Press Releases

For media inquiries please contact Rachel Cohen: racohen78 [at] gmail.com

Brands’ Support for a Living Wage for Garment Workers in Bangladesh

08/28/18

The Minimum Wage Board in Bangladesh will reconvene on Wednesday, 29 August, to set the new statutory minimum wage for workers in Bangladesh's garment industry. Ahead of this meeting Clean Clothes Campaign, the International Labor Rights Forum and Maquila Solidarity Network jointly urged major brands sourcing from Bangladesh to publicly support workers’ demands. These include the minimum wage of 16,000 taka, a statutory framework to govern pay grades and promotion and other welfare measures.

Full support for Bangladeshi garment workers’ demands on minimum wage

07/06/18
Ahead of the long overdue meeting of the national Minimum Wage Board, set to take place on Sunday, 8 July, Clean Clothes Campaign expresses solidarity with workers in Bangladesh and full support for their demands. We urge the Minimum Wage Board to increase the minimum wage to 16,000 taka without delay, and to adopt other measures requested by workers and their representatives.
 

Report lays out path to end labor exploitation in seafood supply chains

Enforceable agreements between brands, workers can prevent abuses, says rights group
05/11/18

Reports of forced labor and other egregious abuse of workers onboard fishing vessels are likely to continue unless governments and industry actors take a different approach to remedying them, according to a report released today by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF).

Campaign launch: Turn around, H&M!

CCC and ILRF dedicate this year’s International Workers' Day to the 850,000 workers who produce garments for H&M, urging the brand to meet its living wage commitment
05/01/18

Starting on 1 May and continuing throughout 2018, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) are placing the spotlight on H&M. We are asking the brand to turn around and stop heading in the direction of letting down 850,000 workers who are waiting to start receiving living wages – as H&M vowed they would by this year.

Nation-Wide Protests at Abercrombie & Fitch Stores

04/21/18

Today, shoppers and employees at twenty Abercrombie & Fitch stores encountered questions about whether the company will dial back on workplace safety in the garment factories in Bangladesh producing its clothes as students and consumers protesting at the stores chanted “Garment workers demand their rights / We will show and we will fight!” and held signs reading “Worker Lives Are at Stake” and “No One Should Die for Fashion”.

5 Years After Rana Plaza, What Has Changed?

04/12/18

Just two weeks before the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse – the deadliest disaster in the history of manufacturing – scholars, journalists, human rights advocates, and corporate and labor leaders from the U.S., Europe, and Bangladesh came together at the Ford Foundation in New York City to assess the state of workplace safety and labor rights in Bangladesh’s massive garment industry. The April 10 event, ‘Has Anything Changed Since Rana Plaza?

ILRF: Labor Experts Censure “Wrong Turn” in CAFTA Arbitration Decision

04/12/18

A new report from the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) says that an arbitral panel’s ruling in the first case ever decided under the labor chapter of a free trade agreement “got it wrong” on workers’ rights violations in Guatemala. Written by three prominent international labor law experts, “Wrong Turn” edits down the 300-page decision into a reader-friendly 30 pages, and provides analysis and commentary at key points showing the arbitral panel’s flawed approach and conclusions.

Thai Court Unjustly Orders Damages from Labor Rights Defender

Andy Hall ordered to pay more than $320,000 in civil damages to Natural Fruit Co.
03/26/18

The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) condemns in the strongest possible terms a ruling today by the Prakanong Court in Bangkok, Thailand, ordering Andy Hall to pay 10 million baht ($321,000) in civil damages to the pineapple company Natural Fruit Co Ltd. The case relates to an interview Andy Hall gave to Al-Jazeera English in Myanmar in April 2013. The court also ordered Hall to pay 10,000 baht ($321) for the plaintiff’s legal fees and court fees, including interest of 7.5% from the date the case was filed until the amount is fully paid.

With 100 Days until Current Accord Ends, Labor Signatories Urge Brands to Sign

02/22/18

With 100 days until the current Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety expires, garment companies are urged to continue their involvement to create a safe and sustainable garment industry in Bangladesh and to sign its successor, the 2018 Transition Accord.

The 2018 Transition Accord will continue the work of inspecting factories in Bangladesh, identifying safety hazards, and ensuring that they are corrected. As of today 109 garment companies have signed the 2018 Accord, covering more than 2 million workers.

Child Labor Coalition joins calls for cleaner, more responsible jewelry supply chain

02/08/18

The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) today joins nearly 30 NGOs and trade unions from around the world in calling on the jewelry industry to ensure responsible sourcing of precious metals and gems. One million children toil in mines, often extracting metals, including gold and silver, and gems like jade, emeralds, and diamonds. The work is extremely hazardous, putting children at risk of serious injury and death.

Poverty Wages, Toxic Conditions on Palm Oil Plantations Linked to PepsiCo, Nestlé

Labor abuses persist on RSPO-certified palm oil plantations after being first exposed nearly a year and a half ago
11/27/17

A report released by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), OPPUK––an Indonesian labor rights advocacy organization––and International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) titled, “The Human Cost of Conflict Palm Oil Revisited: How PepsiCo, Banks, and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Perpetuate Indofood’s Worker Exploitation,” reveals the findings of field investigations and worker interviews completed on three palm oil plantations owned and operated by Indonesian food giant Indofood, the sole p

Will H&M deliver on its promise to pay a living wage in 2018?

11/25/17
Four years ago today, H&M made a bold promise that, if kept, would mean a game changer for the industry. On 25 November 2013, the company vowed to pay what H&M calls a ‘fair living wage’ to the garment workers in its supply chain by 2018. On the fourth anniversary of H&M’s historic statement, with 2018 just around the corner, Clean Clothes Campaign and global partners are greatly anticipating the moment next year when every garment worker that stitches clothes for H&M will receive a living wage.
 

Human Rights, Labor, Union and Public Interest Groups Call on First Daughter to Pledge Improvements for Workers Making Her Brand’s Clothes in China

11/01/17

As Ivanka Trump travels to Asia to speak about what she terms “women’s empowerment” at the fourth annual World Assembly for Women in Tokyo this week, a coalition of labor, consumer, union and human rights organizations today criticized her hypocrisy in ignoring the plight of workers who make the clothing marketed under her name.

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