Clean Clothes Campaign

A new Amnesty International report shows that garment brands around the world profit from the repression of workers' right to unionise. Well known brands overwhelmingly source from factories without unions. The establishment of a union & collective bargaining agreement in a Sri Lankan NEXT factory features as a hard won workers' success in the report. Yet in May '25 the factory suddenly closed without consulting the union or respecting the agreement. We see union busting! https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/garment-industry-profits-from-denial-of-right-to-unionize/

Safety incidents in Bangladeshi factories in garment supply chains last month have put the spotlight on the fact that many workers making our clothes in Bangladesh are still not safe. While the International Accord put in place after the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse has done vital work to make garment factories safer, workers in supply chains of brands that refused to sign the Accord continue to risk their lives at work.
Read our blog: https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/two-bangladeshi-tragedies-why-have-some-brands-still-not-learned-their-lesson

In May, UK brand NEXT closed a factory for being too expensive only days after announcing a 1 billion GDP profit forecast. The past months we have together with the workers fought to get their jobs back - which were apparently too expensive after a 10 GDP increase. NEXT is not moving at all, but did announce an additional 30 million profits this week. What?
https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/next-raises-profit-forecast-again-but-when-will-their-workers-get-a-share

A horrific fire ripped through a building in Dhaka yesterday, killing at least 16 people. The building housed garment industry related facilities and a chemical unit.

Our thoughts are with all affected by the tragedy, especially the families who lost loved ones.

We are investigating the brand relations of these factories and we keep on fighting to ensure that all workers in supply chains work in safe factories, also if they are hidden further down the supply chain.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/accidents-fires/news/chemical-explosion-dhakas-rupnagar-claims-16-lives-4009601

Today marks 13 years since the deadly Ali Enterprises fire in a Pakistani garment factory. 250+ workers died in a factory that was certified as safe by social auditors mere weeks before. Today, we remember the tragedy of their deaths & the plight of their families. https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/solidarity-with-survivors-and-a-call-on-brands-13-years-ali-enterprises-fire

✊🏽 We stand in solidarity with workers all across South East & South Asia who are affected by the extreme weather & flooding. We call on garment brands to ensure that workers continue to be paid & to ensure factories have the space to ensure they are safe before they reopen. We urge all garment brands to sign the Pay Your Workers agreement to be prepared to compensate workers in other climate crisis events to come. We need a just transition that centres workers. Read more: https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/fashion-brands-must-not-abandon-workers-impacted-by-catastrophic-flooding

Want to set a signal on Black Friday? Show your solidarity with the Cambodian workers who were cheated out of their jobs 5 years ago. They made clothes for Amazon & Adidas who are set to make millions today. Use our e-mail tool to remind them of the workers they abandoned: https://cleanclothes.org/campaigns/hulu

Tomorrow is the international BDS action day targeting Reebok's sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association, have a look here to see what you can do to join in: https://cleanclothes.org/campaigns/bds

Missed our NYC Climate Week panel on workers rights & the climate crisis last month? It's now available as a podcast, for you to listen whenever it suits you.

Listen in to go beyond the common focus on greening factories & circularity and instead focus on those central to this industry, who are too often forgotten in these discussions: the workers. How to make sure that those who contributed least to the crisis are not the ones made to suffer most?

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5tSnqVo1JD7TwZCZZo7gp4?si=XVUp5neBR965DdvUYpKTuw

ASICS has been standing by idly while one of its suppliers in Cambodia jailed a worker leader on fake charges and refused to compensate him or let him back to his original job.
The one promise they made in their recent statement: that the worker leader would return to its old workplace, was broken immediately.
Read more: https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/asics-slammed-for-backing-factory-that-jailed-unionist-and-denies-basic-rights

Climate Rights International today released an important report about the effect of heat on workers in Pakistani factories and mills. With temperatures reaching over 40C in the hottest time of year, workers continue working in factories and mills that are not adapted to ensure workers' health is protected: “Many garment units are built like sealed boxes. The priority is to protect the product, not the people who stitch it.”
Read more: https://cri.org/pakistan-workers-suffer-fashion-brands-fail-to-act-extreme-heat/

Time for action! What will you do on 22 November to hold Reebok accountable for sponsoring the Israeli Football Association? https://www.bdsmovement.net/news/join-boycott-reebok-global-day-action-%E2%80%93-nov-22

After the fire this week that burnt down several unregistered garment & printing factories, we continue to investigate links between these factories & international brands. Meanwhile the following things need to be done to avoid further loss of life:
- Brands need to be more transparent about their full supply chain
- More brands need to sign the Accord
- Brands already in the Accord need to do more to ensure that factories further down the supply chain are also inspected
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/accidents-fires/news/mirpur-factory-fire-chemical-fumes-still-the-air-4011126

This week a horrible shook Bangladesh. The fire started in a chemical warehouse and spread to at least one garment factory and two printing facilities, trapping workers with no way to exit.
The workers’ families need to be compensated swiftly and fully: the employment injury insurance pilot in Bangladesh provides for compensation for loss of income, but all responsible that these workers had no way out should additionally ensure compensation for pain & suffering.
https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/8y3o175dq6

Do you care about workers' rights? Do you want to show the world? We got a new set of pretty stickers to let people know you stand with garment workers.

Donate now to get these stickers to spread the word. Do you have a laptop/water bottle/note book screaming to share a message with the world? Or does the lantern pole outside look way too empty to you? We have the solution, donate now to get our stickers on cleanclothes.org/stickers

UK company NEXT announced yesterday that it will pay out 99 million pounds in dividends to shareholders. In the meantime it is closing its wholly owned and only organised factory in Sri Lanka as being... checks notes.. too expensive!?!

Union leader Anton Marcus says: "It's time for the NEXT Board to decide: is profit at all cost worth the reputational damage of broken promises & destroyed lives?"

Take action now: https://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=5696

This week Swiss luxury group Richemont held its shareholder meeting in Geneva. Members of our network – Public Eye and Campagna Abiti Puliti – together with the SUDD Cobas trade union asked the management to resolve the case of the 6 Pakistani workers that have been dismissed in the Montblanc supply chain in Florence and protested in front of the Hotel Intercontinental in Geneva where the AGM took place.
Read more: https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/exploited-factory-workers-from-tuscany-protest-at-richemont-agm-in-geneva

Retaliation against labour rights defenders is going wild and major companies like ASICS and Honeys in Japan are condoning it.
Two examples from Cambodia and Myanmar: https://sourcingjournal.com/topics/labor/cambodia-myanmar-wing-star-asics-myo-aye-stum-honeys-1234776864/

On 19 May 2025, just days after announcing £1 billion in profit, UK garment company NEXT sent its workers in Sri Lanka a WhatsApp message informing them of the closure of its only unionised factory in Sri Lanka. This is a direct attack on one of the most significant worker victories in Sri Lanka’s garment sector because it was the ONLY garment factory with a Collective Bargaining Agreement & it directly challenged recent wage wins. Your solidarity is needed!
Take action: https://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=5696