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Questions about the Clean Clothes Campaign
Questions about the Clean Clothes Campaign What does the CCC do?
How is the Clean Clothes Campaign structured?
Why do you focus on clothing and sportswear?
Has the CCC been successful in helping to improve working conditions?
Where should I buy my clothes? Does the CCC have a label?
How much of the money I spend trickles down to workers? Won’t "clean clothes" be expensive?
Workers’ wages seem low, but isn’t that because the cost of living is so much cheaper in garment-producing countries?The cost of living in garment-producing countries is indeed cheaper than in the global north, but garment workers are still not paid a wage that covers their basic needs, such as food, shelter, clothing and education. The Clean Clothes Campaign advocates a living wage – a wage that enables workers to provide for their families basic needs and allows them to participate fully in society and live with dignity. A living wage should cover the cost of nutritious food and clean water, shelter, clothes, education, health care and transport, as well as allowing for a discretionary income. It should take into account the cost of living, social security benefits and the relative standards of other groups.
The Asian Floor Wage Campaign has calculated a living wage for garment workers across Asia: www.asianfloorwage.org using Purchasing Power Parity, a hypothetical currency published by the World Bank. Do you support boycotts of factories?
Where can I find information on specific companies and their labour practices?
Some companies claim to check their suppliers regularly to make sure working conditions are OK. Are they telling the truth?Nowadays most major brands and retailers participate in some sort of monitoring program. Indeed, a global industry of commercial ‘social auditing’ firms has emerged. Unfortunately, social auditing has been characterised by deceit on the part of factory management, complacency on the part of retailers and brands, and only superficial interest in the experience of workers. Workers rarely can participate in the auditing process without fear of reprisal. Rights-based problems like violations of freedom of association are easily overlooked. The Clean Clothes Campaign argues that credible efforts to implement codes of conduct cannot rely on social auditing alone, but must be combined with other tools to address violations of workers rights including: partnership with local organisations, grievance and complaint mechanisms, education and training, a pro-active approach to freedom of association, addressing existing business or purchasing practices, effective remediation and transparency. What responsibility should a company have for workers it doesn’t employ?In today’s global economy, the clothes we wear will have been sewed by workers across an ocean and passed from one business to another before being sold for a tidy profit by a retailer whose name we all know. The Clean Clothes Campaign believes a company's responsibility encompasses its complete supply chain all the way down to home-based workers. All companies -- large and small -- are able to commit resources to monitoring the quality control of their products. If they can do that, then they should be able to commit sufficient resources to ensuring that workers enjoy decent working conditions and respect for human and labour rights. Larger companies may find it easier to do this single-handedly than small or medium-sized companies. But all companies, regardless of size, can collaborate and join projects with industry associations to exchange information on systems, methods and procedures, and share the cost of monitoring and verifying conditions in their supply chains. In the Netherlands, for example, small and medium-sized retailers and producers can participate in the Fair Wear Foundation through industry federations MITEX and MODINT. Shouldn’t governments be responsible for regulating working conditions?Yes, all governments have a responsibility to protect the rights of workers, and to regulate companies and foreign investment. Many garment workers, however, live in countries where trade unions are banned, labour laws are not enforced and corruption is rampant. The Clean Clothes supports our partners as they lobby for better laws and law enforcement in their countries. But one government cannot solve the problem alone and a single government's power against large companies is sometimes limited. Brands, however, have the size, power – and responsibility – to assert tremendous influence on the global garment industry and to ensure that working conditions meet a higher international standard. What should a company do when human or labour rights violations are discovered in its supply chain?You’ve probably read a shocking story in the newspaper about horrible conditions discovered at a factory making clothes for a well-known brand. The brand’s spokesperson says, “As soon as we learned of the violations, we stopped doing business with the factory.” The result: workers lose their jobs, working conditions don’t improve, or worse still, garment workers may feel that better working conditions are a threat to their livelihoods. The Clean Clothes Campaign expects companies to work out an improvement plan with factories found to be violating human rights and labour standards. They should make a long-term commitment to the supplier to give them the time to make changes and they should involve workers and local and international organisations in the process. What is a code of conduct and why does it matter?Successful campaigning by the Clean Clothes Campaign and other labour rights’ organisations has led many businesses to adopt “codes of conduct,” a list of standards that companies expect from suppliers. Company codes vary by content as well as commitment. The CCC pushes companies to give these codes real meaning by including provisions for implementation, monitoring and verification, and dispute resolution. The Clean Clothes Campaign considers a code of conduct good if the scope is clear and it extends to all garment-making units in the entire subcontracting chain. The CCC's model code of conduct for the garment industry is comprised of the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and several additional standards. These include: freedom of association and the right to organise; the right to bargain collectively; a living wage; maximum limit on hours of work; healthy and safe working conditions; security of employment; no discrimination; no forced labour; and no child labour. Read the Clean Clothes Campaign Model Code. A code of conduct can be a strategic tool for getting companies to comply with international labour standards. The CCC has campaigned to hold companies accountable for promises they have made in their code of conduct. While codes of conduct are no substitute for adequately enforced protection under national law, they can offer workers leverage for demanding better working conditions and are a first step in the long road toward eliminating abuses in the garment industry. What are ILO conventions and core labour standards?The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a tripartite organisation consisting of trade unions, governments and companies, and is part of the United Nations system. In 1998, the ILO produced the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. In the Declaration, ILO member states agreed that they should all respect, promote, and realise core labour standards (whether they have been ratified or not).
The CCC calls upon companies to respect, in addition to these, the following internationally recognized labour rights: the right to a living wage based on a regular working week that does not exceed 48 hours; humane working hours with no forced overtime; a safe and healthy workplace free from harassment; and a recognised employment relationship with labour and social protection. These rights have also been laid down in ILO conventions and recommendations and in the UN declaration on human rights and are essential to workers in the garment industry. |
