Publications

Birthday card for Gaspar Matalaev

Publication Date: 

June 14, 2017

Gaspar Matalaev, a human rights defender in Turkmenistan, will mark his 35th birthday on June 15 from prison, where he has been since shortly after he was arrested on October 4, 2016. The arrest came two days after Gaspar had posted an article and pictures documenting the Turkmen government's forced mobilization of citizens to harvest cotton, an annual obligation in the repressive Central Asian nation.

Comments to the Marine Stewardship Council regarding proposed labor requirements

Publication Date: 

May 14, 2017

We are deeply concerned with the proposed policy to include labor standards into MSC's Fishery and Chain of Custody (CoC) programs. With a carefully structured approach, the MSC could serve a positive role in this space by encouraging transparency in fishing supply chains and using your position as a well-regarded environmental certification program to encourage meaningful social dialogue that could address labor problems in the industry. However, the voluntary self-declaration approach currently proposed is utterly insufficient.

Bangladesh Accord: Brief Progress Report and Proposals for Enhancement

Publication Date: 

April 24, 2017

Founded in 2013, three weeks after the deadliest disaster in the history of the global apparel industry, the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety has made factories safer for more than two-and-a-half million garment workers. The improvements in structural, fire, and electrical safety accomplished under the Accord have helped avert further factory fires and building collapses in an industry long plagued by grossly unsafe working conditions.

Update on the Labor Rights Crisis in Bangladesh

Publication Date: 

April 21, 2017

In December 2016, the government of Bangladesh and garment manufacturers initiated the most severe crackdown on workers’ rights in Bangladesh since the Rana Plaza building collapse. The campaign of repression followed a largely peaceful protest by thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers calling for higher wages, which are the lowest among major garment exporting countries.

Follow the Thread: The Need for Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment Industry

Publication Date: 

April 20, 2017

The garment and footwear industry stretches around the world. Clothes and shoes sold in stores in the US, Canada, Europe, and other parts of the world typically travel across the globe. They are cut and stitched in factories in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, or other regions. Factory workers in Bangladesh or Romania could have made clothes only weeks ago that consumers elsewhere are eagerly picking up. When global supply chains are opaque, consumers often lack meaningful information about where their apparel was made.

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