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Tell Zara, Next, and Mango: Pay Your Workers the Wages They Earned!

We are textile workers in Turkey who have been working for years to make profit for brands such as Inditex (Zara), Next, and Mango. We produced their products under the brands’ close surveillance  and saw the power they wield to ensure their working standards are followed by their supplier factories. By July of 2016, our boss refused to pay a huge portion of the wages we had earned making each brands’ clothing. Creditors came to our factory and seized all machines and valuable assets. Meanwhile, our boss disappeared, taking our wages with him. We have yet to receive our wages or any form of severance payment.Raising awareness
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Fire in Bangladesh textile factory kills six

DHAKA (Reuters) – A fire in a textile factory in Bangladesh killed six workers on Wednesday before it was extinguished, police said, renewing fears about safety in the multi-billion dollar industry.

Bangladesh’s garment sector, the world’s second biggest after China, drew worldwide scrutiny after more than 1,100 people were killed in the collapse of a factory complex in 2013 and 112 killed in a garment factory fire in 2012. Continue reading “Fire in Bangladesh textile factory kills six”

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Dignitex claims over the other side of the story of fashion facing the Fashion Week Madrid

A woman is weaving between red fabrics in Plaza Callao in Madrid. At his feet, dummies lying on the floor. It is a human sculpture that represents the precariousness of the working conditions of the textile industry.

At the same time, the ‘Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid’ (MBFWM) takes place at the Feria de Madrid (IFEMA), 40 minutes by metro and 20 minutes by car. It started this Thursday and is its 66th edition. There, the main fashion brands, in 47 fashion shows, will present until Tuesday their new collections for the Fall-Winter 2017 season. Continue reading “Dignitex claims over the other side of the story of fashion facing the Fashion Week Madrid”

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Bangladesh court jails Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft

A Bangladesh court on Tuesday jailed the Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft, the first of many charges laid against him after the garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 and killed more than 1,130 people.

Sohel Rana was given the maximum three-year sentence by a special court in Dhaka for failing to declare his personal wealth to Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission, one of a series of charges brought after the disaster.

“This is the first time he has been convicted and jailed,” said prosecutor Salahuddin Eskander.

Continue reading “Bangladesh court jails Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft”

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Ghazl El-Mahalla textile workers’ strike is not the first

Workers at the Cotton and Textile Industries Holding Company’s textile factories in El-Mahalla city suspended their 15 day strike on Sunday evening. All workers returned to the various departments in the company, including the weaving, wool, cotton, medical and engineering and the electricity department. The strike was suspended following promises by the company to examine and gradually respond to the workers’ demands, in accordance with the law.  Continue reading “Ghazl El-Mahalla textile workers’ strike is not the first”

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Uzbekistan: Forced Labor Linked to World Bank

Systematic Violations Underpin Country’s Cotton Sector

The World Bank is funding half a billion dollars in agricultural projects linked to forced and child labor in Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch and the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights informed about it in a report released today. Under the loan agreements, the Uzbek government is required to comply with laws prohibiting forced and child labor, and the World Bank can suspend the loans if there is credible evidence of violations. Continue reading “Uzbekistan: Forced Labor Linked to World Bank”