheap clothes we wear. Together we must secure justice for their families through full compensation. Together we can reform the industry so that all garment workers are afforded a safe and dignified life.

April 2015.