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05 Sep

Posted at 01:22h in

TAIPEI – Earlier today, migrant fishers and key allies in the “Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights” campaign, which is led by the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI), Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Serve the People Association (SPA), and Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), met with the Premier of the Republic of China (ROC) or Taiwan, His Excellency Chen Chien-jen, to share fishers’ first-hand experiences working in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing fleet and to present their proposed solution to improve working conditions in their industry — mandatory Wi-Fi on board all 1,100 Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessels. 

Migrant fishers working in Taiwan’s distant-water fleet are calling for mandatory Wi-Fi on vessels to reduce forced labor risks and to ensure fishers can access fundamental labor rights without fear of retaliation. Every year, Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry exports roughly 1 billion USD of distant-water fishing products, including tuna and squid, to major global markets. Evidence-based reports show that forced labor is present on Taiwanese fishing vessels, and in 2022 the United States (US) government included fish from Taiwan in its “list of goods and their source countries which it has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards.”

“We stand at the crossroads of a pivotal moment in the lives of migrant distant-water fishers, who tirelessly work on Taiwanese vessels, contributing not only to the nation’s economy but also to the global seafood industry,” said Mudzakir Achmad, Chairman of Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI), which represents migrant fishers in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry. “We thank His Excellency Chen Chien-jen for his willingness to listen to us and we hope that he will support us in our petition for mandatory and regulated Wi-Fi access on all vessels. For us, Wi-Fi is not a luxury, but our only means while we are working at sea to connect to our families, to address issues in real-time, and to seek help when needed. It represents a lifeline for those who endure the hardships of distant-water fishing.”

At the meeting, migrant fishers and their allies delivered to His Excellency Chen Chien-jen a petition with over 13,000 signatures supporting the call for mandatory Wi-Fi, including from 1,000 migrant fishers themselves and from more than 10,000 online supporters. 

The “Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights” campaign is also seeking inclusion of mandatory Wi-Fi in the labor chapter of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, which is currently under negotiation. “Our appeal for mandatory, secure, and cost-free Wi-Fi access for fishers on every Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessel aligns with Taiwan’s own commitments to address forced labor risks in this industry and to comply with International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 188 on Work in Fishing,” said Valery Alzaga, Deputy Director of Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF). 

To guarantee that Wi-Fi is accessible for fishers and supports fishers’ labor rights, migrant fishers and their allies are calling for mandatory Wi-Fi to meet the following key criteria:

  1. Accessibility for all fishers on board; 
  2. Costs of Wi-Fi are not passed on to the fishers; 
  3. Data privacy protections to ensure the confidentiality of fishers’ communications and prevent retaliation;
  4. Reasonable and transparent rules for when and how fishers use it consistent with occupational safety and health for all workers; and
  5. A conflict resolution pathway agreed with vessel owners to remedy violations without retaliation.

The campaign has also called on corporations in or connected to Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry to participate in a roundtable with industry, labor, and government to discuss Wi-Fi implementation, leading towards a pilot program on several vessels that can inform implementation across Taiwan’s fleet. “Global seafood brands and retailers sourcing from Taiwan should join us to address abusive labor conditions for fishers in their supply chains. Otherwise, these corporations risk continued exposure to forced labor import bans and other similar legal consequences,” said Alzaga of GLJ-ILRF. 

Petition (English) – https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/wi_fi_on_board_loc/

Petition (Mandarin) – https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/ct/wi_fi_on_board_loc/

Petition (Indonesian) – https://avaaz.org/campaign/id/wifi_on_board_id/

Petition (Japanese) – https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/jp/wi_fi_on_board_asia_1/

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GLJ–ILRF is a non-profit public-interest organization dedicated to achieving dignity and justice for workers worldwide. GLJ-ILRF focuses on enforcing labor rights and promoting decent work conditions consistent with best practices and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards in the low-wage sections of global supply chains such as commercial fishing. GLJ-ILRF engages in research, policy work, advocacy, and education of the public and consumers.

 

12 Jun

Posted at 00:58h in

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12th, 2019

CONTACT: Nazly Sobhi Damasio, nazly@globallaborjustice.org

#GarmentMeToo Campaign Launches Report on Gender Justice on Garment Global Supply Chains — An Agenda to Transform Fast-Fashion: Recommendations for the ILO and Garment Brands

As negotiations are underway this week at the International Labor Organization in Geneva to create a global standard on women’s labor rights, Global Labor Justice (GLJ) and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) released a new report today titled, “Gender Justice on Garment Global Supply Chains: An Agenda to Transform Fast-Fashion”, as a follow up to the #GarmentMeToo campaign that they launched last month.

