Country reports Clean Clothes national coalitions and projects, February – June 2007 Austria – Clean Clothes Kampagne Public Awareness Campaigns In preparation of the PlayFair2008 Campaign the Austrian CCC contacted the Austrian Olympic Committee and sent out a questionnaire to get further information about the supply mechanism of the Austrian Olympic Committee. We also formed a national Coalition for PlayFair2008 with the Austrian federation of trade unions, started to organise testimonials to support the demands of PlayFair2008 and held a meeting with the representative of the organising Committee of the European Football Championship in Vienna. Until now the highlight was the press release at the launch of the report of PlayFair2008 “No Medals for the Olympics on Labor Rights”. The majority of the Austrian newsletters reported about PlayFair2008. Other activities and Events At 18 events representatives of the Austrian CCC informed different target groups (students, pupils, teachers, union members, consultants, or “simply” consumers) about working conditions in the garment industry and presented the work of the CCC. A two day seminar for activist was organised by the CCC in Austria, in which 20 activists took part. Around 1000 athletes supported the action “Let’s run fair” of the Clean Clothes Campaign and participated with CCC-Shirt or CCC-Sticker at various marathons in Austria. The biggest events were the Vienna City Marathon, the Linz Danube Marathon and the Tirol Speed Marathon. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals During the June Cambodia speakers tour the Austrian CCC organised a seminar and a press conference in cooperation with the Austrian federation of trade unions. A press release to approximately 1000 journalists was sent out. Six printed media reported about the press conference and union representative Athit Kong gave an interview for an Austrian broadcasting. At the seminar Athit Kong presented a film and photos about his union work and answered questions of the participants. The CCC representatives presented the urgent appeals as one tool to support union rights in producing countries. FFI-India Report in the June Newsletter with Action request. Report and sample letter on the website. Spectrum For the second year anniversary of the collapse of the spectrum factory the Austrian CCC send a press release to 225 journalists in Austria. Up date of the report and the sample letter on the website. Chea Vichea case Report and sample letter on the website. Intimidation of trade unionists in Sri Lanka Report and sample letter on the website. North Sails The mediation process at the National Contact Point is ongoing. Companies Monitoring and Verification A Coffee table was organised at the 23rd of April in Austria. Representatives of the union, NGOs, economy and ministry took part at the coffee table and presented their work on and statements about CSR. New Publications and Materials Austrian CCC Newsletter CCC Stickers Balloons Belgium North - Schone Kleren Campagne Public Awareness Giants - Translation of German Aldi report into Dutch China - Leafleting at the occasion of ‘China Blue’ during film festival - Education pack for schools based on ‘China Blue’ T shirts for organizations and event - Agreement among CCC member organisations to promote buying Tshirts from FWF members - Mailing to 150 music festivals PlayFair 2008 - Translation logo report into Dutch - Letter to and from Belgian Olympic Committee - Media coverage: TV, radio, 4 main news papers Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals Cambodia - We were involved in the worker tour - Protest letter writing Public Authorities Ethical Procurement Clean Clothes Communities - We have organised 5 workshops on ethical procurement with newly elected politicians Belgium - French and German speaking - Campagne Vêtements Propres Public Awareness Other activities and Events o We made a new photo exhibition (http://www.vetementspropres.be/index.php?p=g&id=20) o Fabriqué par des femmes - Made by women in French coedited with Peuples Solidaires France and le Monde selon les femmes Belgium (http://www.vetementspropres.be/index.php?p=g&id=176) o Participation in the Decent work Belgian coalition (plans for campaigning from 2008 to 2010) o We celebrated our 10th year anniversary (press conference, seminar, reception and China Blue broadcast with Kong Athit - Cambodia and Yannick Etienne - Haïti) Campaigns Giants – Purchasing practices o Infodoc : Bangladesh – The price of our T-shirts (see http://www.vetementspropres.be/doc/dossier_bangladesh.pdf) o Launch of TRASO, a new fashion label in Liège on saturday 23rd June (see the promotional flyer on http://www.vetementspropres.be/doc/tractTRASOscreen.pdf). A joint initiative of garment retails workers and consumers to denounce the race to the bottom in the retailing and in the production. PlayFair 2008 o Good media coverage of the first logo report : TV, radio, main newspapers o Letters sent to and from Belgian Olympic Committee together with SKC Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals o Bangladesh - follow up Carrefour and Cotton Group - press release launch of the spectrum funds o Cambodia - worker tour Kong Athit - protest letter writing (River Rich) and letter to the Belgian consulate (death treats) Public Authorities Clean Clothes Communities o 40 municipalities are now involved in a 6 year process, some followed through local groups o We published a practical guide o We did a workshop with newly elected politicians in Brussels o We train buying officers in Brussels city and Ottignies o We participated in the expert meeting of EUROCITIES in the framework of their RESPIRO project Denmark – Clean Clothes Campaign We are working on the establisment of the CCC in Denmark. We had a general information meeting for all relevant organisations in Denmark on June 13. Right now 6 organisations have agreed to be involved in starting up the CCC: BAV, Paytime, AIF, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, 3F (trade union, the sector for textileworkers) and the NGO Active Consumers. We will be hosted by Melllemfolkeligt