Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Clean Clothing Campaign

By:-

Harshita Agarwal (11)

Kritika Shrama (14)

Reetusri (23)

Clean Clothing Campaign

IntroductionA worker in the garment industry anywhere in the world today is faced with decreasing wages, deteriorating health, and an increased risk of losing their job. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is the garment industry's largest alliance of labour unions and non-governmental organizations .The civil society campaign focuses on the improvement of working conditions in the garment and sportswear industries. Formed in the Netherlands in 1989, the CCC has campaigns in 15 European countries: Austria, Belgium (North and South), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The CCC works with a partner network of more than 250 organizations around the world.

The Clean Clothes Campaign is dedicated to improving working conditions and supporting the empowerment of workers in the global garment and sportswear industries. Since 1989, the CCC has worked to help ensure that the fundamental rights of workers are respected. We educate and mobilise consumers, lobby companies and governments, and offer direct solidarity support to workers as they fight for their rights and demand better working conditions. The Clean Clothes Campaign is an alliance of organisations in 16 European countries. Members include trade unions and NGOs covering a broad spectrum of perspectives and interests, such as womens rights, consumer advocacy and poverty reduction.The structure of the CCCThe Clean Clothes Campaigns in each country are coalitions of consumer organisations, trade unions, human rights and women rights organisations, researchers, solidarity groups and activists. Every national campaign operates autonomously. However, they do work together towards international action. Twice a year representatives from the national secretariats of each CCC gather to exchange information and co-ordinate activities as they are needed on the international level (for example, in negotiations with multinational companies or to set up global campaigns). The campaigns co-operate with organisations all over the world, especially organisations of garment workers (in factories of all sizes), home workers and migrant workers (including those without valid working papers).The principles of Clean Clothes Campaign's workThe Clean Clothes Campaign's work is founded upon the following principles: All workersregardless of sex, age, country of origin, legal status, employment status or location, or any other basishave a right to good and safe working conditions, where they can exercise their fundamental rights to associate freely and bargain collectively, and earn a living wage, which allows them to live in dignity.

Minimum standards related to these rights are derived from the ILO conventions, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted in 1998, as well as on the Article 23 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and have been listed in the CCC model code of labour practices for the garment and sportswear industry.

These rights apply to all workers; even if they or their workplaces are not formally recognised as such Workers have a right to know about their rights.

They are entitled to education and training in relation to these rights. The public has a right to know where and how their garments and sports shoes are produced.

Workers themselves can and should take the lead in their own organising and empowerment.

Workers can best assess their needs and the risks they take when asserting their rights.

Public campaigns and other initiatives to take action in cases of rights violations and the development of strategies to address these issues must be done in consultation with workers or their representatives.

The public can and should take action to see that workers' rights are respected.

However, the CCC does not generally endorse or promote boycotts as a tool for action. In order to achieve and maintain workers' rights, the gender issues underlying or facilitating rights violations must be addressed.

National governments and international authorities have an obligation to implement legislation and sanction any failure to do so. Binding legislation should exist that meets the standards set out in ILO conventions;

They also should implement ethical procurement policies.

The garment and sports shoe have a responsibility to ensure that good labour practices are the norm at all levels of the industry.

Brand name garment companies and retailers should adopt a code of labour practice that follows the standards outlined in the CCC model code, commit to implement these standards throughout the garment production subcontracting chain, and participate in credible, transparent and participatory multi-stakeholder verification initiatives in order to develop, guide and oversee code implementation activities.

Brand name garment companies and retailers should actively pursue social dialogue with trade union organizations, and sign international framework agreements to facilitate such dialogue.

Companies must be transparent about conditions in, and the structure of, their supply networks and regarding actions undertaken to uphold good labour standards.

Trade unions and NGOs should cooperate nationally, regionally and globally to improve conditions in the garment and sports shoe industries and facilitate worker empowerment, without resorting to protectionism.

