^{Photo: Members of the Mexican Border Committee of Workers (CFO).}

Dear friends,

Three years after the start of the pandemic that laid bare the inequities of our global economic system, garment workers continue to face serious hardships.

In this Update, we profile the efforts of workers, supported by their international allies, as they confront economic, political and environmental crises in places like Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Turkey.

In this difficult context, there are also victories to celebrate, including significant wage increases negotiated by independent unions in Mexico, the winning back of seniority rights, stolen severance and back pay by workers at a Target supplier factory in Guatemala, the extension of the life-saving International Accord on Health and Safety to Pakistan, and an international award recognizing Nicaragua’s María Elena Cuadra Women’s Movement (MEC) for its achievements on Occupational Health and Safety.

The #PayYourWorkers Campaign continues to gain attention – see the hoax orchestrated by the Yes Men that took adidas and the global media totally off guard and the #PYW call for action to support workers at Nike supplier factory Ramatex in Cambodia who continue to fight for legally owed compensation.

Finally, please check out new MSN educational resources, our Companies and Brands research tools and a Quiz on Mexico’s Labour Justice Reform.

Lynda Yanz, for the MSN team

Photo: Solidarity kitchen organized by FTZ&GSEU during the crisis (CCC).

Sri Lanka: Unions, international groups call on brands to ensure Emergency Relief Allowance

On March 2, the Clean Clothes Campaign published a brief calling on brands to ensure garment factories pay each worker an Emergency Relief Allowance (ERA) of 10,000 Sri Lankan rupees (27 USD). Payment of the ERA has been among the central Sri Lankan union demands to help curb the devastating impact that the country’s economic crisis is having on workers and their families. While inflation has spiked at unprecedented rates, the minimum wage has remained the same since 2018.

Brands that source from Sri Lanka have a responsibility to ensure the workers who make their clothes can survive this crisis. 

Photo: Pou Chen factory workers in Myanmar organizing to demand their rights (CCC).

CCC calls on brands to prioritize workers’ rights in Myanmar

February 1 marked the second anniversary of the violent coup in Myanmar. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), of which MSN is an active member, released a statement in solidarity with all those working to end military rule and restore democracy and human rights in the country.

In the statement, the CCC published updated demands for brands continuing to source from Myanmar, urging them to conduct ongoing and heightened due diligence, as well as for brands exiting Myanmar, calling on them to do so with a responsible exit strategy that prioritizes workers’ rights. The CCC has also highlighted the ongoing union-busting at the adidas Pou Chen Myanmar supplier factory, where workers continue to organize to demand improved conditions.

Garment workers are among those affected by the military’s violent crackdown on dissent and opposition. In the past two years, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has documented 198 cases of alleged labour and human rights abuses perpetrated against at least 104,000 garment workers.  

Photo: Earthquake damage in Hatay, Turkey, an area with considerable garment production. (Hilmi Hacaloğlu/VoA).

Apparel brands must ensure workers in Turkey are paid and kept safe

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Turkey, the #PayYourWorkers (PYW) coalition, of which MSN is a member, published a statement calling on brands that source from that country to ensure workers do not face additional hardship.

The statement calls on brands and retailers to pay their suppliers in Turkey on time, ensure that workers receive their full, regular wages - or severance in the case of layoffs, and make sure that factories are not reopened until they are verified as safe. The statement reiterates the importance of brands signing on to the legally binding PYW severance guarantee fund and ensure workers are paid what they are owed.

Photo: La Liga Sindical Obrero Mexicana / El Economista.

Mexico: Independent unions win significant wage increases

Over the past two months, independent unions in Mexico have negotiated significant wage increases at five manufacturing facilities. Two contributing factors that helped achieve these victories are the right of workers under Mexico’s labour justice reform to vote by secret ballot on existing collective bargaining agreements and in union representation elections, and the right to file Rapid Response complaints under the trinational trade agreement when workers’ associational rights are violated.

On our website we include more information about these victories and other news on Rapid Response complaints, including the Mexican and US governments’ plan to remediate violations of workers’ associational rights at the Manufacturas VU auto parts factory in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, and the first complaint accepted by the government of Canada.

Photo: JNB Global workers receive payment (WRC).

Workers win stolen severance at Target supplier factory in Guatemala

After a two-year struggle, seven workers formerly employed at a Target supplier factory in Guatemala have won their legally owed back pay and severance, and over 400 workers still employed at the factory have had their severance and seniority rights restored.

