Autor_in: Isabel Ebert, Saskia Wilks, Jennifer Teufel

Herausgeber_in: Business and Human Rights Resource Centre

Kurzbeschreibung:

The 24th of April 2018 marked the five-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza textile factory disaster in Bangladesh. Numerous multinational textile companies sourced goods from the production in this building, among them a range of companies headquartered in the EU. Five years after the Rana Plaza disaster, to what extent have EU textile companies integrated respect for human rights throughout their operations? Are EU companies carrying out robust human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains to prevent the next ‘Rana Plaza’?

This briefing explores these questions by laying out the main challenges and opportunities in the EU textile sector. Based on data collected by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre over the last seven years on over 170 allegations of negative human rights impacts, this briefing sheds light on the key human rights issues, the scale and geographical dispersion of alleged abuses, and the quality of the responses from EU textile companies to these allegations. It also shares lessons from key legal cases involving EU textile firms where alleged victims sought access to remedy. 

The briefing concludes with recommendations for EU policy-makers and decision-makers, as well as to companies, to overcome the existing challenges to respect and protect human rights in the EU textile industry and its supply chains. A key problem at present is the lack of coordination among member states on how to tackle these issues. By surveying the scale of the abuses, the lack of access to remedy for victims, and identifying the gaps, challenges and opportunities, the briefing emphasizes the need for an EU-wide homogenous set of legislation on human rights responsibilities for EU textile companies. 

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 20 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug:  kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: University of Sussex

Autor_in: Rebecca Prentice

Schlagwörter: CSR, Rana Plaza, Entschädigung, Fabrikeinsturz, Fabrikunfall, Fabrikbrand, Gesetzgebung, Transparenz, Unternehmensverantwortung, verbindliche Standards, Tazreen, Brand Tazreen Fabrik

Kurzbeschreibung:

Although it’s been five years since the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse, in many countries survivors’ right to compensation for death and injury remains reliant on voluntary donations fueled by media pressure. A new report, written by worker health and safety expert Dr Rebecca Prentice, compares and draws lessons from schemes to pay compensation to injured workers and dependents of those killed in the recent Ali Enterprises, Tazreen and Rana Plaza garment factory disasters. The report calls for the introduction and strengthening of national employment injury insurance schemes that are lacking in many garment-producing countries.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 36 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Asia Floor Wage Alliance, The Center for Alliance of Labor & Human Rights, Global Labor Justice, Sedane Labour Resource Centre, SLD

Schlagwörter: Befragung, Bangladesch, Diskriminierung, Gender, Gewalt, Frauenrechte, Frauen in der Bekleidungsindustrie, Kambodscha, Indonesien, Unternehmen und Menschenrechte, Unternehmensverantwortung, extraterritorialer Menschenrechtsschutz

Kurzbeschreibung:

This report—including interviews with more than 250 workers employed in 60 factories that supply to Walmart— documents the experiences of women garment workers at the base of Walmart garment supply chains in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Concentrated in short term, low-skill, and low-wage positions, they are at daily risk of gender-based violence and harassment at work. This report provides an empirical account of the spectrum of gender-based violence and risk factors for violence women workers face in Walmart garment supply chains. Chapter 4 of this report presents new research on gender-based violence in Walmart garment supplier factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Indonesia collected through interviews and focus group discussions with 25 workers and trade union leaders organizing in Walmart supply chains between February and May 2018. Systematically documenting risk factors for violence, this report presents new, in-depth profiles of 4 Walmart supplier factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia completed between February and May 2018. It also draws upon Asia Floor Wage Alliance (2016) documentation of rights violations at work in Walmart garment global supply chains, compiled over four years of research (2012-2016) on Walmart supply chains in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 43 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Asia Floor Wage Alliance, The Center for Alliance of Labor & Human Rights, Global Labor Justice, Sedane Labour Resource Centre, SLD

Schlagwörter: Befragung, Bangladesch, Diskriminierung, Gender, Gewalt, Frauenrechte, Frauen in der Bekleidungsindustrie, Sri Lanka, Kambodscha, Indien, Indonesien, Unternehmen und Menschenrechte, Unternehmensverantwortung, extraterritorialer Menschenrechtsschutz

Kurzbeschreibung:

This report—including interviews with more than 215 workers employed in 21 factories that supply to Gap—documents the experiences of women garment workers at the base of Gap garment

supply chains in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Concentrated in short term, low skill, and low-wage positions, they are at daily risk of gender based violence and harassment at work. Systematically documenting risk factors for violence, this report presents new, in-depth profiles of 9 Gap supplier factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and India completed between February and May 2018. It also draws upon Asia Floor Wage Alliance (2016) documentation of rights violations at work in Gap garment global supply chains in India and Indonesia, based upon field work conducted between August and October 2015.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 50 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Asia Floor Wage Alliance, The Center for Alliance of Labor & Human Rights, Global Labor Justice, Sedane Labour Resource Centre, SLD