CCC Activities

The Clean Clothes Campaign 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.CCC Areas of Activity Putting Pressure on Companies

Since the main demand of the Clean Clothes Campaign is that retailers live up to their responsibility to ensure that garments are produced in decent conditions, it's important to be clear about how CCC define good working conditions. Guiding principles for the improvement of working conditions can be found in the basic conventions issued by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a United Nations body; plus the international principles regarding fundamental rights in the workplace. These principles are: freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, no discrimination of any kind, no forced or slave labour, a minimum employment age of 15, safety and health measures, a working week of 48 hours maximum and voluntary overtime of 12 hours maximum, a right to a living wage and establishment of the employment relationship (a contract). Early on CCC partners from all over the world raised the need for a common code to campaign around. As a result, at the European level the CCC developed a code, called the "Code of Labour Practices for the Apparel Industry Including Sportswear".CCC believes that direct reference to ILO standards is a crucial element of their code. Because these standards are the result of an international consultation process, and therefore internationally-accepted standards with agreed upon wording, the possibilities for misinterpretation are limited. In terms of developing their code, this too was the result of a process of international consultation. Informal meetings were organised among the Clean Clothes Campaigns in Europe, the International Trade Union Secretariats and other NGOs (such as the UK Fair Trade Foundation and International Restructuring Education Network Europe (IRENE)). Partners in the South gave input on drafts of the codes (for example, Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC), Committee for Asian Women (CAW), members of the OXFAM network, and trade union federations). In their campaigning, CCC demand that retailers adopt the standards outlined in the Code of Labour Practices, implement those standards and create a system to continuously monitor that those standards are being upheld. They also ask that companies agree to a system of independent verification.CCC believes that retailers should ensure that the clothes they sell are made under good labour conditions. Retailers and the major garment companies do more than just sell clothes to consumers -- they are also the buyers of these clothes in Asia or Eastern Europe, and therefore they can and should use their power to improve labour conditions.

Consumers: Raising Awareness and Pressing for ChangeAbove all the Clean Clothes Campaign is a consumer campaign - its strength comes from consumer power. The purchasing power of consumers is being mobilized on the issue of working conditions in the garment industry. Information on working conditions in the garment industry is distributed via newsletters, the Internet, and in the form of research publications. Consumers are not only interested in the quality of the products they purchase, but also the work behind the brand names; the social and environmental conditions under which these items were produced.CCC have found this to be the case in their own contact with people, and there are consumer studies that have been carried out in Europe and the U.S. that also support this claim. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that garment manufacturers are more and more concerned about how consumers perceive their company.The Clean Clothes Campaign tries to involve all sorts of consumer groups (ranging from young consumer groups to rural women's associations) by organising different forms of education and actions. One form of action is organising consumers to send postcards to companies with questions about their working conditions. In most of the European countries these cards have been sent out, in some countries these initiatives have involved more than 100,000 consumers. In any correspondence with companies, consumers demand improvements in working conditions; they don't call for boycotts. Companies should be pressured to use their influence to improve working conditions, and should not be allowed to cut their orders and run away from the attention that factories with labour problems are receiving. This message -- of labour rights and responsibilities -- is what CCC try to spread among consumers.Raising awareness among young consumers is one of the specific goals of many of the CCC consumer campaigns. They look at new ways to reach young people on items that concern them. Actions for youth connected to major sporting events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, are regularly formulated. Rallies and demonstrations by young people are also organised in many of the Clean Clothes countries. Educational campaigns, such as a slide presentation are done through the school system. In the Netherlands, together with one of the trade union federations, the CCC targeted 1300 schools to use this slide presentation to inform young people about working conditions in sports shoe factories. By using school lessons CCC not only reach a new segment of the public throughout the country, they are raising awareness amongst new generations.Legal Possibilities

