Herausgeber_innen: The London School of Economics and Political Science, Brac University, University of Gothenburg, UNSW Australia, Freie Universität Berlin, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz: Garment Supply Chain Governance Project Final Report

Autor_innen: Schüßler, E., Frenkel, S., Ashwin, S., Kabeer, N., Egels-Zandén, N., Alexander, R., Huq, L., Oka, C., Lohmeyer, N., Rahman, S. & Rahman, K. M.

Schlagwörter: Asien, Bangladesch, Sicherheit, Unternehmensverantwortung

Kurzbeschreibung:

The April 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, which killed over 1,000 garment workers and injured many more, shocked the world. Since then, lead firms, supplier factories, governments and multiple other stakeholders have sought to improve building safety in Bangladesh and to strengthen the governance of labour standards in garment supply chains. This report summarizes the results of the Garment Supply Chain Governance Project, which provides the most thorough analysis of lead firms’ current practices and their impact on garment factories and workers in the context of various public and private labour governance initiatives to date.

Since the Rana Plaza disaster, buyer-supplier relations, lead firm labour governance approaches and worker outcomes in Bangladeshi garment factories have changed. These changes can be attributed to an intensified climate for compliance regarding primarily building safety, but also other aspects of working conditions. While it is difficult to tease out precisely the causal impact of each initiative implemented in Bangladesh since Rana Plaza, our data indicate that this climate of compliance and the resulting changes can be strongly associated to lead firms’ engagement in the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (Accord).

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 44 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Autor_in: Farzana Nawaz

Schlagwörter: Arbeitsbedingungen, Asien, Bangladesch, Frauenrechte

Kurzbeschreibung:

Despite economic growth and declining poverty levels across Asia, inequality continues to grow, with large groups of society remaining marginalized in economic and social terms.

Women in Asia continue to experience massive structural disadvantages, from early childhood education through their retirement from work—if they wanted and were allowed to work—and into their older age. It is mainly women who are exploited as cheap labour in Asia’s export industries and low-skill sectors, especially agriculture, textiles and the footwear and electronic industries. They are paid subsistence wages and experience increasing precariousness of their working as well as living conditions.

On the heels of all the economic progress now comes rapid technological transformation that is altering the present and future nature of work in ways that offer a multitude of opportunities but also add new levels of risks for social groups across the Global South.

Women are particularly vulnerable and disproportionally affected by these changes, both in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in the ever-expanding care work across the formal and informal sectors.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 24 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_innen: Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Labour Education Foundation, National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research

Schlagwörter: Asien, Fabrikunglück, Pakistan, Sicherheit

Kurzbeschreibung:

On the seventh anniversary of the Ali Enterprises disaster, garment workers in Pakistan still risk their lives in unsafe factories. This report released in September 2019 called for a worker-led labour-brand safety accord in Pakistan, based upon the lessons learned by the Bangladesh Accord.

This report reviews current risks and violations in Pakistan’s textile and garment factories and assesses several current initiatives in the industry that include safety aspects, analysing their commitments and performance. The report concludes with the recommendation that brands and retailers sourcing clothing and textiles from Pakistan heed calls from Pakistan’s labour movement to support the formation of a legally-binding agreement between apparel brands and local and global unions and labour rights groups to make workplaces safe.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 40 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: SÜDWIND e.V.- Institut für Ökonomie und Ökumene, Bonn

Autor_in: Dr. Sabine Ferenschild

Redaktion: Nathalie Grychtol, Jana Stumpp

Schlagwörter: Arbeitsbedingungen, Asien, Existenzlohn, Gewerkschaft, Indonesien

Kurzbeschreibung: Indonesien gehört zu den zehn größten Exportnationen von Bekleidung weltweit. Wären die Löhne in der Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie existenzsichernd, wäre ein großer Schritt zur Erreichung des UN-Nachhaltigkeitsziels „menschenwürdige Arbeit“ getan. Ein Blick in die realen Bedingungen in der indonesischen Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie zeigt, dass die meisten ArbeiterInnen nur Mindestlöhne verdienen, von denen die Beschäftigten und ihre Familien nicht menschenwürdig leben können. Wie aber könnten existenzsichernde Löhne durchgesetzt werden?

Die Studie stellt verschiedene Ansätze vor, angefangen beim Protokoll für Vereinigungsfreiheit über globale Rahmenabkommen bis zu den Ansätzen des deutschen Bündnisses für Nachhaltige Textilien.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 28 Seiten

Sprache: Deutsch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Christliche Initiative Romero

Schlagwörter:  Arbeitsbedingungen, Asien, Unternehmensverantwortung

Kurzbeschreibung: Weiter, höher, schneller: Unsere Sportmarken wollen immer mehr Gewinn erzielen, je höher, desto besser. Und immer schneller wachsen ihre Etats für Marketing und Vertrieb. Dabei nutzen sie auch die Konkurrenz unter den zahlreichen Herstellerfabriken, um ihre Verkaufsprodukte immer billiger zu beschaffen. Die meisten Sportartikel werden in Asien produziert. Dort machen die großen Marken der Bekleidungsindustrie Millionengewinne, während die vorwiegend weiblichen Näher*innen mit einem Hungerlohn abgespeist werden.

In dieser Broschüre schauen wir hinter die Kulissen und zeigen die Geschichten jener Menschen, die Tag für Tag unter schlimmsten Bedingungen teure Sportartikel für uns nähen. 

