‘German clothing brands should increase transparency’

Human Rights Watch has asked German clothing brands to promote workers’ rights in their global operations by publicly disclosing the factories producing their products.

ranaplazaThe New York-based HRW, in a report, said the lack of transparency was evident following the collapse on April 24, 2013, of the Rana Plaza complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed a number of garment factories, killing more than 1,100 workers and injuring thousands more.

The rights group mentioned that supply chain transparency through public disclosure would demonstrate a brand’s commitment to ensuring good working conditions for workers throughout their operations.

In a recent report, “‘Work Faster or Get Out’: Labor Rights Abuses in Cambodia’s Garment Industry,”the rights organisation documented lax Cambodian government enforcement of labor laws and the need for apparel brands to improve their monitoring and compliance. For the report, HRW examined labour practices in factories producing products for Adidas, Armani, Gap, H&M, Joe Fresh, and Marks and Spencer, among others.

The report referred to the Rana Plaza tragedy and Taxreen Fashion fire – incidents that were blamed for brands’ lack of supply chain transparency.

Major German brand KiK is alleged to have production links with such factories.KiK denied having direct business in Rana Plaza but reportedly joined a number of brands to pay fund into a compensation fund for Tazreen fire victims.

“German clothing brands should promote respect for worker rights and safety by making their global supply chains transparent,” said Wenzel Michalski, Germany director at HRW. “Adidas, a leading German brand, has been publicly disclosing its supplier list since 2007 – demonstrating that transparency is both possible and desirable.”

HRW said by publicly disclosing and updating the names of suppliers, the garment brands enable public scrutiny of their supply chains, which in turn will help alert brands to poor working conditions and other human rights problems in their supplier factories.


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