In 2013, the Rana Plaza Complex in Bangladesh collapsed claiming the lives of 1134 RMGworkers. This event ignited foreign stakeholders applying pressure on factories within the sectorto uphold adequete safety measures and address concerns over labour rights. The ILO and EUhave since conducted surveys and forwarded recommendations toward what they considerpositive change, in a comittment to improve labour rights and factory safety. (Ashraf & Prentice2019) Prior to this devasting event, women’s rights organisations/movements have and continueto actively challenge cultural and traditional norms in an effort to address issues of social injusticewithin the sector and in society in general. These grievances range from harassment, long hours,fairer wage distribution and equal rights. Currently, 86% of the workforce in Bangladesh workswithin the industry, comprising mostly of women and (children) and is its largest exporter toforeign cloths brands in the West. An estimated 4 million people contribute to this labour forceand since the emergence of the industry in the 1980’s, women have faced various disparities.Women workers have faced conditions which have subjected her to unequal premises and beingless privilaged. An essential part of this inquiry is discussing conceptions of womanhood,empowerment and of gender and class.This DP examines how the Accord, OWDEB and NGWF engage, address and advocate change,together with their representatives. All three stakeholders are striving for positive change withinthe sector, each with a specific focus on areas of concern. This inquiry foremost examines thepush for change.

No description available.

Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry and its harsh working conditions have been the center of intense scrutiny for the past decade, especially following the massive death tolls of the Tazreen Fashions factory fire in 2012 and the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013. While lauded by many for its tremendous contributions to the Bangladeshi economy and its employment of primarily women, the garment industry is responsible for causing harm both to the women who work there and the local environment. Women workers are physically and verbally abused in the workplace for little pay, while the factories emit pollutants that contaminate the drinking water in surrounding areas and destroy crops. The global North, while being the main destination for exports from Bangladesh, refuses to intervene in a meaningful way to help the people who supply cheap goods for them, even in spite of highly publicized agreements to help improve factory safety, like the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. This paper will examine the Bangladeshi garment industry using an ecofeminist lens. Doing so helps to illustrate the various power relations involving gender, capitalism, and the environment that characterize the industry. These axes of power, all stemming from the same mindset of superiority, reinforce one another both ideologically and materially. Seeing how these different issues – including harassment, pollution, crop loss, and forced displacement – are connected will help to determine how to best solve each of these individual issues.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is dedicated to achieving social justice throughout the world. It specifically recognises the right to collective bargaining as one of the main drivers of its ambitions. It desires to achieve social justice through various Conventions and Recommendations. South Africa as a member of ILO constitutionally recognises the right to engage in collective bargaining. The Labour Relations Act (LRA) advocates for the establishment of bargaining councils in various sectors in the country to effectively recognise this right. This study predominantly focuses on the efficiency of these councils as tools for collective bargaining. The study is intended to ultimately provide a lesson to Lesotho. Trade unions in Lesotho’s garment industry are adamant that bargaining councils are the solution to the country’s collective bargaining woes. Specific attention is paid to the history of collective bargaining in the two countries to firstly indicate the inter relation of the bargaining framework in the two countries and to trace the origins of the bargaining councils in South Africa’s set up. The role of these councils is examined, with prime attention placed on the advantages and disadvantages of industry level bargaining. The Constitutions of the National Textile Bargaining Council and The National Bargaining Council for the Manufacturing Industry are examined to determine the roles these councils play in the collective bargaining framework of South Africa. Attention is also paid to the procedures required for the establishment of these councils. The challenges facing this form of bargaining are also outlined, with prime attention being given to the cases in South African courts that are a potential threat to the bargaining council system in South Africa. The study culminates in conclusions on the bargaining framework in South Africa and provides recommendations on ways to improve the collective bargaining framework in the country. This subsequently provides a platform for the lessons that Lesotho should learn from the framework in South Africa. The study ultimately concludes that bargaining councils are efficient tools for the promotion of collective bargaining. They, however, are not a desirable solution for the collective bargaining problems faced in Lesotho’s context. / LLM (Labour Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is dedicated to achieving social justice throughout the world. It specifically recognises the right to collective bargaining as one of the main drivers of its ambitions. It desires to achieve social justice through various Conventions and Recommendations. South Africa as a member of ILO constitutionally recognises the right to engage in collective bargaining. The Labour Relations Act (LRA) advocates for the establishment of bargaining councils in various sectors in the country to effectively recognise this right. This study predominantly focuses on the efficiency of these councils as tools for collective bargaining. The study is intended to ultimately provide a lesson to Lesotho. Trade unions in Lesotho’s garment industry are adamant that bargaining councils are the solution to the country’s collective bargaining woes. Specific attention is paid to the history of collective bargaining in the two countries to firstly indicate the inter relation of the bargaining framework in the two countries and to trace the origins of the bargaining councils in South Africa’s set up. The role of these councils is examined, with prime attention placed on the advantages and disadvantages of industry level bargaining. The Constitutions of the National Textile Bargaining Council and The National Bargaining Council for the Manufacturing Industry are examined to determine the roles these councils play in the collective bargaining framework of South Africa. Attention is also paid to the procedures required for the establishment of these councils. The challenges facing this form of bargaining are also outlined, with prime attention being given to the cases in South African courts that are a potential threat to the bargaining council system in South Africa. The study culminates in conclusions on the bargaining framework in South Africa and provides recommendations on ways to improve the collective bargaining framework in the country. This subsequently provides a platform for the lessons that Lesotho should learn from the framework in South Africa. The study ultimately concludes that bargaining councils are efficient tools for the promotion of collective bargaining. They, however, are not a desirable solution for the collective bargaining problems faced in Lesotho’s context. / LLM (Labour Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The competitive advantages of Sri Lanka's garment industry, and how these can lead to increased trade with Swedish companies, were examined through a study divided in two main parts. The research was carried out with a focus on the labour force and the social aspects of CSR. It was initiated in Sweden, where the goal was to investigate how Swedish companies select suppliers and what their requirements are in terms of code of conduct and social responsibility. In the following part of the study we examined the corresponding parts of Sri Lanka's garment industry. To identify the competitive advantages and potential problems, we conducted a study on three different factories in the country, where the owners, managers and workers were interviewed. To further expand the survey results we also interviewed additional stakeholders to the industry. In this case a trade union and an organization working in the garment industry. The collected data were analysed using selected parts of Porter's diamond and Carroll's CSR pyramid, as well as the Swedish companies' demands on the social aspects of CSR. In order to identify these requirements, interviews were conducted with four different people at the Swedish companies. We were also given access to documents with their code of conduct. Through our analysis we are able to identify the competitive advantages that exist within the industry. In addition to that we are able to identify the areas of the industry where problems exist today, but where Sri Lanka has the opportunity to strengthen its competitive advantages in order to become a more attractive partner for Swedish companies.

No description available.

Corporate colonial behaviour of fashion companies has left the Rana Plaza in ruins and paved the garment industry with catastrophic deaths, casualties, and hypocrisies. As a consequence, the industry is being scrutinized, especially the cheap brands. This paper is an examination of the sustainability of clothes in relation to price and an exploration of the differences between price segments. Quantitative data in the form of price and country of manufacture of 173 t-shirts from different brands were collected and analysed by using the Sustainable Society Index. The results indicate that the social sustainability level of the country of manufacture accounts for roughly 20% of the differences in t-shirt prices. Clothes made in more socially sustainable countries indeed tend to have higher prices. However, the difference in social sustainability is not significant between the high-priced and the luxury segments. Environmental and economic sustainability have little influence on clothing prices. The limitations and implications of assessing product sustainability through the lens of the country of manufacture are addressed.

