More Updates

Still waiting for Canada to take effective action on corporate abuses abroad

Dec 6, 2018 —

Photo: CNCA

The appointment of the highly anticipated Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) is expected by year’s end, as civil society pressure mounts to ensure that Canada lives up to its promise to hold Canadian companies in the mining, oil and gas, and garment sectors accountable for their human rights abuses abroad.

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Precedent setting Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh in jeopardy

Nov 20, 2018 —

Photo: Kristof Vadino

On November 30, a restraining order placed on the Transition Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is set to come into effect pending the outcome of an appeal submitted by the Accord last week. If the Bangladeshi High Court does not grant the appeal, the groundbreaking multi-stakeholder factory inspection body will have to leave Bangladesh.

Will Mexico's new government make advances on labour justice? (September 2018)

Sep 20, 2018 —
On July 1, 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known by his initials AMLO) and his party, National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), won an overwhelming electoral victory that creates a new political context for the implementation of the 2017 Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system.

Bi-national childcare forum in El Salvador (May 2018)

Sep 11, 2018 —

Over 90 participants came together on May 23, 2018 in San Salvador, El Salvador, for a bi-national forum on the advantages and disadvantages for maquila workers of workplace, community, and home-based childcare options in Central America and internationally. Representatives came from 38 supplier factories in Honduras and El Salvador; 27 union, women’s and other non-governmental organizations, 13 international brands and manufacturers; and two industry associations.

Brands urged to support a living wage for Bangladeshi garment workers

Aug 28, 2018 —

Public rally in support of the 16,000 taka minimum wage demand (Photo: Taslima Akhter)

Inditex (owner of Zara) has become the first major apparel brand to respond positively to a joint request from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), International Labor Rights Forum, and Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) to publicly support Bangladeshi garment workers’ demands for a significant increase in the country’s minimum wage.

Childcare in Central America: Legal Requirements and International Conventions (May 2018)

May 16, 2018 —

This educational resource compares childcare laws and regulations in four garment-producing Central American countries and profiles relevant international conventions on childcare. It was prepared by MSN for Central American women’s, trade union and labour rights organizations, as well as international apparel brands that participate in the Americas Group, a multi-stakeholder forum involving brands and manufacturers, the Global Union IndustriALL, the Fair Labor Association, and MSN.  

Debate on Mexican Labour Justice Reform Continues as Counter-Reform Bill Suspended (May 2018)

May 10, 2018 —

Today, MSN published its latest Update on the ongoing debate in Mexico concerning the implementing legislation for the Constitutional Reform to the country’s labour justice system.

The May 2018 Update deciphers a complicated series of events that led to the temporary suspension of a counter-reform bill that would have undercut, if not totally negated, the spirit and intent of the February 2017 Constitutional Reform.

On the 5th Anniversary of Rana Plaza, tell brands to sign the renewed Accord

Apr 24, 2018 —

Photo credit: AFL-CIO Solidarity Center

Today marks the five-year anniversary of the tragic collapse of the Rana Plaza building that took the lives of 1,134 garment workers and seriously injured over 2,500. It is now widely known that workers who reported for work that morning did not want to enter the building because they knew it was unsafe were told by managers that they had to go to work in order to meet order deadlines of the international brands.

With 100 days left in mandate of Bangladesh Accord, brands urged to sign renewed Accord (Febrero 2018)

Feb 22, 2018 —

Photo: IndustriALL

As the end of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety’s mandate draws near, with only 100 days remaining, brands and retailers are being urged to sign the renewed Accord for three more years.

The global union signatories to the Accord, IndustriALL and UNI, and the four witness signatories, Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network and Worker Rights Consortium, are calling on the garment companies that have not yet signed the renewed 2018 Accord to do so as soon as possible.

