Workers

Workers across the fashion supply chain are being shortchanged by an absence of proper structures for collective bargaining, allowing perpetuation of a business model that relies on tight margins for suppliers and low worker wages, claims a new report.

League of Artisans, a non-profit was formed to promote artisan skills as a vital response to global challenges, trusting in the transformational power of craft to create alternative futures. texfash.com talks to the globally-recognised activist-entrepreneur, Carry Somers, who is also Co-Founder of the decade-old Fashion Revolution.

The multistakeholder The Industry We Want (TIWW) has published its 2024 Industry Dashboard which shows that descpite industry efforts, the gap between minimum wages and living wages has marginally increased over the last year.

It was a seismological shift for workers post the February 2023 quake in Turkiye as the majority of those impacted were left to fend for themselves both by the factories and brands they laboured for, alleges a report by advocacy group Clean Clothes Campaign. 

There’s an urgent need for Ethiopia to yank off from a never-ending cycle of low productivity and high labour turnover if the country wants to remain an attractive location for the global textile industry in spite of rising labour costs.

Spain's retailing giant Inditex and the International Apparel Federation (IAF) have signed an agreement that aims to promote a more respectful industry for people and planet by boosting circularity, traceability and worker wellbeing.

Global nonprofit Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has outlined three pillars on which it will strategise and act on specific, targeted initiatives as it also looks to purposefully reharness its data, revamp Higg FEM 4.0 among several other steps to ring in a new era of impactful reality.

At least 16 global fashion brands were mute observers to the February 2023 tremblor that devastated parts of Turkiye with only 2 taking some steps to ameliorate working conditions from the 200+ suppliers they source from.

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has started the three-stage OECD Alignment Assessment which would help textile companies gain access to a due diligence process, enabling them to identify, assess, and mitigate adverse impacts throughout their supply chains. 

Garments traverse a complex global supply network by the time they reach stores thousands of miles away. Workers are caught in this web, exploited by factory management. Western brands escape the scrutiny of their governments by outsourcing production to low-cost countries and absolve themselves of direct responsibility. This complex system makes it hard to assign ethical responsibility, because everyone, and therefore no one, is guilty.