This new report provides a clear road map for fast fashion brands on how to end gender based violence and harassment (GBVH) on garment production lines, along with a set of recommendations to the ILO. The recommendations are centered around low wage workers on global supply chains with key information about AFWA’s Safe Circle Approach —  a transformative approach to GBVH prevention that integrates key components of a corporate accountability approach.  

“Women workers organized to make gender based violence and harassment a priority for the ILO and the labor and human rights movement, said Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum of Global Labor Justice.  “An ILO Convention and Recommendation are only the beginning- ending violence and harassment on the shop floor and across supply chains requires innovative collaborations like the “Safe Circles Approach” with roles for brands, suppliers, and unions.“

AFWA’s safe circle approach was designed by the AFWA Women’s Leadership Committee in partnership with women workers on production lines and their trade unions, supplier factories and brands. It was created in response to GBVH in garment factories to develop and sustain a positive organizational culture on garment production lines.

“The research is clear: GBVH continues on garment global supply chains and current approaches are not working,” says Elly Rosita Silaban, a member of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance Women’s Leadership Committee (AFWA-WLC). “Multinational garment brands that drive the industry stand at a critical crossroads: will they use the Safe Circles Strategy as a new tool to root out GBVH, production line by production line? Or will they continue with a business model that relies on gender based violence and harassment for the sake of cheap labor and higher profits?”

Anannya Bhattacharjee, International Coordinator of Asia Floor Wage Alliance says, “When women workers in low-wage  jobs speak up, they face immediate retaliation and backlash. If fast fashion brands are serious about preventing GBVH on their supply chains, they should adopt the Safe Circles Approach and ensure their suppliers work, locally and regionally with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance Women’s Leadership Committee.”

Rukhmini V.P., a member of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance Women’s Leadership Committee (AFWA-WLC) says, “This report is a call to action across Asian global garment supply chains. Garment brands are generally in agreement that their internal grievance mechanisms to address GBV have not been successful, which was clearly shown in our 2018 report. Our response is for brands to adopt the Safe Circle strategies approach. This way supervisors and workers can work together to create a GBV free workplace by developing a common understanding though joint trainings.”

The #GarmentMeToo campaign builds on 2018 global supply chain research documenting gender based violence in Asian garment supply chains including H&M and Walmart. The reports documented and analyzed patterns of GBVH in Asian global garment supply chains.  The research also led to the formation of the Women’s Leadership Committee of the Asia Floor Wage including fourteen women trade union leaders across four countries organized to lead negotiations with brands aimed at collaboratively transforming cultures of impunity for gender based violence and harassment (GBVH) on garment global supply chains.

The 2018 global supply chain reports were covered by more than 50 news outlets across 17 countries, and described by The Nation as a “#MeToo Movement for the Global Fashion Industry.” Additionally, on June 5, 2018, H&M and Gap publicly declared support for a binding ILO Convention on workplace violence, including gender based violence in garment supply chains.

 

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Global Labor Justice (GLJ) is a US based strategy hub supporting transnational collaboration among worker and migrant organizations to expand labor rights and new forms of bargaining on global value chains and international labor migration corridors.

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), founded in 2007, is an Asian labour-led international alliance of garment industry trade unions, labour rights organisations, consumer groups and research institutes across Asia, Europe and North America.

 

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10 Jun

Posted at 01:19h in

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 3rd, 2019

CONTACT: Nazly Sobhi Damasio, nazly@globallaborjustice.org

#GarmentMeToo: Women Garment Workers Demand an End to Gender Based Violence Across the Global Garment Supply Chain

Today, Global Labor Justice and Asia Floor Wage Alliance announces the launch of a new global campaign, #GarmentMeToo. The campaign is a transformative vision of work that centers the dignity and economic security of women workers led by women trade union leaders in order to win concrete solutions and contribute to  new international labor standards and ultimately create power building roles for supplier unions, allied unions, women’s organizations, human rights organizations, and consumers in brand supplier producing and retail countries. The purpose of the campaign is to target the supply chains of garment apparel brands in order to bring brands and their suppliers to the table with supplier unions to bargain and create changes on production lines at the industrial level as well as along global supply chains.  

