Workers Rights news and archive

European Parliament approves draft law to improve environmental, social practices of supply chains

The European Parliament has voted in favour of a draft law to ensure large companies crack down on suppliers not following certain rules in terms of their social and environmental practices. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) addresses areas including child labour, slavery, labour exploitation, pollution, environmental...

Business

Mango signs Pakistan Accord, extends commitment to garment workers

Spanish retailer Mango has announced that it has signed the Pakistan Accord, an employment safety initiative looking to ensure protection of workers in the region. It extends the brand’s previous commitment to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which it initially signed in 2013, expanding the group’s commitment to another key...

BusinessFeatured

Chinese fast fashion giant Shein denies low prices due to forced labour

Chinese cut-price fast-fashion giant Shein defended its business model in an interview with AFP, saying demand-based production accounted for its low prices and not forced or cheap labour. Founded in China in 2008, Shein has swiftly claimed a top place in the global fast-fashion marketplace, offering young social-media-savvy customers low-priced...

Fashion Featured

Extended Producer Responsibility isn’t enough to tackle global ‘fashion waste mountain’. Here's why

The Netherlands will be the second European country to launch an EPR for textiles - but will the policy end waste colonialism? Textile waste is one of the world’s fastest-growing waste streams: according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, globally, upwards of 100 billion garments are produced each year, a huge portion of which don’t even reach...

Business

Hugo Boss signs Pakistan Accord, commits to workplace safety

German fashion group Hugo Boss has announced the signing of the Pakistan Accord, which sees it make a commitment to the protection of health and safety for its garment workers. The Pakistan Accord was first introduced late last year as an extension of Bangladesh’s 2021 International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment...

Business

Nike shareholder expresses concern over brand’s failure to address forced labour

An activist shareholder of sportswear giant Nike has outlined in an open letter that it is concerned about the company’s lack of response surrounding forced labour in its supply chain. Tulipshare, a shareholder activist investment platform and a long-term shareholder of Nike, addressed the company’s board of directors in the letter, in which it...

Retail

Violence and abuse against retail workers nearly double pre-pandemic levels

A new report has found that violence and abuse against people working in retail has almost doubled on that of pre-pandemic levels. Figures from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Crime Survey showed that incidents, including racial and sexual abuse, physical assault and threats with weapons, rose from the pre-Covid high of over 450 per day in...

BusinessFeatured

PVH to pay out one million dollars to Haitian garment workers

PVH Corp, the owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, is set to provide back pay to over a thousand garment workers in Haiti after one of its factories in the region abruptly closed last year. The sudden closure left workers at the factory without severance and pension benefits, said the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), a lobby group which...

Business

Inditex aiming to double number of disabled employees in two years

Inditex, the owner of Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear, has announced a new goal to significantly increase the number of employees with disabilities worldwide within two years. The group’s endorsement of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network was signed by its CEO Oscar García Maceiras during a meeting with the director-general of the...

BusinessFeatured

UK court rules against allegations that government failed to halt Xinjiang imports

The UK’s High Court has ruled against human rights campaigners that brought forward a case claiming British crime and customs authorities had failed to stop the importation of cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, which has been at the centre of allegations of forced labour. In the filing, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and World Uyghur...

Business

US labor board upholds landmark Amazon union vote

Amazon's objections to a landmark unionization vote by workers in one of the retail giant's US warehouses have been thrown out, the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled Wednesday. The federal agency tossed out the arguments put forth by Amazon against the 2022 vote at its warehouse in Staten Island, New York, and said in a statement...

Business

UK Amazon workers to strike for first time over pay

Amazon workers in the UK have announced plans to strike against the tech giant for the first time over a pay dispute. The action was announced by GMB Union, who said employees of Amazon’s Coventry warehouse are set to stage a walk out on January 25. According to the union, a December ballot saw the majority of workers vote in favour of the...