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  Textile, fabric & yarn companies  

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Ramatex Says Enviro Report 'Too Sensitive' to Be Released [Namibia] - Malaysian textile firm, Ramatex, yesterday claimed it had not made its Environmental Impact Assessment study public because "it contains sensitive information" that could be used by competitors to the detriment of the textile plant. (Chrispin Inambao, The Namibian, 4 Apr. 2003)

Websites:

Company Policies for EEO [Equal Employment Opportunities] in Textiles, Clothing and Leather Manufacturing (International Labour Organization)

Green Power Market Development Group: a collaboration of 10 leading corporations [Alcoa, Cargill Dow, Delphi Automotive, DuPont, General Motors, IBM, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinkos, Pitney Bowes] and the World Resources Institute dedicated to building corporate markets for green power. 

Pilot project: Management training in the garments and textile industry in Bangladesh (Resource Centre for the Social Dimensions of Business Practice)

Other materials:

2003:

Ramatex Says Enviro Report 'Too Sensitive' to Be Released [Namibia] - Malaysian textile firm, Ramatex, yesterday claimed it had not made its Environmental Impact Assessment study public because "it contains sensitive information" that could be used by competitors to the detriment of the textile plant. (Chrispin Inambao, The Namibian, 4 Apr. 2003)

Retail therapy - Awareness of how and where goods are produced has soared - and so has the fair trade movement -...Now there are more than 100 products, ranging from tea, coffee and bananas to sugar, wine, honey, fruits, juices, snacks and biscuits, chilli peppers and meat. Coming next are fair trade clothes and textiles, and fair trade footballs...To go truly mainstream, though, fair trade must occupy more than a remote shelf in a supermarket. There are the first signs that that is happening as the Co-op and Safeway supermarkets start their own fair trade lines. (John Vidal, Guardian [UK], 26 Feb. 2003)

Allan Rock's office deluged with thousands of clothing labels, days before government due to respond to coalition's proposal for new disclosure rules to address sweatshop abuses [Canada] -...ETAG's [Ethical Trading Action Group's] detailed proposal, submitted in 2001, calls on the Industry Minister to make minor changes to the Textile Labelling Act requiring apparel companies to publicly disclose the names and addresses of the factories that produce their clothing...Retail and manufacturer associations have lobbied against the proposal for new disclosure rules, but several well-known retailers, including Roots Canada, Mountain Equipment Coop and American Apparel, have signalled their support. (Ethical Trading Action Group, 24 Feb. 2003)

Corporate Bill for Slavery - The federal class-action lawsuits [in USA]...seek corporate accountability for profits made from slavery, unspecified damages and the establishment of a fund for the healthcare, housing, education and economic development needs of African-Americans. They also want a full investigation of the financial underpinnings of slavery...On the other side of the lawsuits are seventeen powerful corporations. They include financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and FleetBoston; insurance companies (e.g., Aetna and New York Life); railroads (Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and CSX); tobacco companies (R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson); and a textile manufacturer (WestPoint Stevens). (John S. Friedman, The Nation, 20 Feb. 2003)

An inhuman bondage [regarding Human Rights Watch report: "Small Change: Bonded Child Labor in India's Silk Industry"] (Ashwin Mahesh, rediff.com, 7 Feb. 2003)

Labour inspection blitz unearths rot [South Africa] - Employers would no longer get away with flouting the law, labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana said yesterday. "It is unacceptable in a human rights-based democracy for workers to be killed or injured while at work because of their employers' refusal to ensure their safety as prescribed by the law," he said during an inspection blitz in Gauteng...At one of the sites, Nigel Textile Works on the East Rand, inspectors found working conditions to be appalling, and recommended the prosecution of the employers. (SAPA, 28 Jan. 2003)

