Clean Clothes Poland – the coalition for the ethical fashion - is being launched on the 9th of December. CCP was established by Karat Coalition, Polish Humanitarian Organization, Polish Green Network and Grupa eFTe Warszawa. It represents Polish organizations on the international platform of Clean Clothes Campaign.

Clean Clothes Campaign is dedicated to improving working conditions and supporting the empowerment of workers in the global garment and sportswear industries. It works to help ensure that the fundamental rights of workers are respected. CCC educates and mobilises consumers, lobbies companies and governments, and offers direct solidarity support to workers as they fight for their rights and demand better working conditions.

CCP will implement the international activities of CCC in Poland. It will also realize its own projects related to the education of consumers and to the dialogue with Polish garment companies, and it will support the development of “ethical fashion” in Poland.

More information (in Polish)

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The worldwide anti-sweatshop Clean Clothes Campaign marks 20 years this year, and coinciding with the anniverary a new book on the movement will be launched on November 18.

"Clean Clothes" by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter takes an independent look at how the campaign has grown from an ad-hoc feminist coalition in Holland to an international labour-rights activist network that put corporate accountability on the fashion industry's agenda.

The campaign, one of the most prominent anti-sweatshop organisations today, aims to improve the wages and conditions of workers in the global garment industry. All along the industry’s supply chains, workers, including children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures. The campaign urges those in charge of the garment industry’s supply lines to protect their workers and treat them fairly.

This dynamic account of direct engagement by concerned consumers is a must read for those that see globalisation differently and want their shopping choices to support the most vulnerable people involved in the clothing industry.

The CCC has national campaigns in 12 European countries with a network of 250 organisations worldwide, including development organisations, trade unions, women's organisations, human-rights defenders and labour-rights organisations.

The book is being distributed in many countries in western Europe, the US, and Canada, and can also be bought online at http://www.plutobooks.com or http://www.amazon.com; ISBN 9780745327686.

The garment industry is a feminized branch –more than 80% of its workers are women. What are the implications of this fact? Does a seamstress bear the same consequences of the labour rights violations as her male colleague? Why is it harder for women to fight for their rights?

During the seminar organized by Karat Coalition (17th-18th of October) we analyzed the workers’ problems from the gender perspective. The participants from Poland, Austria and Germany found out why it is important to include gender issues into the activities promoting labour rights. They also planned some exemplary public actions that take gender equality into account.

The seminar took place in Lodz which is called “the city of women” and which used to be a centre of Polish garment industry. The history of the seamstresses from Łódź was presented by Iza Desperak from the University of Lodz. Then the participants listened to the trade unionist and the clothes’ designer who were talking about their experiences.

If you wish to find out more about women’s work in garment industry, read Clean Clothes Campaign’s publication "Made by Women. Gender, the Global Garment Industry and the Movement for Women Workers’ Rights".It is available in English, French and Spanish.

You don't know what the Asia Floor Wage is? We encourage you to watch the movie in which Annanya Bhattacharjee explains this concept.

Seeking an end to the severe poverty that garment workers currently endure, a campaign to push for implementation of a concrete minimum living wage across Asiahas been launched. The Asia Floor Wage (AFW) Alliance is calling upon companies sourcing garment production in Asia to implement an Asia Floor Wage.

The ground-breaking AFW benchmark, developed by a growing Asian-based alliance of labour rights organisations, has a concrete calculation for a minimum living wage that activists believe companies sourcing in the region should implement. Currently the poverty wages garment workers earn do not cover basic needs and fall far short of a living wage.

To learn more about the AFW concept, read the report.

German CCC activists gathered in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office to present her with over a 1,000 protest cards demanding action to ensure respect for the rights of garment workers who produce for German retailers Lidl, Aldi and KiK.

Armed with sewing machines German activists sewed together the cards, gathered throughout the country during recent national campaigning activities. The CCC activists tried to hand over a 400 meter long band of cards signed by people calling for more action to address the violations in German discount retailer supply chains.

The German campaigners are pushing Merkel for legislation that will require retailers to ensure respect for workers rights and other social standards at all their suppliers worldwide. While the German Chancellor did not make an appearance and no promises for binding legislation were made, her office did release a statement that they regard it as important to look into the issue. The campaign in Germany is ongoing.

For more information in German see the website of the German CCC.

Imagine that your family had to share a toilet with 20 other families. Or that you’re only able to see your children once a year, because lack of money means they have to live with relatives far far away. Imagine working a 14-day and then going home to cook for your family, but all you can afford on your wages is rice and a bit of gravy. That’s reality for the women - in India, in China, in Bangladesh - who make the clothes we buy.

You can do something to change this reality. Send a message to top retailers (such as Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Carrefour and Walmart), in your neighborhood and globally, to tell them to ensure workers making their products are paid a living wage.

Why do we target the giant retailers? Because they are big players, with huge market shares and enormous buying power. In the UK, for example, more than a quarter of all clothing is bought from chain stores that also sell groceries. One in two German shoppers buys clothing in discounters such as Aldi and Lidl. And Carrefour is Europe’s fourth-largest clothing retailer. The giant retailers are also really influential because what they do is becoming a standard in the whole clothing industry.

At a time of financial crisis the millions of women, who are employed in factories and workshops and make the clothes on sale in supermarkets, are paying for the profits of the gigantic global retailers such as Carrefour, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, and Walmart.

This is the conclusion from the Clean Clothes Campaign report “Cashing In: Giant retailers, purchasing practices, and working conditions in the garment industry”. KARAT Coalition has prepared the Polish version of the report. It is now available both in electronic and in printed format.

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The report in Polish is available in three parts: part 1, part 2, part 3.