O processo migratório de bolivianos para São Paulo com inserção em oficinas de costura existe desde a década de 1990, com uma alta participação de mulheres que trabalham como costureiras assim como os homens. O objetivo deste texto é caraterizar as relações de trabalho na costura em relação com as condições de formação dessa migração, além de caracterizar a inserção particular de mulheres nas oficinas e o seu papel no processo migratório. Para isso, realizamos entrevistas de profundidade com bolivianos costureiros e trabalhos de campo nos espaços de emprego e moradia de migrantes e seus familiares em São Paulo, Buenos Aires, La Paz e El Alto. Como as oficinas de costura se apresentam como lugar de moradia dos migrantes, a reprodução doméstica e familiar é uma dimensão fundamental das oficinas e do processo migratório como um todo, assim como o trabalho. As mulheres são as principais responsáveis pelas atividades de cozinha e limpeza, ao mesmo tempo em que estão contraditoriamente inseridas na esfera do trabalho. A migração boliviana para São Paulo se sustenta, assim, sobre arranjos particulares de trabalho e de reprodução. / The Bolivian migratory process to São Paulo related to garment industry sweatshops begun in the early 1990s, with a wide participation of women working as seamstresses alongside the men. The aim of this text is to characterize labor relations in the sweatshops, regarding the conditions that formed this migration, as well as to characterize the particular insertion of women in the sweatshops and their role in the migratory process. The research included in-depth interviews with Bolivian sweatshop workers and fieldwork in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, La Paz and El Alto. As the sweatshops also offer housing to the migrants, domestic and familiar reproduction is a fundamental dimension of the sweatshops and the migratory process as a whole, as well as the labor. Women are mainly responsible for cooking and cleaning activities, while they are contradictory inserted in the labor sphere. The Bolivian migration to São Paulo is supported by particular arrangements of labor and reproduction.

Essa dissertação analisa e demonstra fatores que afetam a cadeia têxtil e confeccionista, através de um mapeamento do panorama que os respectivos setores apresentam principalmente aqueles relativos à gestão e governança corporativa. Para adquirir dados empíricos o projeto contempla o desenvolvimento de uma pesquisa bibliográfica possibilitando a constatação de dados e avaliação de aspectos sobre o perfil do contexto atual desse segmento usando informações que comprovam os meios que levam a degradação do ramo, principalmente fatores que contemplem a governança corporativa como estrutura solucionadora para o quadro apresentado, foco central desta dissertação. A pesquisa visou obter dados qualitativos e quantitativos através de: a) caracterização do universo cultural de gestão das empresas têxteis e confeccionistas; b) fatores políticos que prejudicam a cadeia têxtil e confeccionista; c) identificação da visão dos diferentes tipos de consumidor sobre o nicho têxtil e confeccionista. d) a influência externa no mercado têxtil confeccionista; e) mapeamento de dados e identificação dos fatores relevantes da cadeia completa; f) apresentação de fatores globais que identifiquem os focos mais relevantes, de forma a compreender o momento dos setores associados. Com os resultados obtidos, foi evidenciado o uso da governança corporativa e a implementação de meios sustentáveis como meios de restabelecer e vigorar a competitividade do mercado interno e projetar melhores enfrentamentos perante a concorrência internacional, notadamente de países asiáticos, que são umas das grandes razões do atual panorama que esse setor enfrenta. / This dissertation analyzes and demonstrates factors that affect the textile and clothing manufacturer chain, through an overview of mapping the respective sectors have particularly those relating to management and corporate governance. To acquire empirical data the project includes the development of a literature enabling data verification and evaluation aspects of the profile of the current context of this segment using information that prove the means that lead to degradation of the branch, especially factors that include corporate governance as solver framework for the overview of the segment, central focus of this dissertation. The research aimed to obtain qualitative and quantitative data through: a) characterization of the cultural universe of management of textiles and clothing manufacturers companies; b) political factors that affect the textile and clothing manufacturer chain; c) Identification of view of different types of consumers about the textile and clothing manufacturer niche. d) the external influence on the clothing manufacturer textile market; e) data mapping and identification of the relevant factors of the complete chain; f) presentation of global factors that identify the most relevant focuses, in order to understand the timing of associated sectors. With the results, it was evident the use of corporate governance and the implementation of sustainable media as a means of restoring force and the competitiveness of the internal market and design better clashes in the international competition, especially from Asian countries, which are one of the biggest reasons of the current situation that the sector faces.