Commentary Archive

New Report Details Impact of Lesotho Anti-GBVH Program

May 4, 2023

A new report details the impact of the Lesotho Anti-GBVH Program over the past two years. This Program was created by a set of landmark agreements between apparel companies, a major manufacturer, unions, and women’s groups to address gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in Lesotho garment factories. The WRC has played a central role throughout…

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The Lesson of Rana Plaza: Corporate Self-Regulation Is a Formula for Disaster

April 21, 2023

The Rana Plaza factory collapse killed 1,138 workers, more than any other manufacturing disaster in human history. These deaths, and the injuries to 2,500 others on April 24, 2013, were the culmination of more than a decade of mass fatality incidents in Bangladesh’s garment industry—most of them in factories producing for leading fashion brands and…

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Workers with back pay

WRC Engagement with Target Secures Compensation for Seven Unlawfully Fired Employees, Restores Stolen Severance Rights for 400 Workers at Supplier JNB Global in Guatemala

March 2, 2023

JNB Global, a garment factory in Guatemala that supplies Target Stores, has provided legally owed severance and back pay to workers whom the factory unlawfully fired in February 2021, and it has restored severance and seniority rights for the factory’s entire workforce of 400 employees, following a WRC investigation and subsequent engagement with Target for…

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Workers with back pay

La intervención del WRC con Target asegura las indemnizaciones de siete trabajadoras(es) despedidas ilegalmente y restablece el derecho a la indemnización que les había sido arrebatado a las 400 trabajadoras(es) de JNB Global en Guatemala

March 2, 2023

Después de una investigación realizada por el Consorcio de Derechos del Trabajador (WRC, por sus siglas en inglés) y del subsiguiente compromiso con Target para implementar acciones correctivas, JNB Global, una fábrica de ropa en Guatemala que abastece a las tiendas de Target, pagó las indemnizaciones por despido y los salarios caídos que legalmente se…

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Haitian Factory

Hanesbrands Ensures Severance Paid to Haitian Factory Workers

September 30, 2022

In late August 2022, more than 800 workers at the apparel factory, GO Haiti (Garments of Haiti) picked up severance checks totaling $330,000, the equivalent of almost three months’ wages per worker, that were paid for by Hanesbrands, the US apparel company that had been the factory’s main buyer. Hanesbrands informed the WRC that it…

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shipping containers

EU Forced Labour Proposal Falls Short on Uyghur Forced Labour

September 15, 2022

Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region urges clear procedures to address state-imposed forced labour and require companies to map their supply chains  The European Parliament and Council should introduce amendments to strengthen the European Commission’s proposal to enact a ban on goods made with forced labour, the Coalition to End Forced Labour in…

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Worker at sewing machine

Target Supplier JNB Global Fires Workers and Steals Severance

June 16, 2022

Overview: The WRC recently documented violations of worker rights at the Guatemalan garment factory JNB Global, also known as Sams and Rudia. Following our investigation, we shared findings and recommendations for remedial action with the factory and with its buyer, Target Corporation. The violations of worker rights at JNB Global occurred when the factory required…

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Workers at Two Guatemala Garment Factories Overcome a History of Violence and Vindicate Associational Rights

February 24, 2022

The WRC helped workers organizing unions at Guatemalan factories owned by Korean multinational SAE-A secure remedies for violence, death threats, and illegal firings.

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80,000 Shahi Exports Workers Will Finally Get Their Back Pay

February 2, 2022

In a major breakthrough in the efforts of the Garment and Textile Workers’ Union in Karnataka, India, the WRC, and a growing list of labor rights advocates, to address the refusal of suppliers in Karnataka to pay the legal minimum wage—a violation that has affected 400,000 workers, who are collectively owed nearly $60 million…

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Testimony from Workers Who Benefitted from Barco’s Contribution of $1 Million

December 23, 2021

“This is a joyful day that we thought would never come. My father fell ill during the past year, and I felt so sad because I wasn’t able to help with any of his expenses. But now I will be able to help buy him medicine. We appreciate all of the efforts by the organizations…

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