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A review of 2018 and outlook for 2019 from the perspective of civil society representatives in the steering committee

Logo NGO Textilbündnis Bonn/Berlin. Once again, a busy year is coming to an end in the Textile Alliance: In 2018, for the first time, all members had to disclose their environmental and social compliance targets in their supply chains in individual action plans. Previously, these were checked by an external testing organisation for plausibility and compliance with the requirements. The steering committee also defined the topics of living wages, supply chain transparency and impact measurement as priorities for 2018. The following explanations provide an insight into how the progress made last year is assessed by the civil society representatives in the steering committee of the Textile Alliance.

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Consumers can find out more about the newly procured shoes at the user workshop in Stuttgart. Photo: © FEMNETConsumers can find out more about the newly procured shoes at the user workshop in Stuttgart. Photo: © FEMNETSuccess stories in Cologne, Stuttgart, Mannheim, Veitsbronn (Bavaria) & Markkleeburg (Saxony): With the ongoing consulting and training offers, FEMNET 2018 succeeded in broadening the topic of eco-fair awarding. Large and smaller municipalities and districts built up expertise and demonstrated with successful pilot projects that public procurement can be made eco-fair. In 2019, ongoing discussions will continue. The experiences and learning effects will be made available to FEMNET in a detailed publication at the end of the year.

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What do we need to ensure that fair public procurement of textiles is implemented across the board in local governments? There are currently pilot practical projects, guidance documents, instructions, Council decisions in various municipalities – the Compass sustainability currently shows 877 examples from 67 municipalities for 12 different product groups. But we are still far from a standard effective inclusion of social and environmental responsibility criteria in the production of the textile products procured. This challenge was met on 26 and 27 October 2018 by the 20 participants of the Intensive training on how to achieve fair public procurement of textiles. Many of the participants had previously attended intensive training courses on FEMNET modules 1-4 for their multiplier work on the topic. However, procurers and other employees from local governments also took part in the initial training.

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Exhausted girls in a spinning mill in Tamil Nadu who sleep during the day because they worked at night. Photo: © FEMNETExhausted girls in a spinning mill in Tamil Nadu who sleep during the day because they worked at night. Photo: © FEMNETBonn. On July 1, 2018, the Partnership Initiative (BI) Tamil Nadu started as part of the Textile Alliance, a first progress report is now available.

The BI has three components:
dialogue;
b) training of young women in factories,
c) Training of inspectors.

FEMNET’s Partner SAVE The training is carried out in around 300 spinning mills. More than 80 trainers from 40 NGOs were trained for this purpose.

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Our workshop in the Fairtrade-Town Saarbrücken. Photo: © FEMNETOur workshop in the Fairtrade-Town Saarbrücken. Photo: © FEMNETFrom North Frisian drizzle to the sunny Saar, from vineyards on the Main to the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea: In 2018, we held strategy workshops on fair public procurement of workwear in five Fairtrade Towns across Germany. As diverse as the locations are, they all share the goal of using workwear and textiles produced in the city administration under decent working conditions and without harming the environment.

Fairtrade towns offer great potential to promote fair public procurement of clothing and textiles. Because fair coffee and another fair product are served in the city administration, the topic of fair trade is present in the city administration. Because a steering group is established, civil society, retail, city politics and city administration are already networked locally around fair trade. Based on these existing structures, FEMNET offered strategy workshops on the topic of fair public procurement for fair trade town control groups for the first time in 2018.

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Photo: © Kristof VadionPhoto: © Kristof VadionBonn. Five years of successful work are coming to an end. The Government of Bangladesh opposes the continued work of ACCORD, the agreement on fire safety and building safety in Bangladesh.

The call ‘Never again Rana Plaza!’ is still echoing. Nevertheless, the current decision of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh is intended to put an end to the further work of ACCORD as of 30 November 2018. "The ACCORD is a credible and effective programme that has ensured around 1600 safe export factories. But the situation in many factories is not yet certain, as European buyers see it, says Gisela Burckhardt, CEO of FEMNET and member of the Clean Clothes Campaign.

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Press conference and panel discussion of civil society in the Textile Alliance: It's time! Stop the empty promises.

2018 11 06 TB Symposium Press conference 01Berlin. A key issue is the reward for living. Trade unionists in Bangladesh are on hunger strike due to insufficient minimum wages. In Cambodia and Indonesia, but also in Turkey, there are strikes and protests because wages are not paid. As a result, trade unionists are pressured or dismissed.

The Alliance for Sustainable Textiles wants to change this and has set itself the goal of achieving social, ecological and economic improvements along the entire textile supply chain.

From 2019, all companies of the Textile Alliance are to anchor measures for the payment of living wages in their suppliers as a binding alliance goal. Alliance initiatives in Cambodia, among others, are in preparation. The joint effort could have a leverage effect. For this, however, a broad participation of the industry is needed. “Existence-enhancing wages are a human right. So far, the clothing companies have only paid lip service. It is finally time for promises to become a reality", says Tim Zahn, coordinator of civil society in the Textile Alliance.

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Gender-based violence against women is one of the most widespread human rights violations in the world. According to estimates, more than 30% of all women have already experienced them. Two activists from India report on approaches to how women in the clothing industry can defend themselves and how we can support them in doing so.

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© Friedrich Ebert Foundation

© Friedrich Ebert Foundation

In November 2018, FEMNET organizes a tour of Germany with two activists from Bangladesh and Myanmar. The women report on how seamstresses in the apparel industry are fighting for improved working conditions and explain how consumers can influence them.

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16,000 Taka and no less: Workers in Bangladesh have been protesting for months for a fairer minimum wage. Photo: © NGWF16,000 Taka and no less: Workers in Bangladesh have been protesting for months for a fairer minimum wage.
Photo: © NGWF

After a long struggle for an increase in the catastrophically low minimum wage in the Bangladeshi clothing industry, the responsible Commission has now announced the future minimum wage in September: 8,000 Taka (approximately €82) – half of what local trade unions demanded! The total amount is not only far below a credible living wage estimate, but can de facto hardly be regarded as an actual increase, but rather as a compensation for inflation over the past five years. In response to this much too low minimum wage, seamstresses in Bangladesh are now entering the labour market. Hunger strike for fairer wages, FEMNET's partner organization, the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), announced today.

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Green buttonThe Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is planning to introduce a state-owned metaseal for the textile supply chain ("Green Button") and therefore invited to a round table in September 2018 to discuss the implementation concept of this metaseal. The Clean Clothes Campaign took part in this discussion and is now sharing its views in writing with this opinion:

The Green Button (GK) is supposed to be a state metaseal, which initially only refers to the stage of assembly. If they want to use the GK, companies must prove that:

  1. they comply with their corporate due diligence obligations, accepting as evidence the recognition of a roadmap within the framework of the Textile Alliance.
  2. the products covered by the GC comply with the minimum social, environmental and credibility requirements for a product label rated ‘good’ and ‘very good’ on the comparison platform ‘seal clarity’.

Despite criticism of the fundamental weakness of product seals, the campaign for clean clothing welcomes the combination of company and product-related criteria in the awarding of the GK. However, we have massive requests for the previously planned design of this combination, which concern the claim level, the reach, the control, the communicable ability and thus also the credibility of the planned metaseal.

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