International brand to pay $2.3 million to fix safety hazards in Bangladesh factories (January 2018)

Jan 31, 2018 —

Photo: Clean Clothes Campaign

Global Unions IndustriALL and UNI have reached an historic US$2.3 million settlement in an arbitration case against an international brand for failing to meet its health and safety obligations under the legally binding Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

The brand, whose name was not disclosed under the terms of the settlement, will pay $2 million to fix safety hazards in over 200 Bangladeshi supplier factories and contribute $300,000 to a Supply Chain Worker Support Fund managed by the two Global Unions.

Will proposed bill undermine Mexico’s labour justice reform? (December 2017)

Dec 20, 2017 —

On December 7, two senators from Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) submitted a bill to the Senate that, if approved, would undermine, if not nullify, the most important advances in the country’s Constitutional Reform to the labour justice system that became law only 10 months earlier.

Murders at Canadian mine expose lack of labour rights in Mexico (November 2017)

Nov 28, 2017 —

Striking workers (Photo: IndustriALL)

The assassination of two brothers, Victor and Marcelino Shaunitla Peña, has shone a spotlight on Mexico’s corrupt and anti-democratic labour relations system. The brothers were participating in a work stoppage by mineworkers with the support of community members against the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in Azcala, Guerrero. The murders happened just as NAFTA negotiations were resuming in Mexico City.

MSN joins call for action on 5th anniversary of Tazreen factory fire (November 2017)

Nov 22, 2017 —

Canadian union delegation to Bangladesh with Kalpona Akter from the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) looking up at the remains of the Tazreen building (2016)

On the 5th anniversary of the Tazreen factory fire, MSN joins with our colleagues in the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) in calling for a bridging solution until Employment Injury Insurance is available to all workers in the Bangladesh garment industry.

Assessing Childcare Needs of Maquila Workers

Sep 26, 2017 —

Over the past year, MSN has been working with coalitions of women’s and trade union organizations in El Salvador and Honduras on the right of working parents in the maquila sector to access quality affordable childcare for.

As part of that effort, MSN has been facilitating dialogue on the issue between the local organizations and international brands that are part of the multi-stakeholder Americas Group and whose products are made in one or both countries.

Mexicans Mobilize to Aid Victims of September 19th Earthquake

Sep 26, 2017 —

Shortly after a devastating earthquake hit Mexico on September 19, MSN received several phone calls and emails from friends and supporters concerned about the safety of members of our staff who were meeting in Mexico City on that day.

We are writing to provide an update on what we experienced, witnessed and learned regarding the impact of the earthquake on people in Mexico City, Morelos and Puebla and the courageous response of thousands of volunteers to this tragedy.

Legal Analysis of the Right to Childcare for Workers in Honduras (June 2017)

Sep 12, 2017 —

Honduras has the most extensive legal framework on childcare for working parents in Central America, setting out the responsibilities of both employers and the state to provide and monitor childcare services for workers.

However, employers in the maquila sector have attempted to use differences in various laws and regulations to argue that employers have no legal responsibility to provide or pay for workplace childcare.

Joint letter from 14 clothing brands supporting labour justice reform in Mexico (July 2017)

Aug 5, 2017 —
On July 28, 2017, 14 international clothing brands and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released a joint letter to the Mexican government declaring their support for a Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system that could better protect workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.

14 clothing brands release joint letter supporting labour justice reform in Mexico

Jul 28, 2017 —
On July 28, 2017, 14 international clothing brands and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released a joint letter to the Mexican government declaring their support for a Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system that could better protect workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.

Briefing Paper: Will Mexico’s labour justice reform remove barriers to workers’ rights? (July 2017)

Jul 13, 2017 —

Today, MSN released a Briefing Paper entitled Labour Justice Reform in Mexico.

Based on MSN’s own research and in-depth interviews with 16 Mexican and international labour rights experts, the paper analyzes the Mexican government’s  February 2017 reform to the country’s Constitution, which promises to provide better protections for the rights of workers to be represented by a union of their free choice and to bargain collectively.

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