News
Why We Need Corporate Transparency on Factory Closures
Covid-19 has meant a huge drop in demand for apparel, resulting in many closures of garment-producing facilities, with many more expected. Factory closures have sweeping social impacts, both short and long term, with a single closure often affecting the livelihoods and life prospects of thousands of workers and their dependents. When closures are carried out…
During Pandemic, Universities Continue Support of Living-Wage Jobs
Despite the tremendous challenges facing colleges and universities during this back-to-school season, dozens of schools have chosen to leverage their mask procurement and licensing choices to support living-wage jobs by sourcing from Alta Gracia Apparel.
US House Votes to Ban Forced Labor Goods from Uyghur Region
Worker Rights Consortium— a member of Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region — Calls Congressional Action “A High-Decibel Wake Up Call for Apparel Brands Complicit in Forced Labor”
Members of Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour Testify Before Congress
House Ways & Means Trade Subcommittee holds hearing on imports from the Xinjiang Region Washington, D.C.— Today, three members of the 280+ groups that make up the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour testified before the House Ways & Means Committee. The Campaign for Uyghurs, the Worker Rights Consortium, and the AFL-CIO are part of a coalition calling…
180+ Orgs Demand Apparel Brands End Complicity in Uyghur Forced Labour
Today, 72 Uyghur rights groups are joined by over 100 civil society organisations and labour unions from around the world in calling on apparel brands and retailers to stop using forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“Uyghur Region”), known to local people as East Turkistan, and end their complicity in the Chinese government’s…
Four Major Civil Society Groups Release Dispute Resolution System and Model Arbitration Clauses for Disputes Arising Under Enforceable Brand Agreements
Authors: Clean Clothes Campaign, Global Labor Justice, International Labor Rights Forum, and Worker Rights Consortium
More Brands Paying for Orders, but Many Have yet to Follow Suit
The WRC has been working for the last two months to address the most urgent challenge facing garment workers: the decision of many leading apparel brands and retailers, at the outset of the Covid-19 crisis, to retroactively cancel apparel orders that suppliers and workers had already produced. This sudden withdrawal of billions of dollars in contractually…
Covid-19 Tracker: Updates and Analysis
The WRC is tracking which brands and retailers are paying for goods that are finished or in-production and which are breaking their commitments, with devastating consequences for workers in their supply chains. Our tracker now also features a section for Updates and Analysis. Photo credit: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
Two crises, one flawed supply chain model: How the imbalance of power in global supply chains harms workers
On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza factory collapse claimed the lives of 1,137 garment workers in Bangladesh and injured thousands more. The tragedy, which was the deadliest disaster in a manufacturing facility in human history, put a spotlight on the grossly unsafe labor conditions plaguing Bangladesh’s garment sector and catalyzed fundamental reform. The international…
WRC in the Media
Fashion companies want cheaper goods—and it’s garment workers who are paying
Quartz
Global brands continue to squeeze suppliers
The Daily Star
Fashion brands accused of exploiting workers at risk of layoffs
Thomson Reuters Foundation News
Buyers failed to pay for US$16bn in spring apparel orders
just-style
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Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour Testifies before Congress
Representatives from the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour testified before the House Ways & Means Committee on Thursday, September 17, 2020. The Campaign for Uyghurs, the Worker Rights Consortium, and the AFL-CIO provided testimony to members of Congress on why apparel brands must divest from the Xinjiang Region of China. Supply chains of most…