The Clean Clothes Campaign also pursues legal possibilities for challenging the bad working conditions in the garment industry. In 1998 the CCC organised the International Forum on Clean Clothes, held in Brussels. At that time cases against seven major garment companies -- Adidas, C&A, Disney, H&M, Levi Strauss, Nike and Otto Versand -- were presented before the Permanent Peoples Tribunal. These cases included testimony from workers and researchers regarding working conditions in factories that produce for each of these brands. One of the goals of this initiative was to work out a legal approach at two levels: the consumers' right to be informed of the working conditions under which the clothes they buy are produced; and the liability of the distributors and the clothing companies at every stage of production. To get a sense of what CCC mean by legal challenges from the perspective of consumer law there is example of the case filed against Nike in the State of California in the United States, where consumer protection laws exist that are intended to protect consumers from false advertising. These laws are being used to raise the issue of bad working conditions as evidence of false advertising, on the part of a multinational company that claims to take steps to ensure that good working conditions are the norm in the factories that produce their products. Following this international forum, a Legal Working Group was formed within the Clean Clothes Campaign, which is made up of members from each of the national campaigns. This group now focuses on following up on these legal initiatives.Solidarity WorkThe CCC works to develop links with organisations in countries where garments are produced. This is done through exchange programs. For example, in 1997 CCC began a research project and exchange program with NGOs and trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe. This focused on Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania (a report on the field research on garment factories in those countries is available in English from the CCC). At the moment a new exchange program with Latin American organisations is being developed. CCC solidarity activities also take the form of international seminars. For example, the International Workshop of Independent Monitoring of Codes of Conduct, held in Belgium in May 1998, where participants, mostly from countries where garments are produced, explored the possibilities and limitations for NGOs, worker's support centre, and trade unions at the local level to get involved in the implementation and verification of the monitoring process in the garment industry. Also in September 2004 an international seminar is being held to set an agenda for action for campaigning on informal labour in the garment industry. Together with representatives from countries with a large amount of informal garment labour, strategies are developed to improve their working conditions.Urgent appeals

An urgent appeal is a rapid response to a request for support from workers in the garment industry whose rights are being infringed. Through an urgent appeal, CCC works with and pressures the different parties involved. Those are often fashion brands, buying fromthe factory where worker's rights are violated, or the factory managements, investors, UN bodies and governments. CCC urges them to take positive action and end the labour rights violations. Other activities involve writing letters of solidarity to workers and their organisations, launching global petitions, social media campaigns and street actions. Most of the cases in which CCC takes action are related to violations of core labour standards on freedom of association, the right to organise, collectively bargain, occupational health and safety, payment and contracts and gender discriminationGender policy statementThe Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is committed to improving the lives and working conditions of all workers in the global garment and sportswear industry, the vast majority of whom are women. In promoting workers rights, the CCC is committed to challenging the gender inequality and sex discrimination faced by garment workers.

Within the garment industry women are concentrated in unskilled, low-paid, precarious and often casual or informal work, including home-based work. Their work, even when skilled, is undervalued or unrecognised, and few workers have access to decent working conditions or training.

Women workers have little voice and influence in their workplaces. They are often denied the right to join a union or to organise. The unequal power of women garment workers in relation to men and their employers, both at work and in the community, is at the heart of the injustices and deprivations they experience.

Women garment workers tend to be in a vulnerable position especially if they are young, migrant, or poorly educated. They often work in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. They lack rights at work, including to pregnancy and maternity protection. The long hours typical for garment industry work often come into conflict with women's ability to fulfil the responsibilities they are expected to shoulder in their families and communities.

The CCC recognises that workers rights must take into account the vital role women play in households and communities around the world to support and care for others; unpaid work that they do in addition to their role as paid workers.The CCC aims to help women garment workers raise their voices and achieve positive change in their lives.

With the aim of improving conditions for garment workers and supporting their empowerment, the CCC campaigns for the full implementation of human rights and ILO labour standards in the garment and sportswear supply chain, especially those of freedom of association and freedom from discrimination, and strives to make consumers aware of the conditions in which their clothes and sports shoes are made and the role of women workers in the production process.