Kids as bonded slaves in Indian silk industry: Human Rights Watch - The Government of India stands accused of failing to protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of children who toil as virtual slaves in the country's silk industry. (Trevor Barnard, ANI, 22 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Congress assails use of prison labor [USA] - Congressmen on Thursday criticized a government-run corporation that uses prisoners to make products, saying it puts other Americans out of work. Federal Prison Industries Inc. makes 150 products, including office furniture, electronics and textiles, and its entire product line is sold exclusively to federal agencies. (Nedra Pickler, Associated Press, 22 Nov. 2002)

Job Exposure Linked to Many Cases of Lung Disease - Nearly 1 in 5 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...can be attributed to on-the-job exposures, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health...The investigators found that COPD was twice as common in blue-collar industries such as rubber, plastic, and leather manufacturing; utilities; office building services; textile mill products manufacturing; the armed forces; and food products manufacturing than in white-collar industries...As for specific jobs, the risk was elevated in freight, stock and material handlers, records processing and distribution clerks (which includes mail handlers); sales; transportation-related occupations; machine operators; construction trades and waitresses. (Keith Mulvihill, Reuters, 31 Oct. 2002)

Our hidden shame: textile sweatshops [Australia] - About 4000 underpaid textile workers are slaving in Third World conditions in illegal Brisbane sweatshops, according to a clothing industry union...Children as young as 10 were also forced to work long hours in appalling conditions. (Nikki Voss, Sunday Mail [Australia], 13 Oct. 2002)

Factories face prosecutions after raids [South Africa] - The Department of Labour will recommend prosecutions of certain factories in Johannesburg after raids carried out this week found contravention of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)...Zikalala said the department closed a Johannesburg textile factory last night after inspectors found that there were no emergency exits..."In another late night raid, labour inspectors discovered that the owners of Snaktaque, a peanut butter and ground corn chips manufacturer, had defied an earlier prohibition order shutting the factory down." (Thabang Mokopanele, Business Day [South Africa], 8 Aug. 2002)

Labour dept to swoop on sweatshops [South Africa] - Factory owners in KwaZulu-Natal were given a stern warning by the department of Labour on Wednesday to ensure that safe working conditions exist on their premises, or face departmental wrath...The warning follows a raid two months ago on sweatshops in several northern KwaZulu-Natal towns, including Newcastle and Ladysmith. (Natal Witness, 8 Aug. 2002)

No Sweat: Neale Towart surveys the international debate around sweatshops and what can be done to regulate them [refers to labour abuses in textile, clothing & footwear industries in Morocco & Australia] (Neale Towart, in Workers Online, Labor Council of New South Wales, 12 July 2002)

Eco-Intelligence: Nike Transforms the Textile Industry - How does a company with annual revenues in the billions and more than 700 contract factories worldwide profitably integrate ecology and social equity into the way it does business, every day and at every level of operation? Ask Nike. (William Mcdonough and Michael Braungart, green@work magazine, July-Aug. 2002) 

Scores hurt in 3-day riot at HK-owned factory [China] - Thousands of workers at a Hong Kong-owned textile factory in Guangdong fought running battles with security guards in a three-day riot that left scores injured, media and officials said...Local officials said they did not know what sparked the violence at the factory. But the Yangcheng Evening News said it began on Monday after security guards armed with sharpened iron piping beat up one worker. (South China Morning Post [Hong Kong], 29 June 2002)

Poor work conditions fuel unrest in China - The plight of millions of migrant workers toiling for meagre wages in southern China has been thrown under the spotlight by a three-day textile worker riot. It started after security guards beat up an employee for jumping a meal queue. (James Kynge, Financial Times, 29 June 2002)

Cambodia: Linking textiles to labor standards -...The first trade agreement of its kind, the 1999 US-Cambodian textile compact links increases in garment export quotas to improvements in labor conditions. (Andrew Wells-Dang, Fund for Reconciliation and Development, in Foreign Policy in Focus, 4 June 2002)

Focus On Exploitation in Textile Factories [Lesotho] -...fair trade campaigners have pointed to the exploitation and rights abuses of workers in some of the clothing factories in Lesotho. (U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks, 22 May 2002)