In the #MeToo era, women led organizing is emerging worldwide in fields, factories, and boardrooms towards the goal of gender equity and inclusion and pushing back against violence against women. At its centennial anniversary, the International Labor Organization is undertaking international standard setting on Gender Based Violence.  “Through the Garment Me Too Campaign, garment women worker leaders and their allies expose serious exploitation and then put forward innovative proposals for transformative global supply chains which create decent work, social justice, and a future of work that empowers women,” says Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum, U.S. Director of Global Labor Justice.

At this key moment, garment brands who have women dominated global supply chains must also act on their responsibility to improve conditions for women workers in their global supply chains in collaboration with the worker organizations that those women lead, including preventing gender-based violence and harassment.

Brands have shown time and again that they are not invested in creating economic stability and ensuring a workplace that is free from gender-based violence for their workers along their global supply chains. Corporate social responsibility programs and audits distract from the necessary structural changes that corporations need to make in order to shift pressures that require high production targets with low costs that often lead to gender-based violence.

Instead, corporations must work with and follow the lead of women-led worker organizations driving change along global garment supply chains.

Anannya Bhattacharjee, secretariat of Asia Floor Wage Alliance says, “The Garment Me Too campaign spotlights the torturous gender-based violence that garment women workers face daily in supplier factories across Asia. When women workers in precarious poverty-level jobs speak up they face immediate retaliation and backlash. If fashion brands are serious about commitments to women’s empowerment they and their suppliers should work, locally and regionally, with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance Women’s Leadership Committee (AFWA-WLC) — composed of women garment worker leaders across Asia — to change conditions in the factories immediately.”

Women and trade union leaders who work on the global supply chains day in and day out know the problems — and they know the solutions to addressing the issues. Women garment workers have been organizing to bring major brands and suppliers to the table in order to create a new standard across global supply chains that demands a woman’s right to work with dignity, earn a living wage, freedom from gender based violence and the ability to join and lead worker organizations so they can provide for their families, be successful and thrive within their communities.

“Global capitalism has caused the prevalence of gender based violence that haunts women garment workers daily within brand supplier factories.  With the #GarmentMeToo campaign, women garment workers are able to fight against gender based violence and demand that brands be held responsible and improve the working conditions within their supplier factories. This campaign will help break the stigma that women are weak and not capable of fighting back against the violence they face but instead fighting to create a workplace that empowers women. It is also crucial for brands to take gender based violence cases seriously and work together with women garment workers and trade unions to find the best solutions for them,” says Sumiyati Nama, a leader within the Serikat Pekerja Nasional Workers Union in Indonesia.

Innovative leadership helmed by garment workers and trade unionists will be able to enforce strong regulations, like the proposed ILO Convention, and other regional agreements through bargaining that would reach across borders in order to tackle gender-based violence and harassment along global supply chains and promote economic stability between brands, suppliers and trade unions at the local and international level.

The women trade union leaders in the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) that represent thousands of women garment workers in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Cambodia, with members producing clothes for H&M, Gap, Walmart, Nike and other well-known brands that global consumers continue to wear are leading organizing efforts to create these changes across global garment supply chains.

 

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Global Labor Justice (GLJ) is a US based strategy hub supporting transnational collaboration among worker and migrant organizations to expand labor rights and new forms of bargaining on global value chains and international labor migration corridors.

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) was officially formed in 2006 and includes more than 76 organizations, including garment industry trade unions, NGOs, consumer groups and research institutes from more than 17 countries from across Asia, Europe and North America.

 

 

Bahasa Version:

UNTUK DIPUBLIKASIKAN SEGERA: 3 Mei 2019

Kontak: Nazly Sobhi Damasio, 312.687.8360, nazly@globallaborjustice.org

#GarmentMeToo: Buruh Garmen Perempuan Menuntut Dihentikannya Kekerasan Berbasis Gender di Seluruh Rantai Pasokan Garmen Global

