AMSTERDAM — A worker in the garment industry anywhere in the world today is faced with decreasing wages, deteriorating health and an increased risk of losing her job. The Clean Clothes Campaign (or CCC, as it is called) aims to improve working conditions in the garment and sportswear industry.
The CCC started in the Netherlands in 1990. At that time, stores in the Netherlands were not taking any responsibility for the working conditions under which the clothes they sold were made. Now there are Clean Clothes Campaigns in 10 western European countries.
Campaigners are regularly in touch with organisations in a variety of countries, including those where garments are produced, and in this way work together as a network to draw attention to labour rights issues in the garment industry.
The CCC in each country is a coalition of consumer organisations, trade unions, human rights and women's rights organisations, researchers, solidarity groups and activists. Every national campaign operates autonomously. Twice a year, representatives from the national secretariats of each CCC gather to exchange information and coordinate activities (for example, in negotiations with multinational companies).
The campaigns cooperate with organisations all over the world, especially organisations of garment workers (in factories of all sizes), home-workers and migrant workers (including those without legal work papers).
Guiding principles for the improvement of working conditions are: freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, no discrimination of any kind, no forced or slave labour, a minimum employment age of 15, safety and health measures, a working week of 48 hours maximum and voluntary overtime of 12 hours maximum, the right to a living wage and establishment of the employment relationship (a contract). In Europe, the CCC developed the Code of Labour Practices for the Apparel Industry Including Sportswear, which includes these principles.
In our campaigning, we demand that retailers adopt the standards outlined in the code of practices, implement those standards and create a system to continuously monitor the standards.
Above all, the CCC is a consumer campaign. Information on working conditions in the garment industry is distributed via newsletters, the Internet and in research publications.
Raising awareness among young consumers is one of our specific goals. Actions for youth connected to major sporting events, such as the World Cup, are regularly formulated. Rallies and demonstrations by young people are also organised in many of the Clean Clothes campaign countries.
Educational campaigns are carried out through the school system. In the Netherlands, together with one of the trade union federations, we targeted 1300 schools for a slide presentation to inform young people about working conditions in sports shoe factories.
The CCC also pursues legal possibilities for challenging bad working conditions in the garment industry.
In 1998, the CCC organised the International Forum on Clean Clothes, held in Brussels. At that time, cases against seven major garment companies — Adidas, C&A, Disney, H&M, Levi Strauss, Nike and Otto Versand — were presented before the Permanent People's Tribunal. The cases included testimony from workers and researchers about working conditions in factories that produce for each of these brands.
The CCC develops links with organisations in countries where garments are produced. This is done through exchange programs.
The "urgent appeals" system is also used to forge international solidarity. The CCC frequently receives appeals from workers producing garments for multinationals. We verify these requests, add to the initial information regarding the case using our contacts in that country and then post a wide appeal for action by CCC members.
It is the task of governments to legislate for good working conditions, and enforce them. Many garment-producing nations have good legislation but the problem is it isn't enforced properly. A major reason for this is that many such countries have incurred huge debts and are forced to meet the demands of structural adjustment programs developed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to create an environment that is attractive to foreign investment.
Bad working conditions are an international problem that will not be solved on a national level alone. More information about the CCC is available from: Austria <http://www.oneworld.at/cleanclothes.htm>; Belgium <http://www.mdmoxfam.ngonet.be>; France < http://www.crc-A HREF="mailto:conso.com/etic"><conso.com/etic>; Germany <CCC-D@dgb-bildungswerk.de>; Italy <coord@cnms.it>; Netherlands <http://www.cleanclothes.org>; Spain <http://www.pangea.org/ropalimpia>; Sweden <http://www.renaklader.org>; Switzerland <http://www.cleanclothes.ch>; UK <nead@gn.apc.org>.
BY LIZET VLASVELD