Sactwu Adopts Groundbreaking HIV/Aids Policy [South Africa] - The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers Union has adopted an historic policy and action programme to help combat HIV/AIDS in the clothing, textile and leather sectors specifically, and in South Africa in general. (Congress of South African Trade Unions, 22 May 2002)

Violence against women in the workplace in Kenya: Assessment of workplace sexual harassment in the commercial agriculture and textile manufacturing sectors in Kenya [based on survey research in the coffee, tea & light manufacturing industries] (International Labor Rights Fund, May 2002)

Sichuan Textile Workers Struck Against Arrests [China]:...Eyewitnesses reported that several strikers were beaten up by the police at the picket line outside the factory, and about a dozen had been detained. (China Labour Bulletin, 20 Mar. 2002)

US trade 'exploits' Lesotho workers:...The Lesotho Clothing & Allied Workers Union (LCAWU) said textile factories often ignored Lesotho's labour laws. (BBC News, 15 Mar. 2002)

Corporations challenged by reparations activists [USA]:..So far, the reparations legal team has publicly identified five companies it says have slave ties: insurers Aetna, New York Life and AIG and financial giants J.P. Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank and FleetBoston Financial Group...Independently, USA TODAY has found documentation tying several others to slavery: Investment banks Brown Bros. Harriman and Lehman Bros.; Railroads Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific and Canadian National; Textile maker WestPoint Stevens; Newspaper publishers Knight Ridder, Tribune, Media General, Advance Publications, E.W. Scripps and Gannett, parent and publisher of USA TODAY...USA TODAY contacted all the companies named in this article. Some acknowledged the evidence, others disputed it. Many declined comment. Of those that did comment, virtually all said the current company isn't liable for what happened before the Civil War. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

PAKISTAN: ILO Offers Alternative Education For Working Children: an estimated 3.6 million children continue to work, tens of thousands of them in dangerous locations such as mines, canneries and glass and textile factories (UN Wire, 14 Feb. 2002)

2001:

China said to detain reporter for covering strike: Chinese police have detained a freelance Chinese journalist investigating a workers' strike [at the Huai Nan Textile Factory] over a cut in their wages (Reuters, 28 Dec. 2001)

Exploitation of Workers Rife in Eastern Cape [South Africa]: The exploitation of workers is rife in the Eastern Cape, especially in the security and textile industries said provincial Labour Department deputy director of inspections and enforcements Mlungisi Matiwane yesterday...He said: "It is especially the small businesses where workers are vulnerable that are guilty of disregarding labour laws and discriminating against workers." (Dumile Meintjies, East Cape News [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001) 

Sweatshops threaten to relocate [South Africa]: The owners of 20 Newcastle textile factories are threatening to abandon up to 8 000 workers and relocate to Lesotho after being ordered to pay minimum wages and to eliminate dangerous working conditions. (Frank Nxumalo, Business Report [South Africa], 9 Dec. 2001)

Signs of change [India]:...: A relatively vigilant administration and the initiatives taken by a non-governmental organisation in the wake of the death of Naushad, a child worker at Ramanagaram, lead to a lull in the recruitment of child workers in the silk taluks of Karnataka. (Srobona Roy Choudhury, Frontline [India], 8-21 Dec. 2001)

Maquila Melée: Death threats and plant closings threaten workers rights in Guatemala - Just days after a year-long organizing campaign went public at two textile factories outside Guatemala City in July, union supporters were violently attacked and injured at work by a mob wielding rocks, bottles and other makeshift weapons in an assault that lasted for hours. (Tula Connell, editor of the AFL-CIO magazine America@Work, in In These Times, 7 Dec. 2001)

Factory closed after twins' deaths [South Africa]: Workers 'were locked inside Newcastle factory all night' - The Department of Labour has shut down a textile company in Newcastle following the death of twin infants born inside the factory, which was locked at the time. (SAPA, Natal Witness News [South Africa], 3 Dec. 2001)