To make these commitments a reality the CCC will:

Take gender perspectives into account in all its work and address issues influenced by gender. Include gender considerations in all its activities, particularly policy and campaign work, and highlight gender discrimination experienced by women workers. Work to make the experiences, needs, and struggles of women workers at all levels of garment production visible, particularly those at the bottom of supply chains, such as home-based workers, and push for recognition of their status as workers. Pursue complementary legal and campaign strategies to expand the rights of women working in the garment industry. Monitor global social and economic trends, as well as supply chain practices, and raise awareness of their impact on women working in the garment industry.To put aspirations into practice the CCC will:

Foster solidarity and promote links between the women who buy clothes, the women who produce clothes and the women who sell clothes. Collaborate with the international labour movement and with womens organisations to win rights for women workers and empower women to join and take leadership positions in unions, community and workers organisations. Engage with NGOs, the media and research communities to focus attention on the working conditions of women working in the garment and sportswear industry. Urge companies and supply chain employers to ensure that all garment workers can access their human and legal rights, particularly womens rights to Decent Work and equal pay. Pressthe international and policy communities, as well as national governments, to take greater account of the importance of Decent Work and international labour standards in programmes aiming to economically empower women in garment producing countries. Promote understanding and learning on gender issues so that policy and priorities reflect the commitment to make the world a better place for women working in the garment and sportswear value chain. Increase awareness among consumers, especially young women, of the relationship between the clothes they buy and the lives of the women workers who produce them, as well as the benefits of ethical consumerism and slow fashion which values quality of production over quantity. Provide resources to assist the CCC network and other stakeholders to develop effective strategies to challenge gender inequality.The Bangladesh Accord

The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka on 24 April 2013 cost the lives of 1,138 people and injured over 2,000 more, making it the deadliest garment-factory disaster ever.

The collapse shone a light on the terrible risks garment workers were facing just by going to work.

The impact of the collapse and the global attention led to over 160 brands signing a groundbreaking initiative the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.

Clean Clothes Campaign alongside other labour rights organisations, was at the forefront of the push to see this Accord become legally binding and continue to play a key role monitoring the implementation of the Accord.

Rana Plaza

Rana Plaza Trust Fund

In September 2013 the Rana Plaza Coordination Committee was established, consisting of representatives of the Bangladeshi government, local and international trade unions, non-governmental organisations and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as neutral chair.

The committee worked to set up a process to ensure all families of the victims and the survivors received full and fair compensation, resulting in the Rana Plaza Arrangement.

The Arrangement set up the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund to collect the necessary money to deliver financial support for loss of income and medical expenses for the Rana Plaza families and survivors by donations from global brands.

An estimated US $40 million is needed to deliver the necessary support. At the time of writing the amount collected so far is just over US $17 million.

CCC Pay up campaign for Rana Plaza Victims

Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) alongside workers and trade unions in Bangladesh and around the world launched a major campaign calling on all clothing brands that source from Bangladesh to immediately pay into the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund, which is collecting voluntary donations on behalf of the Rana Plaza Arrangement, and is overseen by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

ThePay Up!Campaigncomes just two months before the first anniversary of the catastrophic collapse of Rana Plaza, which killed 1,138 people and injured over 2,000 more. The campaign aims to ensure that come April 24th the survivors and victims families are not still waiting for compensation. Clean Clothes Campaign is calling on major international brandsBenetton, KiKandChildren's Place, who all had orders at one of the five factories in Rana Plaza at the time of the collapse or in the recent past, to make significant contributions in order to ensure payments can begin.

US$40 millionis required to ensure all those injured and the families of those killed are fairly compensated for loss of income and medical expenses. The fund is open to all companies, donors and individuals who wish to express their solidarity and compassion. To date clothing brands El Corte Ingles, Mascot, Mango, Inditex and Loblaw have all publicly committed to the Donor Trust Fund.

