© BLAST
Bangladesh is one of the most important production sites of the global fashion industry – and at the same time a place where millions of workers have to fight for fair conditions on a daily basis. Our partner BLAST (Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust) has developed an app that gives textile workers easy access to information, advice and legal assistance.
© joyful - depositphotos.com
On 3 September 2025, the Federal Cabinet decided to significantly weaken the German Supply Chain Act: The reporting obligation is suspended and sanctions are only provided for in the case of serious infringements. While this eliminates central instruments of national law, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) also threatens to be diluted at European level. Negotiations are ongoing in Brussels – time to take a look at the state of play.
© AI-generated
Amsterdam/Florence/Cologne. The campaign for clean clothing, shareholders for change and the umbrella organisation of critical shareholders call on Adidas AG to comply with workers' rights in the global supply chain before the Annual General Meeting on May 15. Workers in Myanmar and Cambodia report human rights violations such as wage theft, illegal layoffs and obstruction of trade union activities.
© Initiative Supply Chain Act
Berlin. On his inaugural visit to Brussels last Friday, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced his intention to abolish the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG). He also spoke out clearly against the planned EU Supply Chain Directive (CSDDD). A broad civil society alliance reacts with strong protest – and launches the petition “No profits without conscience - protect human rights and the environment!”
A Thai worker holds up a sign saying 'Otto - Help us to get our wages back'
"I want to say to OTTO that we have been making clothes for ten years," says Hnin Hnin*, a worker from Myanmar who made clothes for OTTO brands in the Thai Royal Knitting factory. “We have been harmed and feel hopeless, but we want help to get the money we deserve.”
In April 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of the Royal Knitting Factory in Thailand dismissed Hnin Hnin and a further 208 employees without notice. More than 90 percent of those affected are women from Myanmar. Their employer unlawfully refused them wages for work done and severance pay. Almost five years later, and despite the Thai court ruling against Royal Knitting, the 209 workers are still waiting for over $1,000,000 in unpaid wages and severance payments.
FEMNET Chairwoman Dr. Gisela Burckhardt comments: "With today's proposal to suspend the LkSG for two years, Habeck stabs all those who have been fighting for years for a legal regulation in the back. It unsettles companies, civil society feels fooled. This could have implications for the EU elections."
Berlin. In the future, large companies in the EU will have to work towards compliance with human rights and environmental standards in their supply chains. Der Rat der Europäischen Union hat die entsprechende Richtlinie, das sogenannte EU-Lieferkettengesetz, heute final beschlossen. This puts an end to months of political tug-of-war, in which the FDP in particular wanted to bring the project down on the German side. EU Member States now have two years to transpose the project into national law. The Federal Government must adapt the existing German Supply Chain Act accordingly.
© FEMNET
This year's Annual General Meeting of Zalando in mid-May provided an opportunity for a critical examination of the company by FEMNET and the umbrella organization of critical shareholders. The focus of the discussion was on the sustainability and social justice of the online mail order company.
© FEMNET
Joint press release from FEMNET, the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Association of Critical Shareholders
Bonn, Cologne, Berlin – On the occasion of Hugo Boss’s upcoming annual general meeting on 14 May 2024, FEMNET, the Campaign for Clean Clothes (CCC) and the umbrella organisation of Critical Shareholders criticise the unilateral sustainability strategy and question whether Hugo Boss complies with its due diligence obligations under the German Supply Chain Act.
© Pieter van de Boogert
Press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign 22.04.2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024, marks the 11th anniversary of the worst tragedy in the fashion industry: the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed 1,138 people. On this occasion, Artemisa Ljarja from the Campaign for Clean Clothes Germany draws the following conclusion: "Although unprecedented progress has been made in improving safety in factories since then, the brutal crackdown on the protests for the increase in the minimum wage shows that fashion brands producing in Bangladesh still do not ensure that basic rights are respected in their supply chains."