Hari ini, Global Labor Justice (GLJ) dan Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) mengumumkan dimulainya kampanye global #GarmentMeToo. Kampanye ini merupakan visi transformasi kerja yang berpusat pada martabat dan jaminan ekonomi buruh/pekerja perempuan yang dipimpin oleh pemimpin perempuan serikat buruh/pekerja untuk mendapatkan solusi nyata dan sebagai bentuk sumbangsih pada standar perburuhan internasional yang baru dan terutama untuk membangun kekuatan serikat buruh/pekerja di tingkat pabrik, aliansi serikat buruh/pekerja, organisasi perempuan, organisasi hak asasi manusia, dan para konsumen di negara-negara tempat para pemilik merek memproduksi dan menjual produknya. Kampanye ini menyasar rantai pasok para pemilik merek garmen dengan tujuan membawa para pemilik merek dan suplier duduk satu meja dengan serikat buruh/pekerja di tingkat pabrik untuk merundingkan dan menciptakan perubahan di lini produksi pada tingkat sektor industri dan juga di sepanjang rantai pasokan global.

Pada masa gerakan #MeToo, pengorganisasian yang dipimpin perempuan muncul secara luas di seluruh dunia di lapangan, di pabrik, dan di ruang dewan direksi untuk mencapai tujuan keadilan gender dan inklusi dan melawan kekerasan terhadap perempuan. Pada peringatan 100 tahun berdirinya organisasi perburuhan internasional ILO, organisasi ini berupaya menetapkan standar internasional mengenai Kekerasan Berbasis Gender. “Melalui Kampanye ‘Garment Me Too’ ini, pemimpin perempuan buruh/pekerja garmen dan organisasi aliansinya mengungkapkan betapa seriusnya praktik penghisapan yang terjadi dan mengajukan usulan-usulan perubahan yang inovatif pada rantai pasok global untuk mencapai kerja layak, keadilan sosial, dan praktik kerja di masa depan yang memajukan perempuan,” kata Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum, Direktur Global Labor Justice di Amerika.

Pada peristiwa penting ini, para pemilik merek garmen dimana rantai pasokannya didominasi oleh perempuan, harus mengambil tindakan sebagai bentuk tanggung jawabnya untuk memperbaiki kondisi kerja perempuan yang berada di rantai pasok mereka dengan bekerja bersama organisasi pekerja yang dipimpin oleh perempuan, termasuk untuk mencegah kekerasan dan pelecehan berbasis gender.

Para pemilik merek telah memperlihatkan berulang kali bahwa mereka tidak melakukan investasi yang menciptakan stabilitas ekonomi dan kepastian tempat kerja yang bebas dari kekerasan berbasis gender bagi para buruh/pekerjanya di sepanjang rantai pasokan mereka. Program tanggung jawab sosial perusahaan dan audit mengalihkan persoalan mengenai pentingnya dilakukan perubahan struktural oleh perusahaan untuk mengubah tekanan target produksi yang tinggi dan biaya produksi yang rendah yang seringkali mengakibatkan kekerasan berbasis gender. Seharusnya, perusahaan bekerjasama dan mengikuti arahan pemimpin serikat buruh/pekerja perempuan untuk mendorong terjadinya perubahan di rantai pasok garmen global.

Anannya Bhattacharjee dari sekretariat Asia Floor Wage Alliance mengatakan, “Kampanye Garment Me Too menyoroti kekerasan berbasis gender yang menyiksa buruh/pekerja garmen perempuan di pabrik-pabrik setiap hari. Ketika buruh/pekerja garmen yang menjalani pekerjaan yang terus memiskinkan mereka bersuara, mereka mengalami tindakan balas dendam dan serangan balik. Jika para pemilik brand fashion serius mengenai komitmen untuk memajukan perempuan, mereka dan para supliernya harus bekerja di tingkat lokal dan regional dengan Komite Pemimpin Perempuan AFWA – yang terdiri dari pemimpin pekerja perempuan di Asia – untuk mengubah kondisi di pabrik dengan segera.”

Perempuan dan pemimpin serikat buruh/pekerja yang berada di rantai pasokan global setiap hari mengetahui persoalan yang terjadi di tempat kerjanya–dan mereka tahu solusi untuk menyelesaikan persoalan tersebut. Buruh/pekerja garmen perempuan telah mengorganisir diri untuk membawa para pemilik merek dan suplier ke meja perundingan untuk merumuskan standar baru yang memastikan hak perempuan untuk bekerja secara bermartabat, mendapatkan upah secara layak, terbebas dari kekerasan berbasis gender dan memampukan perempuan untuk bergabung dan memimpin organisasi buruh/pekerja sehingga mereka dapat menghidupi keluarganya, menjadi orang yang berhasil dan terus maju di masyarakat.