Report on Codes of Conduct in the Garment and Textile Industry Seminar, 26th-30th November 2001, Bangkok, Thailand [refers to Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Korea, Bangladesh] (Chan Beng Seng [DAGA - Documentation and Action Group Asia] and Kelly Dent [TIE-Asia], Dec. 2001)

Internationally-recognised Core Labour Standards in Malaysia [refers to "serious problems of freedom of association, collective bargaining and discrimination, especially against migrant workers"] - In both the electronics and textile sectors, two of Malaysia’s largest export earners, workers have been dismissed or threatened with dismissal for their trade union activities. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 28 Nov. 2001)

Malden Mills and price of altruism [USA]: The continuing saga at Malden Mills Industries Inc. [textile company] is turning into a case study of whether altruism makes good business sense. Six years ago, the Lawrence textile company gained fame after owner Aaron Feuerstein kept paying thousands of idled workers after a devastating fire...Feuerstein's benevolence may also have laid the groundwork for a comeback. Citing Feuerstein's past conduct, US Senator John F. Kerry yesterday urged Jeff Immelt, chief executive of General Electric Co., Malden Mills' largest lender, to help the company avoid bankruptcy. (Ross Kerber, Boston Globe, 21 Nov. 2001)

Observer Comment - Anti-globalisation can not help the developing world. But the rich countries must ditch the hypocrisy and keep their promises to the south...Multinational corporations, finance capitalists and Northern Governments justify themselves in terms of free trade, but what they actually promote are their own interests, which is not the same thing at all. In trade the industrialised world imposes liberalisation on developing countries while protecting its own markets in agriculture and textiles through tariff barriers. (Michael Jacobs, Observer [UK], 11 Nov. 2001)

Resolution on Korean Companies Operating Overseas:...DEPLORING the exploitation of workers employed in Korean-owned textile, garment and footwear companies, who are often forced to work long hours in appalling conditions, and who when they attempt to organise to improve their working conditions face violence from security guards, death threats, plant closures, and the prospect of being blacklisted and denied future employment;...RESOLVES to establish a register of “Dirty Companies” the world should shun, to which would be added the names of all enterprises repeatedly abusing workers´rights, and to campaign to drive all such listed companies from the textile, clothing and leather industries. (Executive Committee of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation [ITGLWF], 23 Oct. 2001)

Child Labour in Shanghai: Where is the Union? This was the question posed in Chinese newspapers, including the People’s Daily, after yet another shocking case of illegally long working hours, pittance wages and child labour came to light. This time, the factory involved was not located in some remote mountain county far away from labour bureau inspectors and newspaper reporters. It was operating in arguably China’s most modern and outward-looking city -- Shanghai. The Japanese-owned Shanghai Jingtiao Knitting Company employs over 400 workers, almost all of whom are under the age of 18. According to the Shanghai Municipal Labour and Social Security Bureau, some of these young workers had not even reached the age on 16 and were therefore illegally employed child labourers. (China Labour Bulletin, 12 Sep. 2001)

EPA [Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana] Prosecutes Pollutionist: The Kumasi Circuit Tribunal chaired by Mr. Ernesty Obimpeh has dismissed a plea of no case presented to it by the Nnuro Kente, a private manufacturing firm which produces kente yarns.  Nnuro Kente is allegedly discharging its effluents into the river, thus destroying all life forms in and around it. (Accra Mail [Ghana], 27 June 2001)

Indorayon's Last Gasp? [Indonesia] - It looks as though the fate of PT Indorayon Inti Utama's controversial paper pulp and rayon fibre plant in North Sumatra has been sealed – less by the Wahid government than by thousands of local protestors...Why was Indorayon singled out among the plethora of cases in Indonesia where companies flout environmental regulations and violate local communities' rights? What message does Indorayon's closure send out to investors in other socially and environmentally damaging investments in Indonesia? (Frances Carr, Down to Earth, Nov. 2000, updated Jan. 2001)