Schlagwörter: Befragung, Bangladesch, Diskriminierung, Gender, Gewalt, Frauenrechte, Frauen in der Bekleidungsindustrie, Kambodscha, Indien, Unternehmen und Menschenrechte, Unternehmensverantwortung, extraterritorialer Menschenrechtsschutz

Kurzbeschreibung:

This report—including interviews with more than 331 workers employed in 32 factories that supply to H&M—documents the experiences of women garment workers at the base of H&M garment supply chains. Concentrated in short term, low-skill, and low-wage positions, they are at daily risk of gender-based violence and harassment at work. Systematically documenting risk factors for violence, this report presents new, in-depth profiles of gendered hiring practices in 6 H&M supplier factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and India completed between February and May 2018. It also draws upon Asia Floor Wage Alliance (2016) documentation of rights violations at work in H&M garment global supply chains in Cambodia and India.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 53 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug:  kostenfrei zum Download

Herausgeber_in: Clean Clothes Campaign

Schlagwörter: Bangladesch, CSR, Entschädigung, Rana Plaza, Fabrikeinsturz, Fabrikunfall, Gebäudesicherheit, Gesetzgebung, Transparenz, Unternehmensverantwortung, verbindliche Standards

Kurzbeschreibung:

On 24 April 2013, the world watched in astonishment and shame as horror of the Rana Plaza building collapse was broadcast across the world’s media. This was where the race to the bottom had led the garment industry: factories housed in unsafe buildings and workers afraid to enter a workplace with visible cracks in the walls, but even more afraid to lose their wages if they refused. The Rana Plaza collapse was a moment in which all pledged to do better and to start respecting the lives of the women and men working long hours for low pay to make our clothes. Five years on, we take stock. This memo aims to give an overview of the promises made in 2013, and what has – and has not – changed following the world’s worst ever garment factory disaster. It also serves as a guide to the excellent pieces of research that have become available at this moment of retrospection for labour rights in the garment industry.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 12 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: kostenfrei zum Download (PDF-Datei)

Herausgeber_in: International Labour Office

Schlagwörter: Arbeitsbedingungen, Einkaufspraktiken, globale Produktionsströme, globale Warenproduktion, Globale Wertschöpfungskette, ILO, Unternehmen und Menschenrechte, Unternehmensverantwortung, CSR

Kurzbeschreibung:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and its constituents, at the 10thSession of the International Labour Conference (ILC), discussed the need to further assess working conditions deficits as well as governance issues that may hinder the achievement of decent work in global supply chains. Specifically, the Conference asked the ILO to “take a proactive role in generating and making accessible reliable data on decent work in global supply chains” and to “carry out research to better understand how supply chains work in practice and what their impact is on decent work and fundamental rights”. The Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions branch took action to contribute to fill this gap by carrying out a Global Survey on purchasing practices and working conditions in collaboration with the joint Ethical Trading Initiatives.

This Global Survey is strong in terms of number of workers covered. Since the average number of workers in the surveyed companies was 1,026, the sample covers nearly 1.5 million workers. Finally, this study is able to analyse purchasing practices and working conditions by firm size. We have identified 5 major business practices between the buyers and the suppliers that may influence wages and working conditions: contracts clauses, technical specifications, order placement (and lead times), prices and market power, and requests for social standards. While many of these areas are heavily influenced by the buyers’ policies, we also find that the profile of the suppliers may also play an important role when explaining the working environment and working conditions.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 24 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug:  kostenfrei zum Download (PDF-Datei)

Herausgeber_in: Center for Workers’ Rights

Autor_in: Mark Anner

Schlagwörter: mangelnde Arbeitssicherheit, Arbeitsplatzsicherheit, Bangladesch, CSR, Gewerkschaft, Gewerkschaftsfreiheit, Sicherheitsbedingungen, Sicherheitsstandards, Sozialstandards, Fabrikunglück, Rana Plaza, Unternehmensverantwortung, Verantwortung von Regierungen und des öffentlichen Sektors

Kurzbeschreibung:

Despite more than two decades of private voluntary approaches to address workers’ rights abuses in apparel supply chains, workers in the lower production tiers continue to face poor working conditions and chronic violations of their rights. Bangladesh has been emblematic of low wages, poor working conditions, union-avoidance, and a series of mass fatality disasters in garment factories, culminating in the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013. With the five-year anniversary of the catastrophe approaching, the question arises as to whether the intervening years have seen meaningful gains for workers.