In English the report is available on the Clean Clothes Campaign website.

If you wish to receive the printed version of the report in the Polish version, don’t hesitate to contact us (ewa.kaminska@karat.org.pl).

Outdoor sports like hiking, climbing or skiing are getting more and more popular. Consumers of outdoor clothes should be interested not only in highly quality but also in the social and ecological standards of production.

Clean Clothes Campaign has implemented a research concerning the social responsibility of outdoor companies. The conclusion is following: the majority of the companies could not care less about fair production and working standards, even though they frequently use terms such as fairness, sustainability and social responsibility.

The researchers have analyzed 15 big, internationally operating outdoor companies - their CSR policy and the implementation of social standards in their supply chain. The companies were rated according to the following categories: transparency, code of conduct, code implementation, monitoring and verification, raw materials.

Further information is available in German.

Inkota has prepared the movie promoting labour rights and ethical consumption.

You can watch it here.

Not many people realize that problems related to the women’s work in garment industry are not limited to the regions such as Asia or Latin America. They emerge also in Central and Eastern European countries.

On the 26th and 27th of June KARAT Coalition organized the seminar about this issue, “Made in Eastern Europe”. It was the first time when such an event dedicated to workers' problems in garment industry in this region was organized for ‘multiplicators’ focusing on education and consumers’ campaign - 36 persons attended. The participants could find out what was the history implications for garment industry in Eastern Europe, how it functions at the moment, what are its perspectives for future and how all this influence workers of this branch who are mostly women.

The seminar was a great opportunity to share thoughts and exchange experiences and ideas.

If you wish to find out more about garment industry in Central and Eastern Europe, read Clean Clothes Campaign’s publication "Workers’ Voices. The situation of women in the Eastern European and Turkish garment industries".

KARAT has prepared the leaflet for Polish consumers "Well tailored?" about working condition in clothing industry and about the campaigns aiming to improve them.

While reading it, you’ll find out how the clothes’ production looks like, who sews our clothes, who is responsible for working conditions and what to do to improve them, what “Corporate Social Responsibility” means, what the Code of Conduct is etc.

The leaflet is available in Polish.

The leaflet in the electronic format is available here and here. If you wish to obtain it in the printed format, please contact us.

Fair Play in Berlin

Fair Play activists from Poland (KARAT Coalition), Austria (Sudwind Agentur) and Germany (Inkota) met in Berlin on the 14th and 15th of November. We were learning about street performance techniques which can be successfully applied during consumers’ actions. We prepared the performance that took place beside the Adidas and Puma shops – these are companies that have the main seat in Germany. We were calling for taking responsibility for working conditions in sportswear industry. The staff in the shops were pretty surprised and the passers-by were reacting really favorably!

You can watch our performance on youtube.

The report “Fair Play always in fashion - consumer’s awareness and working conditions of women in sporting goods industry” examines the working conditions of women employed in the sporting goods industry in Poland. In the report you can find:

• interviews with women working in the clothing industry in Poland
• manufacturers speaking of how they deal with Asian competition
• results of the survey carried out among consumers of sporting goods

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At the beginning of 2008, Clean Clothes Campaign and India Committee of the Netherlands (CCC and ICN), and Fiber & Fabrics International along with its subsidiary Jeans Knit Private Limited (FFI/JKPL), have resolved their differences as to labour conditions at the Indian clothing production facilities of FFI/JKPL. In consultation with local organisations and unions in Bangalore, an Ombudsperson in Bangalore will be appointed to resolve future problems. Should employees, local organisations, CCC or ICN have any complaints concerning labour conditions, they can submit these to the Ombudsperson, who will attempt to resolve them. Employees will be free to organise themselves in a union of their choice. On the basis of this agreement, CCC and ICN are confident that any violations of labour rights will be reported in a timely fashion and will be resolved in a correct manner. Parties therefore no longer require the courts to provide judgement on the difference of opinion as to the allegations put forward by local Indian organisations, and disputed by FFI/JKPL, as to events lying in the past (2005/2006). Therefore, the Indian company withdraws all legal proceedings, and CCC and ICN bring to an end all campaigns against FFI/JKPL and the Dutch jeans brand G-Star. CCC and ICN applaud the fact that G-Star, as the most important former client of FFI/JKPL restores their commercial relationship with FFI/JKPL."

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KARAT has started a research within the "Fair Play in sporting goods production" project. We intent to view Polish "sports sector" by analyzing available data, conducting interviews with the producers, workers and consumers. We act in the international context, considering globalization, development, CSR and conscious consumption aspects. One of the main research areas is a study of Polish consumers' attitudes to sporting goods – their knowledge, preferences, motivations. We have started this part of the research in June 2007 with pollsters training. The pollsters conduct interviews with consumers and in future will engage themselves in other actions in the project.
Research results, including interviews, will be published in a Report and will become a basis for further actions of KARAT and Clean Clothes Campaign.

PlayFair2008 Campaign, calling for Olympic rules obedience, especially the fair Play rule, also in sporting goods production, has issued a "No medal for Olympics on labor rights" Report. It shows serious violations of basic working norms in a few Chinese factories producing licensed products for Beijing Olympics. The violations are, among other: paying half a minimum salary, employing 12 year olds, forced over hours work – 12 hour a day, seven days a week in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. There were also some cases of workers being forced not to tell truth to external working conditions inspectors and to put false data into employment questioners. China workers are not allowed to organize, so they have no means to defend their rights. The report was based on results of a research and factory workers interviews led by PlayFair2008 Campaign activists in the beginning of 2007 in four factories producing bags, head covers and other gadgets for 2008 Olympics in Beijing.