By Jacky Engel
“A typical month I would work more than 400 hours and earn $6,” says Circle ambassador and acclaimed garment worker union organiser Kalpona Akter.
Working from the age of 12, Kalpona experienced pay poverty and abuse as a garment worker in Bangladesh. “The longest I remember working for was 23 days and 23 nights, without a break,” she says. “I would have two hours to sleep on the production floor. That’s it.”
Her experience is far from uncommon. The human rights and environmental abuses caused by fashion giants and their massive supply chains have been well-documented, especially since the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 that took over 1000 lives.
An estimated 60% of garment workers globally are women. In key regions, this reaches around 80%, where they work predominantly for high-street fashion brands.
Despite increased public and political awareness, there is still no legislation in place that ensures companies protect labour rights and pay a living wage. With supply chains increasingly complex and fragmented, it has become difficult to say who is responsible for what. And even where we might see a clear ‘moral’ responsibility, a legal one has been missing.
Hope is on the horizon in the EU
In April 2024, after over four years of discussion and wrangling, the European Parliament passed the ‘Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive’ (CS3D) which sets a mandatory standard for businesses to know their supply chains, wherever located, and to mitigate human rights and environmental harms where detected. Other states have enacted similar legislation in recent years. The details differ from country to country, but the essence remains the same – to hold corporations responsible for the human and environmental harms they create.
The CS3D is a good first step towards systemic change. As a Directive, each EU member state has two years to integrate this into their legislation. If effectively implemented and enforced, the Directive should result in significant benefits for garment workers. The right to “an adequate living wage”, to freedom of association, equal pay and protection against compulsory labour are all included within the Directive. If companies are truly forced to address these common abuses, we will no doubt see an upward trend in the treatment of garment workers worldwide.
Keeping up the pressure on UK government
With the UK currently lagging behind, the final stamp of approval on the CS3D will hopefully increase the pressure on government to enact similar legislation.
A private member’s bill, tabled by Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey, is currently gaining attention as it progresses towards its second reading on the 10th of May. Titled the ‘Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill’, it mirrors the intentions of the CS3D within the specificities of the UK framework. Whilst not expected to be successful at this point, it is a key campaign step, and lays the groundwork for future proposals.
The Corporate Justice Coalition, a network of over 60 civil society organisations of which The Circle is part, is also actively campaigning for UK legislation of this kind. There is considerable hope the next Government will be more open to progress in this area.
What’s next for The Circle and campaigners to galvanize change?
The passing of the CS3D marks a significant moment, but we need to keep up the pressure. The biggest risk is that it becomes a bureaucratic exercise in which companies’ primary aim is to protect their own backs rather than seek genuine change. In this respect, the penalties within the legislation are key, as will be the quality of the audits conducted, which have also come under fire in recent years.
In our view, due diligence is a good start, but more will be required, including measures that address some of the most stubborn issues in supply chains – of which living wages is one.
With policymakers worldwide showing some willingness, there has never been a more critical time for The Circle and other organisations to keep pushing for change. In the words of Kalpona Akter, “If not now, when?”
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