More Updates

Agreement reached to release imprisoned Bangladeshi union leaders, but crisis not fully resolved

Mar 22, 2017 —

Photo: IndustriALL

On February 23, Bangladeshi unions affiliated with IndustriALL Bangladesh Council reached an agreement with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Ministry of Labour for the release on bail of the remaining union leaders still imprisoned for their alleged association with a wage strike in December 2016.

Pressure mounts for end to anti-union repression in Bangladesh

Feb 22, 2017 —

Photo: Clean Clothes Campaign

The Clean Clothes Campaign and International Labor Rights Forum announced today that because of continuing anti-union repression in Bangladesh, five major apparel brands – H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, NEXT and Tchibo – and the UK’s Ethical Trading Initiative have pulled out of the February 25 Dhaka Apparel Summit, which will be hosted by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Brands must intervene to win release of imprisoned labour leaders in Bangladesh

Jan 18, 2017 —

Photo: IndustriALL

Twenty-two human and labour rights organizations from around the world are calling on international apparel brands to press for the release of unjustly imprisoned Bangladeshi union leaders and worker rights advocates and the reinstatement of 1,500 workers suspended or terminated for taking part in a wage strike.

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety overstates progress; workers’ lives at risk

Nov 21, 2016 —

Photo: International Labor Rights Forum

More than three and a half years after 1,134 workers died in the Rana Plaza building collapse, major apparel brands and retailers that are members of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, including Walmart, Gap, Target, VF Corporation, and Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Company, are way behind in ensuring that their Bangladesh supplier factories are safe, says a new report from four labour rights organizations.

Scenarios

Jul 12, 2016 —

This workshop uses six scenarios based on real problems that workers and the organizations defending their rights face in factories. The goal is to develop participants’ capacity to decide when and how to engage with clothing brands. To read the scenarios presented to participants, click here:

Exercise One

Brands and Labour Rights: How and when to engage with brands (2016)

Jul 12, 2016 —

Module and Reference Materials

The workshop Brands and Labour Rights: When and How to Engage with Brands was designed by Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) as a tool for use by women’s and trade union organizations in Central America and Mexico in their work to pressure apparel brands to take action to achieve greater respect for labour rights in their supplier factories in the region.

MSN condemns assassination of Guatemalan union leader (July 2016)

Jul 8, 2016 —

Photo: Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos/Solidarity Center

The Maquila Solidarity Network joins labour, human rights, women’s organizations in Guatemala and internationally in strongly condemning the murder of Guatemalan labour leader Brenda Marleni Estrada Tambito, and calls on the Guatemalan government to launch an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into her assassination, bring those responsible to justice, and take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of members of her family.

Three years after Rana Plaza: What has and hasn’t changed for Bangladeshi garment workers?

Apr 26, 2016 —

Photo: Pieter Van de Boogert

April 24, 2016 was the third anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse, in which over 1,100 workers were killed and approximately 2,500 injured in the worst industrial disaster in the history of the garment industry.

Three years later, what has changed for the injured workers and the families of those who died, and for the young women and men who continue to work in the industry?

Compensation

Bangladeshi factories remain unsafe: H&M suppliers fail on deadlines to address safety hazards

Apr 12, 2016 —
As Swedish fashion giant H&M prepares to announce a predicted increase in their profits for 2015, labour rights groups are calling on the company to do more to protect garment workers in Bangladesh, after a review of H&M’s strategic suppliers shows that severe delays in carrying out urgent and vital building repairs continue to leave tens of thousands of workers at risk of death and injury.

Assassination of Honduran indigenous rights and environmental activist, Berta Cáceres, sparks global outrage (April 2016)

Apr 12, 2016 —

Photo: of Berta beside the Gualcarque River (Goldman Environmental Prize)

MSN joins with a growing number of organizations and institutions throughout the Americas and around the world in condemning the assassination of internationally recognized Honduran human and indigenous rights defender and environmental activist, Berta Cáceres. We express our deeply felt condolences to the members of her family and community and we affirm our support for their continuing struggle.

35 organizations demand that Lexmark reinstate fired union organizers

Mar 29, 2016 —

Photo: ©2016 Keith Dannemiller

Thirty-five organizations based in the US, Canada, Europe and Mexico have signed an Open Letter urging US-based print cartridge manufacturer, Lexmark, to reinstate workers fired for protesting unjust working conditions and attempting to organize an independent union at a Lexmark owned and operated factory in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Another Bangladesh factory fire reinforces desperate need to speed up safety repairs

Feb 2, 2016 —

Graphic: Clean Clothes Campaign

A fire at another Bangladesh factory producing clothes for H&M, JC Penney and other brands has reinforced serious concerns raised by MSN and other witness signatories to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety about long delays in required safety renovations at factories producing for US and European brands.

Comparison of Mexico's federal labour law, ILO standards, and FLA code and benchmarks (January 2015)

Oct 9, 2015 —

This document, prepared by MSN for the Mexico Committee of the Americas group, was designed primarily as a tool for companies sourcing apparel products from Mexico to better understand the labour standards obligations of their Mexican suppliers and the rights of workers in their supplier factories. It should also serve as a useful reference document for trade union and labour rights organizations advocating on behalf of Mexican workers.

Eight brands release joint letter to Mexican government supporting freedom of association

Oct 9, 2015 —

On September 22, eight international apparel brands released a joint letter to the Mexican government expressing their support for the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) request that Mexico make further reforms to its Federal Labour Law to ensure respect for workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.

Signatories to the joint letter include: adidas Group, American Eagle Outfitters, New Balance, Nike, Patagonia, Puma, PVH, and The Walt Disney Company.

MSN's Freedom of Association in Mexico Tool Kit (2014)

Oct 6, 2015 —

The right of workers to freely associate and the right to bargain collectively on the terms and conditions of their employment are fundamental human rights enshrined in International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and United Nations (UN) declaractions. These fundamental principles are reflected in the codes of conduct of most leading apparel brands.

What Should Brands Do?

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