In late 2020, Target’s JNB Global supplier factory forced its workers to sign new employment contracts that falsified their initial hire dates, effectively reducing the amount of severance and other accrued benefits to which they were legally entitled. The seven workers that refused to sign were fired.

The unlawfully dismissed workers filed a complaint with the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), whose investigation confirmed that the factory had violated Guatemalan law and Target’s own Code of Conduct.

In addition to WRC’s extensive engagement with the company, this victory was achieved thanks to the persistence of the workers themselves, supported by Target employees in Minnesota organized in Target Workers Unite, the global #PayYourWorkers campaign, Remake, and MSN.

This precedent-setting case is the first time US retail giant Target has taken positive action in response to campaigning and engagement to ensure the rights of workers in its supply chain were restored.

Photo: Welcoming the Accord in Pakistan (CCC). 

Agreement reached to expand Health and Safety Accord to Pakistan

On December 14, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry announced the extension of its life-saving program to factories in Pakistan.

This long-awaited agreement between global unions and international brands means that hundreds of factories in Pakistan producing apparel products for brands and retailers that are signatories to the Accord will be the subject of independent health and safety inspections.

Garment and textile workers in the country will also receive health and safety training and have the right to file anonymous complaints when violations at those factories take place. As of March 28, 2023, 43 brands had signed on to the Pakistan Accord.

Photo: Factory worker (Ivan Samkov, pexels.com)

MSN launches 2023 Companies and Brands research tools 

On March 9, MSN launched updated and redesigned versions of our Companies and Brands research tools in both English and Spanish. The tools aim to assist trade unions, women’s and labour rights organizations and researchers in addressing labour rights violations in the global supply chains of international clothing companies. This 2023 version has two complementary components:

• Companies and Brands Chart: Leverage Points with International Apparel Companies includes dozens of global garment companies and the sometimes lesser-known brands they own, identifying five key leverage points for addressing human and labour rights violations.
  
  
• Companies and Brands: Factory List Disclosure includes direct links to the supply chain information published by the companies profiled on the chart, as well as directions on how to use the Open Supply Hub (OS Hub), a database providing free, public access to supply chain data, and the Worker Rights Consortium’s factory database. 

Photo: MSN Quiz (pexels.com)

Test your knowledge of Mexico’s labour justice reform 

To address common questions and areas of confusion on workers’ rights and employers' legal responsibilities under Mexico’s labour justice reform, MSN designed a quiz that unions, labour rights organizations, companies and industry associations can use in educational workshops and forums with their members.

It has been effectively used by labour rights organizations and companies as an introduction to discussions on the reform.

Photo: adidas Co-CEOs presented as part of the hoax (Yes Men). 

Take Action: It’s time for adidas and Nike to respect workers’ rights

On January 16, culture jamming activist duo, the Yes Men, in collaboration with the Clean Clothes Campaign, staged a high-profile hoax, naming and shaming adidas for its failure to respect workers’ rights. The stunt began with a fake statement, supposedly released by adidas, announcing the appointment of a Cambodian former garment worker and union leader, ‘Vay Ya Nak Phoan’ (‘garment worker’ in Khmer) as adidas’ Co-CEO, alongside Bjorn Gulden, the actual CEO as of January 1.

During a fashion show that was part of the hoax, ‘Co-CEO Vay Ya Nak Phoan’ pledged to address labour rights violations in adidas’ supply chain and signed the global #PayYourWorkers agreement on behalf of the company. Read more on the hoax.

Meanwhile, the 1,284 workers at the Ramatex Violet Apparel factory in Cambodia who lost their jobs when their factory suddenly closed in 2020 continue to fight for their legally-owed compensation, including unpaid wages and bonuses. To date, Ramatex and its main buyer Nike refuse to take responsibility and compensate the workers.

The film, ‘Air’, about Nike’s launch of the Air Jordan brand, premieres on April 5. The #PayYourWorkers campaign wants to make sure that movie goers and Air Jordan fans are aware of the reality facing Ramatex workers behind the Nike brand.

Photo: MEC’s annual colloquium for women’s day (MEC). 

MEC receives prestigious international health and safety award 

On November 8, Nicaragua’s Movement of Working and Unemployed Women – María Elena Cuadra (MEC) received the 2022 Leslie Nichols International Award. The Award, presented annually by the American Public Health Association (APHA), recognizes individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements in the field of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) outside the United States.

International recognition for MEC’s extraordinary work in favour of women’s and labour rights comes amidst ongoing attacks on women’s and labour rights organizations by the Ortega government, and the continued closing of democratic spaces for dissent.