Numerous reports over the past ten months have highlighted the ongoing plight of the victims of Rana Plaza and their families. We therefore welcome these initial contributions."says Ineke Zeldenrust of the Clean Clothes Campaign."Compensation efforts to date have been completely haphazard, unequal, unpredictable and non-transparent, and have left large groups of victims with nothing. The Arrangement has set up the entire operational structure, which will put an end to this unpredictability quickly and completely.All that is needed is for companies to pay up.The collapse of Rana Plaza is symptomatic of an industry wide problem, and we encourage the entire industry to make generous contributions." adds Zeldenrust.Nearly all the victims of the Rana Plaza collapse were garment workers who had been ordered back into the unsafe building by factory bosses. Shila Begum a sewing operator in one of the factories who was trapped when the building collapsed described the decision to go in. No one wanted to enter the building that day [but] I still went back in. If enough people hit you, you do what they say. You could see the tension in people's eyes.Shortly after arriving at her machine the electricity went off and the generator switched on The floor gave way... my hand got stuck and I thought I would die After being trapped for most of the day under the building Shila was eventually rescued, but her crush injuries were such that she had to have a hysterectomy, and her arm is in constant pain and she is unable to work. The trauma of the day remains with her. I don't know if I will ever be able to step into a factory again.In Dhaka, garment workers and their unions will be creating a human chain, and holding a press conference demanding the early settlement of the compensation claims. Hameeda Hossein of SNF (the Bangladesh Worker's Safety Forum) says"After the Rana building collapsed the whole world watched for weeks while the injured and dead were pulled out of the ruins. Now is the time for all of us to act and ensure US$40 million is donated before April 24th".The Rana Plaza Arrangement is a groundbreaking collaborative framework to ensure that the losses of the survivors and victims can be paid. The operational structure has been developed by the former Executive Head of the United Nations Compensation Commission, working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Labour and ILO experts. Some of the most credible labour- and civil society organisations will be involved in the claims processing and post-award services and counselling. Medical assessments will be undertaken by qualified local doctors at the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP). A team of independent local and international claims commissioners has been identified to determine the awards. The German development agency GIZ has agreed to undertake the administrative costs of the operation.

Cambodia: a country and an industry in turmoil

In Cambodia, fundamental rights remain far from respected, as is clear from several cases that the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has worked on in 2013. CCC has been working with Cambodian partner organisations and trade unions to improve the working conditions in garment factories. Unfortunately 2013 stood out because of the high amount of cases in which serious intimidation, violence and lack of freedom of association were encountered.

Kingsland workers holding a vigilTheKingsland factory closure

Kingsland and E-Garment are in Phnom Penh, SL Garrment is located close to Phom Penh (about 20 km), and the wage strike took place all over the country, but mostly centred in Phom Penh as well. 200 Garment workers of theKingslandfactory, located in Phnom Penh, were deprived of their legally owed compensation after the factory abruptly closed its doors early 2013. As a consequence, workers lacked the means to pay for their rent, food for their family and themselves, childrens school and medicines. In order to prevent machinery being taken out and assets being sold, workers held a months lasting vigil in front of the factory building, facing a lot of intimidation and threats. To prevent the factory's equipment being removed and sold, and assets being stripped, the workers started a 24 hour vigil and protest camp in front of the factory that lasted for months.

CCC supported the workers by calling upon H&M, one of the factories main buyers, to initiate an investigation into the case and the suppliers, to acknowledge and take responsibility for Kingsland employees and workers within the H&M supply chain and to advocate with all relevant parties to ensure full payment in accordance with the Cambodian Labour Law as well as Article 1 of H&Ms Code of Conduct.

Then CCC started a public campaign to increase pressure on H&M.

After months of struggle by the workers, and through the support of an extensive international. Solidarity network, a historic settlement with Wal-Mart and H&M was reached in March 2013. Living Wage campaign

Clean Clothes Campaign believes that a living wage is the cornerstone of decent working conditions.

Without paying workers enough to afford the basic necessities in life it is impossible for businesses to claim they are working in a sustainable or ethical manner.

2013 saw CCC scale up our work on living wages bringing together 15 European partners and the Asian Floor Wage Alliance in a global campaign that has seen awareness raising activities, research, training of workers and their representatives and lobbying relevant stakeholders and institutions.

Living Wage campaigning in action

OnLabour Day - May 1 workers and campaigners across Asia took to the streets calling for a living wage as part of the traditional Labour Day celebrations. In six Asian countries, more than 60.000 workers participated in actions.

