FASHION REVOLUTION | FASHION TRANSPARENCY INDEX BRAZIL 2020
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CASE STUDIES: Transparency in action
[LEFT] Garment Worker in Lesotho ©ALAFA
[RIGHT] 2019, Bangladeshi garment workers shout slogans during a protest in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, © 2019 AP
Worker Rights Consortium LESOTHO In 2019, at three factories in Lesotho, all owned by the same supplier, Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) found that female garment workers were regularly being coerced into sexual activity with supervisors as a condition of gaining or retaining employment or promotions. Nearly two-thirds of the garment workers WRC interviewed reported having experienced sexual harassment and abuse or having knowledge of harassment or abuse suffered by co-workers. WRC discovered that VF Corporation and Levi Strauss & Co. were both sourcing from these factories due to the fact that they publish supplier
lists on their websites. WRC facilitated discussions between local unions, NGOs and the two companies, which resulted in a ground-breaking legally-binding agreement to solve this serious problem. As part of the agreement, an independent investigative organisation has been established to receive complaints from workers, carry out investigations and assessments, identify violations of a jointly developed code of conduct, and direct and enforce remedies in accordance with local law.
International Labor Rights Forum BANGLADESH In December 2018, the Government of Bangladesh increased the minimum monthly wage for garment workers to 8,000 Tk ($95 USD). The new minimum wage was half the amount that the workers’ rights organisations and trade unions had demanded. Workers said the minimum wage was not enough to cover increased living costs, so they took to the streets for largely peaceful strikes. Over the following two months, 65 workers were arrested while hundreds more faced unsubstantiated charges at the behest of factory owners.
Around 11,600 workers were unlawfully dismissed, most of who were unable to find other jobs due to systematic blacklisting. Through publicly disclosed supplier lists, the International Labor Rights Forum identified which major apparel brands were linked to factories that filed unsubstantiated cases against workers. As a result of their campaign efforts, the charges filed by 14 factories were dropped.