This report finds that gains have been severely limited in regard to wages, overtime hours, and work intensity in part due to the sourcing practices of the brands and retailers that sit at the top of global supply chains. A partial exception is in the area of associational rights, where, in the aftermath of Rana Plaza, pressure from the European Union, the United States, and international organizations resulted in minor pro-union labor reforms. These reforms, combined with the tenacity of workers and their organizing efforts, resulted in an increase in the number of recognized unions. However, in recent years, union growth has once again stagnated, indicating the need for continued international pressure and for an expansion of the capacity of garment sector unions. This report finds one area where gains for workers have been dramatic: building safety. This is largely the result of an unprecedented binding agreement, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. The Accord, which imposes constraints and obligations on global firms that are absent from traditional voluntary CSR schemes, has overseen a massive program of safety renovations and upgrades.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2018

Umfang: 18 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug:  kostenfrei zum Download (PDF-Datei)

Herausgeber_in: OECD

Schlagwörter: Unternehmensverantwortung, gesetzliche Regulierung, globale Bekleidungsindustrie, Sorgfaltspflicht, globale Produktionsströme, globale Warenproduktion, Globale Wertschöpfungskette, globaler Produktionsweg, Menschenrechtsschutz

Kurzbeschreibung:

The garment and footwear sector employs millions of low-skilled workers, many of whom are women and acts as an entry point into the formal economy in many countries. As such, enterprises operating in the sector have the potential to generate growth, employment and skill development through their own operations and sourcing. However, human rights and labour abuses and harm to the environment by enterprises are prevalent throughout the supply chain in this sector. While such impacts are not new to the sector, the characteristics of modern global supply chains–such as stages of the production process spread across diverse countries, short lead times and short-term buyer-supplier relationships- can reduce visibility and control over an enterprise’s supply chain and can create challenges for enterprises to meet their responsibilities. Within this context, the risks of human rights and labour abuses, of environmental damage and integrity risks should be managed throughout the supply chain in order to ensure that the positive impacts of this global industry are maximised.

The purpose of this Guidance is to support a common understanding of due diligence in the garment and footwear sector aligned with the OECD Guidelines. This Guidance provides recommendations for enterprises on how to implement due diligence according to the OECD Guidelines in their own operations and in their supply chains. Due diligence should be ongoing, proactive and reactive and applied with flexibility and should not lead to a “tick the box” approach.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2017

Sprache: Englisch

Umfang: 192 Seiten

Bezug:  kostenfrei zum Download

Autor_in: Julia Thrul, Cornelia Heydenreich, Sarah Lincoln
Herausgeber_in: germanwatch, Brot für die Welt

Schlagwörter: Unternehmensverantwortung, gesetzliche Regulierung, UN-Leitprinzipien für Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte, Sorgfaltspflicht, Menschenrechtsschutz

Kurzbeschreibung:
Die Leitprinzipien für Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte der Vereinten Nationen geben vor, dass Unternehmen die menschenrechtlichen Auswirkungen ihrer Geschäftstätigkeit identifizieren, negativen Auswirkungen vorbeugen, Schäden wiedergutmachen und diese Schritte transparent kommunizieren sollen. Die vorliegende Recherche zeigt, dass diese Sorgfaltsanforderungen auch umsetzbar sind. Befragt wurden Unternehmen, aber auch Unternehmensberater/innen und Menschenrechtsexpert/innen. Die Erfahrungsberichte zeigen auf, dass sich sowohl komplexe, große und multinationale Unternehmen als auch kleinste KMU ihrer menschenrechtlichen Sorgfaltspflicht stellen können. Die Maßnahmen der Unternehmen reichen von Schulungen ihrer Zulieferer über langfristige Verträge mit den Lieferanten bis hin zu einer Reduzierung der Anzahl der Zulieferer. Wo ein einzelnes Unternehmen nicht weiterkommt, zum Beispiel bei strukturellen Herausforderungen wie Vereinigungsfreiheit oder existenzsichernden Löhnen, suchen engagierte Unternehmen die Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Unternehmen der Branche, mit Gewerkschaften oder auch mit Multistakeholder-Initiativen wie der Fair Wear Foundation. Vor dem Hintergrund der Frage, ob die Erfüllung menschenrechtlicher Sorgfaltspflicht freiwillig bleiben oder verbindlich reguliert sein sollte, wurden zwei existierende Regulierungsbeispiele untersucht: der Dodd-Frank Act aus den USA und der Modern Slavery Act aus Großbritannien. Beide Beispiele zeigen, dass gesetzliche Vorgaben die Wirtschaft nicht ruinieren, sondern Verbesserungen schneller vorantreiben können.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2016

Sprache: Deutsch

Umfang: 28 Seiten

Bezug:  kostenfrei zum Download