In October, CCC partners launched the campaign across high streets and shopping centres in 15 European countries challenging consumers to take action and join workers in the call for a living wage. More than 50,000 people signed the living wage petition, as well as participating in activities, workshops and events.

There is still much to be done, a recent minimum wage raise in Bangladesh falls a long way short of a living wage, and companies like H&M still have a long way to go before their roadmap for a living wage actually becomes a reality for workers.

CCC and partners will be building on the campaign over the coming years.

Public outreach & campaigning

Printed press and broadcasters covered us too: nine articles appeared in the New York Times, several mentions in Al Jazeera, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Panorama, ARD, The Guardian, and over 200 mentions in other international press.

Campaigning for Clean Clothes Campaign in 2013 was dominated by the events of April 24th the collapse of Rana Plaza.

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse over 1,2 million people signed a petition for the implementation of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

Clean Clothes Campaign and our partners worked hard to turn the public horror at the collapse of the building into public pressure which saw 160 plus companies sign up to the Accord by the end of 2013.

2013 also saw our first annual review of urgent appeal cases we had worked on with the launch of The Facts Behind Fashion

Clean Clothes Campaign also held campaigning events across Europe during the Pay a living Wage action week.

Financial overview of CCC

In 2013 Clean Clothes Campaign intensified its fund-raising efforts in order to be able to hire extra staff to deal with the increase of work following the Rana Plaza disaster. Two extra short-term subsidies were acquired. One from Oxfam-Novib's 'Women, Peace and Security Fund' and one from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The National Postcode Lottery donated 500.000 from its 2013 proceeds. The work of the Clean Clothes Campaign continued to be supported by the European Commission, through DG Developement and Co-operation - EuropeAid.Financially CCC remained a healthy organisation. At the end of the financial year the result was -10.616 and the assets stand at 186.299. These assets serve as a continuity reserve, to cover potential financial shortages. The board has fixed the desired continuity reserve at the amount needed to pay staff costs and bureau costs during six months. In 2013 this amount was fixed at 308.857. Fixing this desired reserve simultaneously creates a ceiling for the reserves.The costs of raising funds in 2013 ( 30.866) consisted mainly of staff costs: SKC/CCC raises its funds almost completely by applying for subsidies. The staff time is spent writing the applications.Expenditures for the objectives in 2013 were 93.5%.CCC does not invest its assets in stocks, bonds or other risk-bearing financial instruments. CCC strives to do its banking in a sustainable and responsible manner. Assets not immediately needed are deposited in its directly accessible ASN savings account.

All of CCC/SKCs employees receive the same salary, regardless of age, seniority or position within the organisation. The gross monthly salary for all employees in 2013 was 2.784 for a 36-hour work-week (2012: 2,743).Recognition and awards

Future Structure and Partner Network

Future structure of the CCC Network: developing proposals and consulting the network

As the CCC network approaches 25 years of campaigning on the rights of garment workers worldwide, 2013 saw the network looking forward to how we would continue our work in the future.

Throughout 2013 the Future Structure team worked to consolidate feedback from network partners and associates a consultation process was carried out and a proposal drafted for the Future Structure of the Clean Clothes Campaign.

Amongst others, proposals were made to create national and regional CCC coalitions and offices anywhere in the world, to create a formal strategy development process and put in place decision-making, monitoring and evaluation, conflict resolution and accountability systems.

The proposal was circulated to partners, allies and the European CCC for feedback towards the end of 2013.

In 2014, the feedback from this consultation will be incorporated into a new proposal and a plan will be made to begin implementing a new structure for the network.

Bibliography

http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/2012/01/12/just-pay-it-wage-compensation-for-indonesian-nike-workers

http://www.cleanclothes.org/about/annual-reports/2013

http://www.cleanclothes.org/livingwage http://www.tacticalmediafiles.net/articles/3328/Introduction-to-the-Clean-Clothes-Campaign;jsessionid=16243C8E8F8C26540A99471677FAA129 http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/press-releases/2014/time-for-clothing-brands-to-pay-up http://www.cleanclothes.org/ranaplaza/who-needs-to-pay-up8