Photo: Workers in Bangladesh mobilize for just wages (National Garment Workers Federation).

Dear friends,

As we begin a new year of worker rights advocacy, we are writing to report on some of MSN’s work in 2023, now continuing in 2024.

For much of 2023, MSN, in collaboration with our Clean Clothes Campaign partners, was supporting Bangladeshi unions and garment workers in their campaign to increase the minimum wage to a level that would meet their basic needs. Below, we provide information on their ongoing fight for a living wage, amid intense repression and the government’s imposition of a woefully inadequate new minimum wage.

You’ll also find news on the launch of the new 6-year International Accord on Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, a report on the industry’s failure to protect garment worker’s rights in Türkiye after the February 2023 earthquake, and a petition calling on Nike to ensure that workers in two supplier factories are finally paid what they are owed after years of waiting.

We conclude with links to two recent MSN publications, the first about a new labour rights complaint mechanism that Mexican workers are using to defend their right to organize independent unions, and the second on the wide gulf between current wages and the cost of living for Central American garment workers.

In the coming weeks, stay tuned to our website for an in-depth story on the important victory on January 23 at the Delta Staff Manufacturing (Apparel International) garment factory in Nazareno, Mexico, where 563 of the workers participating in a union representation election (recuento) voted in favour of the independent Mexican Workers’ League (La Liga) and only 79 voted for the CTM affiliated union.

Lynda Yanz, for the MSN team

Photo: Bangladeshi workers demand increased wages (BRGWF).

Bangladeshi workers mobilizing for a just wage face repression

Massive worker protests, temporary factory closures, and government repression have marked the minimum wage setting process that began in April 2023 in Bangladesh, also coinciding with a tense election season. At least four workers were killed, hundreds injured, over 100 arrested, and 20,000 charged for participation in the protests.

The new minimum wage of 12,500 Taka (US$113) set in December falls far short of the 23,000 Taka (US$207) unanimously demanded by Bangladeshi unions as the bare minimum for a decent living. The fight is far from over as unions and supporters turn their attention to the legal cases of those arrested, employer compliance with the new minimum wage, and wage increases in individual factories to try to meet workers’ needs.

MSN is joining with other labour rights and trade union organizations in calling on international brands to support the workers’ demand for just wages. At minimum, brands must ensure that supplier factories comply with the new minimum wage standard, but they must also increase the prices they pay to those suppliers to make it possible for workers to receive a living wage.

Photo: Workers call on brands to sign the Accord (Clean Clothes Campaign / BCWS).

134 retailers and brands sign new six-year International Health and Safety Accord

On November 6, 2023, agreement was reached between apparel brands and Global Unions on a new International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry. As of today, 134 retailers and brands have signed the new legally-binding Accord.

Signatory companies must sign on to Accord health and safety programs in at least one participating country, but could potentially join Accord programs in multiple countries where they have production. Currently, there are Accord health and safety programs in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

MSN is one of four Witness Signatories to the Accord.

Photo: Workers outside the Hong Seng factory (WRC).

Nike still refusing to pay workers in Thailand and Cambodia

Despite raking in over US$5 billion in net income in 2023, Nike continues to shirk its responsibility to ensure over 4,500 workers in Thailand and Cambodia are paid what they are legally owed.

The Hong Seng factory in Thailand and the Violet Apparel factory in Cambodia, both Nike suppliers, have owed workers wages and termination benefits since 2020.

According to the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), “Hong Seng management concocted a scheme in which it forced the workers to take leave without pay, then falsely reported the leave as voluntary.” Workers are now legally owed over US$800,000.

At Violet Apparel, workers were denied severance and legally owed benefits after the factory suddenly closed and are owed an estimated $1.4 million, according to the WRC.

Nike has a responsibility to address these pandemic era violations and ensure that the workers at these supplier factories are paid what they are owed.

Please sign the newly launched Ekō petition, with over 105,000 signatures so far, to support these workers who made clothes for Nike.

Photo: Aftermath of the February 2023 earthquake (European Union - Photographer Lisa Hastert).

New report highlights harsh working conditions following devastating Türkiye earthquake

A new report published by Clean Clothes Campaign Türkiye, The Impact of the Earthquake on Textile and Garment Workers, details the harsh working conditions and harassment that workers faced following the February 2023 earthquake.

Of the 130 workers interviewed, only 25% were paid their full wages, and financial necessity forced many workers to return to work in factories that had not undergone post-earthquake safety inspections. The report also highlights how supervisors ‘scolded’ and harassed workers when they were unable to meet production targets or when they indicated they could not return to work because their homes had been damaged or they had lost loved ones.

The report includes a series of recommendations for both employers in Türkiye and global brands sourcing from the country, including ensuring workers’ right to a safe workplace following a structural disaster; ensuring greater transparency regarding termination of employment contracts and workers’ right to receive severance and other benefits; and preparing for future disasters.

Photos: See credits at the bottom of this link.

What have Rapid Response Labour complaints achieved for Mexican workers?

In this series of case summaries, MSN describes the first dozen cases of Rapid Response Labour Mechanism (RRLM) complaints under the trinational trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the US.

The case summaries provide brief descriptions of the labour rights violations, the findings of investigations by the governments involved, remediation plans agreed to, and the outcomes.

The RRLM is a unique feature of the trade agreement that allows unions, workers and other interested parties to file complaints with the US or Canadian governments about violations of Mexican workers’ associational and collective bargaining rights in specific workplaces in traded sectors.

Visit our website for other MSN educational resources on the labour justice reform.

Photo: Eric Anada.

Central America: Report documents immense gap between wages and cost of basic necessities

In the sixth in a series of annual wage reports, MSN documents the immense gap between garment workers’ wages and the cost of basic necessities in the four garment-producing countries in Central America.

The November 2023 report reveals that soaring food costs, rising even faster than the inflation rate, are making it nearly impossible for low-wage garment workers to provide for their families.

These annual reports are important resources for Central American unions involved in collective bargaining and bipartite and tripartite minimum wage negotiations for the garment sector.