Labour Rights

Child labour refers to work that deprives children of their childhood, potential, and dignity. Work that is usually mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, and/or interferes with children’s opportunity for schooling are defined as “child labour”. To define whether or not a case is child labour depends on different countries' regulations and policies that limit the child’s age, type and hours of work performed, and working conditions.

International Labour Organization (ILO) has set the general minimum age for admission to employment or work at 15 years (13 for light work) and the minimum age for hazardous work at 18 (16 under certain strict conditions). This fundamental convention sets the general minimum age for It provides for the possibility of initially setting the general minimum age at 14 (12 for light work) where the economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed.

According to ILO, 160 million children (63 million girls and 97 million boys) suffer child labor, estimating almost 1 in 10 all children around the world are child labours. Nearly half of the child labours are in hazardous work.

Collective actions refer to the act that workers unite to fight against employers in order to improve their working conditions. Collective actions usually took place in the same workplace, and workers take action together to demonstrate their power as well as complaints. Signing a petition is an example of collective action. While in the broadest sense, collective actions can refer to People who share the same goal and objective and take action together to improve their and others' status. Since it is difficult for consumers, campaigners, and producers to fight alone in the fashion industry, joining forces and voicing out collectively increases the chance of improving workers' conditions in the workplace.

Collective bargaining is the process of workers negotiating working conditions such as salaries, benefits, working hours, etc. with their employers through negotiations and unionization.

Committee on Freedom of Association considers the right to strike should not be limited solely to industrial disputes. Collective actions that are contrary to the principles of freedom of association should not be banned. Still, there is a need for governments, brands, and suppliers to take action to ensure the right to freedom of association is protected across supply chains. With strong freedom of association, collective bargaining practices can ensure fair and equitable negotiations. Though collective bargaining, workers will receive higher wages, better benefits, and a safer working environment.

Forced labour refers to people who are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or by manipulated debt, retention of identity papers, or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities. Forced labour can be imposed on adults and children by State authorities, private enterprises, or by individuals.

Freedom of association is the right of individuals to join or leave groups voluntarily, such as unions, and the right of a group to take collective actions pursuing the interests of its members. During COVID-19, factories persistently used the pandemic as an excuse to suppress organising efforts and suspend collective bargaining agreements. Suppression of trade unions' rights is prevalent across the industry, causing devastating impacts for garment workers. Without a collective voice and protection, workers face daily violations, including declining wages, precarious work, longer hours, forced overtime, and physical and verbal abuse in the workplace.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence directed because of a person’s gender and is deeply rooted in gender inequality. GBV can include physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm. Examples include domestic violence and sex-based harassment in the workplace. Women and girls are the main victims of GBV, and can have severe and long-lasting impacts on families and communities.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nation agency that operates in the model of tripartite, which gives equal voices to governments, employers and workers from 187 member states. Being the main contributor to International labour law, ILO aims to promote workers’ rights by setting labour standards, developing policies and devising programmes that promote reasonable working conditions for all women and men.

A living wage is a fair salary or compensation that allows workers and their families to live a decent life and covers the cost of necessities such as food, water, housing, education, health care, transport, clothing, and other essentials including provision for unexpected events. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance calculate living wages based on factors including the number of family members being supported, the nutritional needs of a worker and their dependents, and their other basic needs including housing and education.

There is typically a big gap between a minimum wage and a living wage. This is because national minimum wages are often kept at low levels in order to ensure the country remains competitive and costs are kept low so that global brands choose to source there. Brands need to commit to paying a living wage in order to ensure the workers who make their profits possible can live in dignity.

Minimum wage is a legal term, the amount of salary is determined according to labor law in different countries. It is usual for the amount of minimum wage to be far below the living wage which could sustain the workers’ decent quality of life. In countries where the bargaining power of unions is low, the minimum wage will be also at a low level.

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is the area of public health that studies illness and injury trends, and also aims to improve health and safety standards in the workplace. Knowledge in this field is used to develop and implement regulations to limit hazards that lead to physical or mental harm. Every occupation has its own health and safety risks, and ensuring workers carry out their work safely is the responsibility of every employer.

Poverty pay and the exploitation of workers are systemically embedded in the global garment industry.