Erscheinungsjahr: 2014

Umfang: 44 Seiten

Sprache: Deutsch

Bezug: Print für 5€ zu bestellen bei der Christlichen Initiative Romero

Herausgeber_in: Oxfam in Vietnam, Hanoi

Autor_in: Institute of Workers and Trade Unions, Hanoi

Redaktion: Melissa Spurgin

Schlagwörter: Arbeitsbedingungen, Arbeitsrechtsverletzungen, Asien, Existenzlohn, Lieferkette, Lohn, Menschrenrechtsverletzungen, Unternehmensverantwortung

Kurzbeschreibung:

This report identifies gaps that need to be addressed in order to improve wages and working conditions for garment workers. It describes our findings on the actual wages that Vietnamese workers in some garment factories receive and the impact of wages on their lives and families.

The garment sector is predominantly made up of women, so low wages plus poor working conditions is a matter of gender inequality. Therefore, paying a living wage and improving working conditions is an effective solution for addressing gender inequality in Vietnam.

The report identifies practices in the global supply chains that lead to this status of wages and the domestic barriers to achieving a living wage. Low wages are the result of unfair business practices within the garment supply chain. The purchasing power of brands is the ultimate cause behind all these practices and is key to the solution.

The report provides recommendations to global buyers, consumers, factory managers, the Vietnamese Government and labour unions for achieving a living wage.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 80 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Oxfam Australia, Melbourne

Autor_innen: S Nayeem Emran, Joy Kyriacou, Sarah Rogan

Redaktion: Melissa Spurgin

Schlagwörter: Arbeitsbedingungen, Asien, Bangladesch, Frauenrechte, Lohn, Menschenrechtsverletzungen, Unternehmensverantwortung

Kurzbeschreibung:

The research reveals not only harrowing personal stories of individuals, but a systemic failure to ensure payment of wages that are enough for people to afford even the basics of a decent life. There have been interviewed more than 470 workers across Bangladesh and Vietnam for this study. All of them were part of Australian clothing supply chains at the time of interview, employed in garment factories that supply at least one iconic Australian clothing brand. The investigation also included more than 130 interviews with factory owners, managers, union leaders and focus groups to present a clear picture of the way the fashion industry works in Australian garment supply chains.

The picture drawn is disturbing. Not only are almost all the workers we interviewed being paid well below a living wage; they are also struggling to feed themselves and their families, sometimes going hungry. They fall into spiraling debt, live in poor conditions and cannot afford the healthcare or education they and their families need.

This investigation reveals that the problems created by poverty wages in the garment industry are not isolated incidents. They cannot be fixed by action in just one factory or by addressing the hardships of just one worker. Only a strong, system-wide commitment from Australian brands with the power to change their practices will turn this around.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 60 Seiten bzw. 15 Seiten (Zusammenfassung)

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: Studie kostenfrei zum Download kostenfrei zum Download

Zusammenfassung kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Blum Center for Developing Economies, University of California, Berkeley

Autor_in: Siddharth Kara

Schlagwörter: Arbeitsbedingungen, Asien, Frauenrechte, Heimarbeit, Indien, Kinderarbeit

Kurzbeschreibung:

The study offers the most comprehensive investigation yet into the conditions of work for women and girls in India’s home-based garment sector. Approximately 85 percent of the home-based garment workers documented for the report exclusively work in supply chains for the export of apparel to major brands in the United States and European Union. These Indian workers consist almost entirely of women and girls from historically oppressed ethnic communities who earn approximately $0.15 per hour. The primary aim of the report is to provide insights into the lives of these workers in the hope that governments, companies, and nonprofits will be able to better coordinate on solutions to address the exploitation documented.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2019

Umfang: 60 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Fair Wear Foundation

Autor_innen: Zaw Aung, Koen Oosterom, San Latt Phyu, Ellen Keith, Saskia Wishart, Andrea Spithoff

Redaktion: Erin van Santen-Hobbie

Schlagwörter: Asien, Kinderarbeit, Lieferkette, Menschenrechtsverletzungen

Kurzbeschreibung:

Change starts with transparency. This publication seeks to promote a greater understanding of the realities of child labour by presenting interviews with children who were found working in Asia’s garment sector.

It first gives definitions of child labour, an overview of Asia’s booming garment industry and then examines child labour in Asia. The study also discusses the role of brands and introduces the Fair Wear Foundation trainings on age verification as well as the Fair Wear Foundation policy on child labour.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 46 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_innen: International Labour Office; Global Labour University; Working Paper No. 38

Ggf Autor_innen: Mohd Raisul Islam Khan, Christa Wichterich

Schlagwörter: Asien, Bangladesch, Fabrikunglück, Gewerkschaft, Sicherheit, Unternehmensverantwortung

Kurzbeschreibung:

GLU | Safety and Labour Conditions: Implementation of the Accord and the NTPA III ABSTRACT The factory fire at Tazreen Fashions in 2012 and the collapse of the Rana Plaza in 2013 generated a huge outcry about the working conditions and labour relations in the Readymade Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh, and led to the adoption of the multi-stakeholder agreements Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Accord) at the international level and the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA) at the domestic level. This paper investigates how the Accord and the NTPA have been implemented in the first two years after their adoption, whether they have contributed to an overall improvement in safety and labour conditions as well as to organizing in the RMG sector, and whether they can be considered as a “major breakthrough” and “game changer”.

The empirical research highlights the scope and limitations of the coverage of the two agreements. The findings indicate that after an initially good take-off, the activities lost pace and intensity and the remediation came almost to a standstill. The main assumption of the analysis of the Accord and NTPA implementation is that this process, its pace, results and constraints are consequences of the underlying power structures of the transnational apparel chains and the actual imbalance of power among the stakeholders. 

Erscheinungsjahr: 2015

Umfang: 61 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download