More Updates

International brand to pay $2.3 million to fix safety hazards in Bangladesh factories (January 2018)

Jan 31, 2018 —

Photo: Clean Clothes Campaign

Global Unions IndustriALL and UNI have reached an historic US$2.3 million settlement in an arbitration case against an international brand for failing to meet its health and safety obligations under the legally binding Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

The brand, whose name was not disclosed under the terms of the settlement, will pay $2 million to fix safety hazards in over 200 Bangladeshi supplier factories and contribute $300,000 to a Supply Chain Worker Support Fund managed by the two Global Unions.

Will proposed bill undermine Mexico’s labour justice reform? (December 2017)

Dec 20, 2017 —

On December 7, two senators from Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) submitted a bill to the Senate that, if approved, would undermine, if not nullify, the most important advances in the country’s Constitutional Reform to the labour justice system that became law only 10 months earlier.

Murders at Canadian mine expose lack of labour rights in Mexico (November 2017)

Nov 28, 2017 —

Striking workers (Photo: IndustriALL)

The assassination of two brothers, Victor and Marcelino Shaunitla Peña, has shone a spotlight on Mexico’s corrupt and anti-democratic labour relations system. The brothers were participating in a work stoppage by mineworkers with the support of community members against the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in Azcala, Guerrero. The murders happened just as NAFTA negotiations were resuming in Mexico City.

MSN joins call for action on 5th anniversary of Tazreen factory fire (November 2017)

Nov 22, 2017 —

Canadian union delegation to Bangladesh with Kalpona Akter from the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) looking up at the remains of the Tazreen building (2016)

On the 5th anniversary of the Tazreen factory fire, MSN joins with our colleagues in the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) in calling for a bridging solution until Employment Injury Insurance is available to all workers in the Bangladesh garment industry.

Assessing Childcare Needs of Maquila Workers

Sep 26, 2017 —

Over the past year, MSN has been working with coalitions of women’s and trade union organizations in El Salvador and Honduras on the right of working parents in the maquila sector to access quality affordable childcare for.

As part of that effort, MSN has been facilitating dialogue on the issue between the local organizations and international brands that are part of the multi-stakeholder Americas Group and whose products are made in one or both countries.

Mexicans Mobilize to Aid Victims of September 19th Earthquake

Sep 26, 2017 —

Shortly after a devastating earthquake hit Mexico on September 19, MSN received several phone calls and emails from friends and supporters concerned about the safety of members of our staff who were meeting in Mexico City on that day.

We are writing to provide an update on what we experienced, witnessed and learned regarding the impact of the earthquake on people in Mexico City, Morelos and Puebla and the courageous response of thousands of volunteers to this tragedy.

Legal Analysis of the Right to Childcare for Workers in Honduras (June 2017)

Sep 12, 2017 —

Honduras has the most extensive legal framework on childcare for working parents in Central America, setting out the responsibilities of both employers and the state to provide and monitor childcare services for workers.

However, employers in the maquila sector have attempted to use differences in various laws and regulations to argue that employers have no legal responsibility to provide or pay for workplace childcare.

Joint letter from 14 clothing brands supporting labour justice reform in Mexico (July 2017)

Aug 5, 2017 —
On July 28, 2017, 14 international clothing brands and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released a joint letter to the Mexican government declaring their support for a Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system that could better protect workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.

14 clothing brands release joint letter supporting labour justice reform in Mexico

Jul 28, 2017 —
On July 28, 2017, 14 international clothing brands and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released a joint letter to the Mexican government declaring their support for a Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system that could better protect workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.

Briefing Paper: Will Mexico’s labour justice reform remove barriers to workers’ rights? (July 2017)

Jul 13, 2017 —

Today, MSN released a Briefing Paper entitled Labour Justice Reform in Mexico.

Based on MSN’s own research and in-depth interviews with 16 Mexican and international labour rights experts, the paper analyzes the Mexican government’s  February 2017 reform to the country’s Constitution, which promises to provide better protections for the rights of workers to be represented by a union of their free choice and to bargain collectively.

Agreement reached to release imprisoned Bangladeshi union leaders, but crisis not fully resolved

Mar 22, 2017 —

Photo: IndustriALL

On February 23, Bangladeshi unions affiliated with IndustriALL Bangladesh Council reached an agreement with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Ministry of Labour for the release on bail of the remaining union leaders still imprisoned for their alleged association with a wage strike in December 2016.

Pressure mounts for end to anti-union repression in Bangladesh

Feb 22, 2017 —

Photo: Clean Clothes Campaign

The Clean Clothes Campaign and International Labor Rights Forum announced today that because of continuing anti-union repression in Bangladesh, five major apparel brands – H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, NEXT and Tchibo – and the UK’s Ethical Trading Initiative have pulled out of the February 25 Dhaka Apparel Summit, which will be hosted by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Brands must intervene to win release of imprisoned labour leaders in Bangladesh

Jan 18, 2017 —

Photo: IndustriALL

Twenty-two human and labour rights organizations from around the world are calling on international apparel brands to press for the release of unjustly imprisoned Bangladeshi union leaders and worker rights advocates and the reinstatement of 1,500 workers suspended or terminated for taking part in a wage strike.

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety overstates progress; workers’ lives at risk

Nov 21, 2016 —

Photo: International Labor Rights Forum

More than three and a half years after 1,134 workers died in the Rana Plaza building collapse, major apparel brands and retailers that are members of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, including Walmart, Gap, Target, VF Corporation, and Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Company, are way behind in ensuring that their Bangladesh supplier factories are safe, says a new report from four labour rights organizations.

Scenarios

Jul 12, 2016 —

This workshop uses six scenarios based on real problems that workers and the organizations defending their rights face in factories. The goal is to develop participants’ capacity to decide when and how to engage with clothing brands. To read the scenarios presented to participants, click here:

Exercise One

Brands and Labour Rights: How and when to engage with brands (2016)

Jul 12, 2016 —

Module and Reference Materials

The workshop Brands and Labour Rights: When and How to Engage with Brands was designed by Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) as a tool for use by women’s and trade union organizations in Central America and Mexico in their work to pressure apparel brands to take action to achieve greater respect for labour rights in their supplier factories in the region.

MSN condemns assassination of Guatemalan union leader (July 2016)

Jul 8, 2016 —

Photo: Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos/Solidarity Center

The Maquila Solidarity Network joins labour, human rights, women’s organizations in Guatemala and internationally in strongly condemning the murder of Guatemalan labour leader Brenda Marleni Estrada Tambito, and calls on the Guatemalan government to launch an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into her assassination, bring those responsible to justice, and take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of members of her family.

Three years after Rana Plaza: What has and hasn’t changed for Bangladeshi garment workers?

Apr 26, 2016 —

Photo: Pieter Van de Boogert

April 24, 2016 was the third anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse, in which over 1,100 workers were killed and approximately 2,500 injured in the worst industrial disaster in the history of the garment industry.

Three years later, what has changed for the injured workers and the families of those who died, and for the young women and men who continue to work in the industry?

Compensation

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