“Kapitalisme global telah mengakibatkan semakin masifnya kekerasan berbasis gender yang menghantui buruh/pekerja garmen perempuan setiap hari di pabrik-pabrik yang memproduksi barang untuk para pemilik merek. Melalui kampanye #GarmentMeToo, buruh/pekerja garmen perempuan dapat melawan kekerasan berbasis gender dan menuntut para pemilik merek untuk bertanggung jawab dan memperbaiki kondisi kerja di pabrik-pabrik supliernya. Kampanye ini dapat memutus stigma bahwa perempuan lemah dan tidak mampu untuk melawan kekerasan yang mereka alami dan melakukan perlawanan untuk menciptakan tempat kerja yang memajukan perempuan. Penting bagi para pemilik merek untuk memberikan perhatian serius pada kasus-kasus kekerasan berbasis gender dan bekerja bersama buruh perempuan dan serikat buruh/pekerja untuk mencari solusi terbaik bagi mereka,” jelas Sumiyati dari DPP Serikat Pekerja Nasional di Indonesia.

Kepemimpinan yang inovatif oleh buruh/pekerja garmen dan pemimpin serikat akan dapat menegakkan peraturan yang kuat, seperti Konvensi ILO yang diusulkan, dan perjanjian regional lainnya melalui perundingan yang dapat menembus lintas batas untuk menyelesaikan persoalan kekerasan dan pelecehan berbasis gender di sepanjang rantai pasokan dan memajukan stabilitas ekonomi di antara para pemilik brand, suplier, dan serikat buruh/pekerja di tingkat lokal dan internasional.

Para perempuan pemimpin serikat pekerja di AFWA yang mewakili ribuan buruh garmen di India, Srilangka, Indonesia dan Kamboja yang memproduksi pakaian untuk H&M, Gap, Walmart, Nike dan merek-merek terkenal lainnya yang digunakan oleh konsumen global, memimpin upaya pengorganisasian untuk menciptakan perubahan-perubahan ini di sepanjang rantai pasokan garmen global.

 

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Global Labor Justice (GLJ) adalah Jaringan strategis di Amerika yang memberikan dukungan pada kerjasama transnasional antar buruh dan organisasi migran untuk memajukan hak buruh dan bentuk-bentuk perundingan baru di rantai pasok global dan koridor migrasi pekerja internasional (https://globallaborjustice.org/)

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) secara resmi terbentuk pada 2006 yang beranggotakan lebih dari 76 organisasi dari serikat buruh/pekerja garmen, NGO, kelompok konsumen dan lembaga penelitian dari 17 negara di Asia, Eropa dan Amerika Utara.

 

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02 Jul

Posted at 18:17h in

For immediate release: June 24th, 2020

Contact: Nazly Sobhi Damasio, nazly@globallaborjustice.org

Four Major Civil Society Groups Release Dispute Resolution System and Model Arbitration Clauses for Disputes Arising Under Enforceable Brand Agreements

Today, four major civil society groups released a model dispute resolution system, focused on model arbitration clauses, for disputes on labor standards in supply-chain operations. The Clean Clothes Campaign, Global Labor Justice, International Labor Rights Forum, and Worker Rights Consortium issued their Model Arbitration Clauses for the Resolution of Disputes under Enforceable Brand Agreements to make firms’ agreements with unions and other worker advocates binding and enforceable.

With the seismic shocks to economic security and public health caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, enforceable brand agreements are an important avenue for maintaining ongoing employment, and transforming the economy through structural change for redistribution in supply chains.  Witness the millions of apparel workers laid off due to global brands’ cancelled orders and left with no savings or social protection.

Drafted by a team of international labor and human rights arbitration experts, the model clauses respond to experiences under the Bangladesh Accord, an agreement on fire and building safety in garment-producing workplaces in that country that followed the horrific 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, which killed more than 1,100 workers and left hundreds more permanently injured.

The Accord is one of several initiatives pioneering a surge in enforceable brand agreements. They represent a growing trend in new standards for transparent and enforceable corporate accountability agreements between global brands and unions.  The Model Arbitration Clauses provide a template for more cost-effective dispute resolution approaches that can be included in these agreements, saving time and resources for employers and unions alike.