Low wages trap workers and their families in a cycle of poverty. Workers are forced to work long hours in order to earn enough to live, and they cannot risk refusing work due to unsafe working conditions, and they cannot take time off when they are ill. Poverty pay removes choices. The minimum wage in many garment production countries is set at poverty levels to entice businesses.

Garment workers who work six or even seven days per week often do not make enough to make ends meet, let alone put anything extra away in savings. They may have to rely on loans to pay their rent or cover healthcare or education costs. Poverty wages often leads to problems such as poor housing conditions, child labour, poor nutrition, and violence against women.

On April 24th 2013, more than 1,100 workers were killed when the 8-story Rana Plaza clothing manufacturing complex in Bangladesh collapsed. The building consist of separate garment factories that employ more than 5,000 people, several shop and a bank. Due to the addition of extra floors and failure in audits, the incident happened despite government officals frequently declare that the building was safe. This industrial catastrophe marked the start of the questioning of the validity of social compliance aduits.

Severance pay, also known as termination pay, is a form of lump-sum compensation which is paid by an employer to a worker who has been involuntarily laid off. Typically severance pay is linked to the number of years the worker has been employed in one factory. In some production countries, severance is mandated by law; while in others, it is either voluntary or provided for through collective bargaining. Severance pay is vital because it forms a buffer for workers to be able to pay their bills and keep their kids in school while looking for a new job. Many production countries which mandate severance pay by law lack robust social security systems to help keep workers afloat between jobs. Employers should therefore protect severance pay as a right, and brands should ensure it is paid, but in reality many workers do not receive the money owed to them.

Severance theft refers to the situation when employers fail to pay employees enough severance pay. It is a common phenomenon in the garment industry when there are factory closures or workers lose their jobs. Workers may need to wait for years until they receive the money that is owed to them or some may never receive what they are owed by law. If a factory has gone bankrupt or claims to be in a dire financial situation it can be very difficult to claim the money back, even using legal channels. It is crucial that global brands pitch in and ensure the full severance pay owed is given to workers when they lose their jobs. An example of severance theft is an ongoing case involving Japanese retail giant Uniqlo and 2,000 Indonesian garment workers. In 2014, numerous labour violations, including unpaid overtime and unlawful termination of pregnant workers, were reported at the Indonesian factory, Jaba Garmindo, supplying Uniqlo. As a result, Uniqlo decided to withdraw production from the factory, citing ‘quality issues’. In January 2015, workers were no longer being paid their full wages on time. Three months later the factory unexpectedly closed, declaring bankruptcy, leaving 4000 workers unemployed and owed millions in unpaid wages and severance payments. They managed to retrieve their back pay but now, over seven years later, 2,000 former workers continue to campaign for the $5.5 million legally owed to them in severance pay. Uniqo continues to refuse to pay up.

Strike is the collective refusal by employees to work under unreasonable working conditions required by employers. Strikes arise for a number of reasons, namely in response to economic conditions such as a rise in wages, or labour practices such as labour conditions. Most strikes threaten employers by inflicting more costs on manufacturers by suspending the progress of the production until employers agree to the request of workers, for example, wages and benefits.

It is recognized by the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association that the right to strike to be one of the principal means by which workers and their associations may legitimately promote and defend their economic and social interests. The nature of the demands pursued through strike action may be categorized as being occupational (seeking to guarantee or improve workers’ working or living conditions), trade union (seeking to guarantee or develop the rights of trade union organizations and their leaders), or political. Therefore, the right to strike should not be confined to industrial disputes that are likely to be resolved through the signing of a collective agreement.

Union busting prevents employees from exercising their legal right to unionise. Common union busting measures include firing union leaders and striking workers, closing or relocating a factory to get rid of a union, and violence and intimidation against union members. These tactics aim to limit workers’ ability to take collective action and negotiate better working conditions or redress violations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a rising number of union busting cases globally. For example, factories making garments for C&A, Zara, Mango, and Bestseller force union members and workers in support of unions out of work.

Wage theft refers to the situation where an employer does not fully pay or provide the wages and entitlements that are rightfully owed to an employee by contract or law. Wage theft includes not paying the minimum wage, failing to pay overtime, requiring off-the-clock work, and illegal deductions in pay or even withholding wages.