Workers Rights news and archive

"The Industry We Want" event

Can there be a fashion industry, where everyone can have a good sleep at night? On June 23, 2021, 270 people from 38 countries across the supply chain joined the second The Industry We Want event. Together, we explored how we can work together towards a garment and footwear industry that ensures dignity for workers, thriving businesses along the...

Business

Bangladesh Accord extended by three months

The Bangladesh on Fire and Building Safety Accord, which was set to expire on May 31 2021, has been extended for another three months. The accord is a legally binding pact signed by more than 200 fashion companies that aims to improve factory safety for workers following the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse which resulted in the deaths of over...

Business

Boohoo links executive pay to environmental and social targets

Boohoo has bowed to shareholder pressure and will link the pay of its executives to environmental, social and governance targets following an investigation that found evidence of labour abuse across its UK supply chain. In the company’s annual report published this week, it said: “We have redesigned the executive directors’ remuneration policy...

Fashion Featured

Garment workers from nine countries call for better terms from retailers

Garment makers from nine countries have come together to demand better contracts from global fashion retailers after billions of dollars worth of orders were cancelled or paused last year amid the pandemic. Thirteen garment suppliers associations in China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco and Indonesia have...

Fashion Featured

Boohoo slashes UK suppliers following Leicester investigation

Boohoo has cut ties with a swathe of suppliers following a review of its UK supply chain. “The group has ceased doing business with a number of manufacturers who were unable to demonstrate the high standard of transparency required, despite being provided with opportunities to address any issues identified in the auditing process,” Boohoo said...

Fashion

MPs call for adjudicator to tackle UK garment supply chain abuses

MPs have called for the introduction of a garment trade adjudicator to help eradicate non-compliance with labour market regulation in the UK’s garment industry. It comes as the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said it has seen evidence of “ongoing labour abuses in the domestic and international supply chains supplying UK fashion retailers”....

Fashion

Boohoo defends supply chain following petition calling for US import ban

Boohoo has defended practices in its UK supply chain following media speculation that the fast-fashion giant could face a US import ban following allegations of slave labour. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seen sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into the company following the submission of two petitions from British...

Fashion

Marks & Spencer signs call to action over forced labour in Xinjiang, China

Marks & Spencer has become one of the first companies to formally sign a call to action over human rights violations in Xinjiang, China, where Uighurs and other minority groups are reportedly being forced into manual labour. In December, a new report released by the Washington-based Center for Global Policy found that more than half a million...

BusinessFeatured

Boohoo suppliers in Pakistan accused of paying workers 29p per hour

Some factories in Pakistan supplying clothes to Boohoo have been accused of paying workers 29p per hour and making them work in appalling conditions. An investigation by the Guardian into the working conditions of two factories in the industrial city of Faisalabad found workers who claimed they were paid 10,000PKR (47 pounds) a month - well...

Fashion Featured

China accused of forcing over half a million people to pick cotton in Xinjiang

China has forced more than half a million Uighurs and other minorities into picking cotton in the country’s western region of Xinjiang, new research suggests. According to a new report released on Tuesday by the Washington-based Center for Global Policy, three Uyghur regions alone mobilized at least 570,000 people into cotton-picking operations...

Fashion

Government questions fashion giants in forced labour enquiry

The UK’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has written to leading companies in sectors including fashion, retail and information technology, seeking answers in relation to its inquiry into forced labour of Uyghur in the Xinjiang region of China. Those companies are Adidas, Amazon, Boohoo Group, Gap, H&M Group, Ikea, Marks...

Fashion Featured

UK garment workers 'robbed' of 27 million pounds in wages since July

Garment factory workers in the UK have been “robbed” of over 27 million pounds in wages since July, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The UK trade body and MP Lisa Cameron, who is chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for Textiles and Fashion, have penned a letter to home secretary Priti Patel demanding action. Some...