Designed for direct incorporation into enforceable brand agreements, the Model Arbitration Clauses for the Resolution of Disputes under Enforceable Brand Agreements, advance a streamlined arbitration system with a rapid timeline that protects impartiality and due process while avoiding excessive litigiousness, promoting transparency, alleviating burdensome costs, and providing final and binding enforcement. Led by international law and labor law scholars, Lance Compa and Katerina Yiannibas, the Clauses draw from leading international arbitration rules and existing supply-chain agreements negotiated by trade unions, labor rights NGOs and brands.

ILRF director Judy Gearhart said, “These model clauses provide a new template for enforceable brand agreements. They’re meant for use by companies, unions, and civil society labor advocates who negotiate agreements on labor conditions in supply chains. This arbitration system provides a streamlined, cost-effective method for neutral decision-making when workers claim violation of rights and standards under agreements between brands and labor advocates.”

WRC General Counsel Ben Hensler said, “This model arbitration language highlights a key aspect of how enforceable supply chain agreements between brands and unions differ sharply from corporate codes of conduct and other unilateral, voluntary schemes that overly depend on company goodwill without giving workers and their representatives an equal voice and equal oversight in their implementation. This is an important step forward in the further development of binding and enforceable agreements on supply-chain labor rights standards.”

GLJ director JJ Rosenbaum said, “Labor stakeholders and brand representatives can incorporate this model language into their agreements. Alternatively, they can use this language as a starting point for negotiating an arbitration clause tailored to the specific features of their relationship, such as their economic sector, product line, pricing structures, locations of brand headquarters and supply-chain workplaces, composition of the parties on each side of the negotiating table, and other considerations.”

CCC coordinator Ineke Zeldenrust said, “While such agreements typically involve international supply-chain relationships, these clauses could be adapted to a domestic supply-chain system, to framework agreements between global unions and multinational companies, to ‘fair trade’ agreements between advocacy organizations and firms that promote a fair-trade brand, and other types of agreements involving worker rights supporters and companies committed to respecting international labor standards.”

The Model Clauses document is available at the website of each of the sponsoring organizations: Clean Clothes Campaign, Global Labor Justice, International Labor Rights Forum, and Worker Rights Consortium.

 

 

 

 

 

11 Jun

Posted at 06:23h in

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 30th, 2019

CONTACT: Nazly Sobhi Damasio, nazly@globallaborjustice.org

New Study Exposes Empty Living Wage Promises: Global Garment Brands Get Richer While Continuing to Pay Poverty Wages

From Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum, U.S. Director of Global Labor Justice:

Important new research from the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at the University of Sheffield — Corporate Commitments to Living Wage in the Garment Industry underscores what Global Labor Justice’s partner the Asia Floor Wage Alliance has evidenced through grassroots people’s tribunals in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Cambodia. Despite growing profits for corporate executives and shareholders, global garment brands are paying workers on their global supply chains — who are predominantly women — poverty wages.  This report follows groundbreaking research by SPERI Director Genevieve LeBaron on the failure of corporate audits and corporate social responsibility to improve conditions for workers in the global garment supply chain.  

The SPERI report exposes the growing practice of global garment brands who are using living wage pledges as a public relations tool without actually paying workers higher wages. Professor LeBaron concludes: “There is little evidence that corporate commitments to living wages are translating into meaningful change on the ground. As such, consumers are purchasing products they may believe are made by workers earning a living wage, when in reality, low wages continue to be the status quo across the global garment industry.”

Earlier this month, H&M shareholders voted down a shareholder resolution creating a living wage fund for excess profits so that H&M could meet its living wage commitments.  

Global Labor Justice stands with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance in its demand of brands to take responsibility and pay the difference in the supplier paid national minimum wage and the living wage calculated in order to meet the basic needs of garment workers and their families.  

Global Labor Justice challenges global garment brands to meet their human rights obligations and pay their workers a living wage. Poverty wages are a gender justice issue that impacts more than 60 million garment workers world wide, the majority who are women. Poverty wages force women to work excessive overtime in order to supplement wages as little as a third of the minimum living wage calculation, leading to health and welfare impacts for women garment workers and their families. Advancing living wages through a gendered lens is a pillar of Global Labor Justice’s campaign: Gender Justice on Garment Global Supply Chains: An Agenda to Transform Fast-Fashion.

 

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Global Labor Justice (GLJ) is a US based strategy hub supporting transnational collaboration among worker and migrant organizations to expand labor rights and new forms of bargaining on global value chains and international labor migration corridors.

 

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