Transparentem Founder Ben Skinner’s NYT Op-ed on Apparel Supply Chains 10 Years After Rana Plaza
In this New York Times op-ed, Transparentem founder and president Ben Skinner exposes the abuses still rife in apparel supply chains ten years after the Rana Plaza disaster. One big reason: brands’ overreliance on the multibillion-dollar social auditing industry, which often fails to detect problems when factory managers deceive auditors.
Watch Transparentem’s Virtual Side Session from the 9th OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector
On February 14, Transparentem hosted a virtual side event on migrant worker rights, as part of the 9th OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector. At the event, Transparentem discussed findings and outcomes from three of our investigations in Malaysia and recommendations for further improvements to protect workers’ rights–in Malaysia and […]
Transparentem Virtual Side Session: Mitigating Forced Labor Risk among Migrant Workers in Apparel Production
The 9th OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector will take place on 16 – 17 February 2023 both virtually and in person at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris. The OECD Garment Forum is accompanied by a vibrant agenda of side sessions organized by partner. Transparentem is pleased to present […]
Migrant Workers in Malaysia’s Garment Sector Face Severe Exploitation
On Sept. 23, the Malaysian immigration department arrested a Bangladeshi garment factory owner, along with 45 illegal foreign workers, on suspicion of using fake temporary work permits obtained by hacking government systems. The workers, aged between 17 and 67, consisted of Bangladesh, Indonesian and Myanmar nationals, according to immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
A global call for full supply chain transparency in the clothing sector
This week, the world remembers the Rana Plaza tragedy. On 24 April 2013 more than a thousand workers lost their… life in what was, in essence, a preventable accident. The accident shook the world and put a spotlight on the unsafe conditions faced by workers in global garment supply chains. The fashion industry responded by […]
Mind the Gap: Migrant Workers Need Respect for Rights, Not Commitments on Paper
In spring 2018, Transparentem, an NGO focused on investigating labor rights abuses, approached apparel companies with forced labor findings at… Malaysian factories. Such findings are not new; the organization also noted that similar findings and mistreatment of migrant workers had already been identified in the Malaysian apparel and footwear sector ten years earlier. In October […]
Du sang et des larmes sur les gants malaisiens
En 2019, après des mois d’enquête et de pressions, l’ONG américaine Transparentem a obtenu 1,6 million d’euros de réparations pour… 2500 immigrés employés dans l’habillement malaisien qui avaient payé pour être recrutés.
Tannery Workers’ Pandemic Plight Highlights Need for Reform
Bangladesh’s tannery workers are in financial crisis due to Covid-19, but exploitative working conditions are the root of the problem… Listening to Bangladesh’s tannery workers talk about their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic is distressing and alarming. “We have cried many nights in hunger,” said one. Another dispirited worker lamented, “My life is full of […]
Out of Sight: A Call for Transparency from Field to Fabric
Supply chains in the global garment and textiles industry are long, complex, fragmented, continuously evolving and notoriously opaque. In support… of the Tamil Nadu Declaration and Framework of Action, Fashion Revolution has conducted new research into the supply chain transparency efforts of 62 major fashion brands and retailers. The following report explores why greater transparency […]
Pay-to-play, pay-to-stay: the high cost of Indonesian apparel jobs
When Susi, a 25-year-old sewing operator in Indonesia, found work at a garment manufacturer in West Java, she paid one… month’s wages upfront to a middleman to secure her job. She quit the strenuous job within one week, but received no refund. To secure her next position, Susi repeatedly paid around a month’s wages for […]
