Femnet e.V.

This report demonstrates how the business model of fashion brands and the structure of global garment supply chains create and sustain poverty wages for garment workers. We explore how persistently low wages continue to be the foundation of the industry despite policy commitments to pay a living wage. Elements of supply chains that impact wage levels are: the indirect employment relationship with supply chain workers; the global race to the bottom on labour costs which suppress national minimum wage increases; and the unequal power relationship between brands and suppliers which allow brands to dictate the terms of production, often at the expense of suppliers.

Between August 2020 and February 2021, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) approached 16 brands for a response to allegations of unpaid wages and benefits (wage theft). All brands included in the report have policy commitments to ensure workers in their supply chain are paid. Ten go further and specifically refer to aspirations to pay a living wage, with five of these brands members of the key voluntary initiative on living wage payment, Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT). Yet the existence of voluntary initiatives on living wages has failed to result in the payment of living wages to garment workers or even an increase in the wage level.

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The study clustered target countries in regards to SCP-policy (sustainable consumption and production) related development and implementation progress, as well as the gaps and action required regarding the SCP framework. The main objective of the scoping study is to define the scope and challenges regarding SCP in the fashion and apparel sector to better identify thematic priority areas for a regional action programme at national level to develop approaches and resolutions to some of the most persistent and critical issues, such as safety and working conditions, gender, health, water use and chemical products, waste generation and management, alternative energy use, resource efficiency, eco-labelling and procurement, as well as sustainable consumption behavior along the entire value chain of the fashion and apparel sector.

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The time has come to transition to a textile system that delivers better economic, societal, and environmental outcomes. The report A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future outlines a vision and sets out ambitions and actions – based on the principles of a circular economy – to design out negative impacts and capture a USD 500 billion economic opportunity by truly transforming the way clothes are designed, sold, and used.

Beyond laudable ongoing efforts, a new system for the textiles economy is needed and this report proposes a vision aligned with circular economy principles. In such a model, clothes, fabric, and fibres re-enter the economy after use and never end up as waste. Achieving a new textiles economy will demand constantly levels of alignment. A system-level change approach is required and one which will capture the opportunities missed by the current linear textiles system.

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The color is a bang, the material a dream, the fit a hit. And it was a bargain on top of that. Unfortunately, the label is silent about whether everything goes right in textile production. Do the fibers get a poison shower when grown? Are harmful chemicals involved in dyeing and equipping? Are women textile workers treated fairly and paid fairly? The fifth edition of our Textile-Fibel closes these information gaps. We take a close look at global relationships, put take-back concepts to the test, make eco-labels legible and give environmentally friendly care tips.

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Gap currently operates 3,300 stores and employs more than 150,000 employees across their global production network. Brands like Gap wield the potential to transform working conditions through their supply chains. Gap has not, however, committed to ensuring a living wage for workers beyond U.S. employees and fails to disclose their suppliers.
Rather than upholding rights and work for garment workers overseas, Gap maintains high pressure sourcing models within the garment global production network that create overwhelming incentives for factories to reduce costs and speed production by ignoring labour standards.
Section One Provides a Brief Overview of Global Production Networks in General and the Garment Global Production Network in Particular. Section two reviews Gap public commitments to promote decent work in their supply chains, including through the Gap Code of Conduct and partnership programs. Where possible, it includes discussions and research on the efficacy of these initiatives to date. Section three provides a brief overview of the market share of Asian garment value chains and more focused country profiles on the Cambodian, Indian and Indonesian garment industries. Section four discusses, in detail, the intensive labour exploitation and abuse faced by workers in Gap supply chains in Cambodia, India and Indonesia.

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