Samvirke, hopefully with 1 parttime employed coordinator. The organisations will meet againon September 5 to agree on the structure and the foundation. Public Awareness We plan to start with a campaign on public procurement as a first activity. We are applying for funding to make our first information material. New Publications and Materials You can find information on CCC activities in the BAV newsletter, the 3F-Trade Union International newsletter http://forsiden.3f.dk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612/INTERNATIONALT/706120 04/2222/INTERNATIONALT and on Mellemfolkeligt Samvirkes webpage. http://www.ms.dk/sw72893.asp France – L’éthique sur l’étiquette (ESE) Public Awareness Campaigns PlayFair 2008 We sent a letter and the first logo report to the President of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF – Comité national olympique et sportif français) with the Campaign statement. The report got good media coverage in France (AFP, radio, main newspapers). Giants We are involved in an initiative to create a French platform gathering all the initiatives around supermarkets. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals Bangladesh - Follow up on Carrefour - Press Release on the Spectrum Fund (11 April 2007) Philippines - Urgent Appeal launched in January (in French, English and Spanish, paper and electronic versions, overall 5,400 copies sent, available on Peuples Solidaires’ website) Cambodia - Urgent Appeal launched in March (in French, English and Spanish, paper and electronic versions, overall 7,235 copies sent, available on Peuples Solidaires’ website) - Follow up on Hy Vuthy’s muder case: setting up of an urgent fund for Hy Vuthy’s family. - Letter to the French consulate (death treats) Sri Lanka - Urgent Appeal launched in March (in French, English and Spanish, paper and electronic versions, overall 7,508 copies sent, available on Peuples Solidaires’ website) Partner Activities Visit to Tunisia in April: Representatives from CCC France, Belgium South and the IS went to Tunisia to meet with unions and NGOs about possible partnerships and collaborations. Public Authorities Meeting EU Supermarkets campaign: May 15th, Peuples Solidaires attended the meeting of the EU supermarkets campaign. New Publications and Material Fabriqué par des femmes – “Made by women” has been translated and adapted in French, by CCC France and Belgium South - see: http://www.peuples- solidaires.org/article813.html (in French) Germany – Kampagne für ‘Saubere’ Kleidung Public Awareness Campaigns The sports working group is preparing the Olympic campaign in Germany. A first consortium meeting with CCCs Germany and Austria and Karat from Poland took place in Vienna in March 2007. Other activities and Events • China Blue Filmfestival: Being the national film partner of “China Blue” during the German film festival “Überarbeiten”, CCC Germany organised screenings of “China Blue” connected with panel discussions in fifty cities throughout Germany. In February, CCC Germany organised a speaker’s tour with the filmmaker Micha X. Peled, who visited twelve cities. Overall more than 3.000 people saw “China Blue” and a majority signed up to receive more information about the Clean Clothes Campaign. • Activities at the G8 summit: For the G8 summit protest week June, CCC Germany invited Phearak Ly (Womyn’s Agenda for Change) and Kong Athit (Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union) from Cambodia. They spoke at two workshops at the alternative summit and took part at the Blockades in front of the summit venue. At the “Action Day of Global Agriculture” a CCC-activist gave a speech in front of a LIDL supermarket, in which workers rights violations at LIDL suppliers were pointed out. • Protestant Church Day: At the “Protestant Church Days” in Cologne, CCC Germany was present with an information booth that especially informed about CCC related topics. Visitors were able to talk with CCC activists (from the Urgent Appeals action group) and to get information and action materials. The CCC activist group took part in a demonstration to protest against the G8-summit, which took place at the same time. At the demonstration the group took a two-meter high floatable T-shirt that referred to workers’ rights abuses in the sporting good industry. At several workshops around CSR and workers’ rights topics, the CCC-action group showed up with the T-shirt and distributed CCC-flyers. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals • Hermosa: In the first days of June we sent letters to the brands repeating our demands and asking to report progress on the outstanding issues. We informed the brands that we will update our network in July. • Spectrum - Bangladesh: CCC-Germany sent out a press release for the two- year anniversary of the Spectrum catastrophe. On April 11 t h KarstadtQuelle gave an official press statement to contribute 100.000 Euro into the trust fund. • BJ&B – Dominican Republic: In close cooperation with the WRC and the IS the German CCC followed up on the factory closure of BJ&B and contacted adidas, one of the former suppliers. The case was presented at the adidas shareholder meeting. Companies Brand related work In April and May we spoke on behalf of the “critical shareholders” at the Puma and adidas shareholder meetings. Public Authorities Ethical Procurement We organised a round table on public procurement on April 17 in Düsseldorf. At the next meeting in August the Fair Wear Foundation will have a presentation. New Publications and Materials • Aldi study In May, a new study was published about labour conditions in Indonesian and Chinese textile and clothing companies that produce for the German discounter Aldi. Violations of labour rights such as dumping wages, bail money for being allowed to work, fear of not being allowed to quit the job etc., are the outcomes of our research in the Chinese supplying companies. The English version comes out in July • China Blue Flyer Within the China Blue Film festival a new CCC flyer was produced. The flyer gives information about working conditions in the garment industry in general and specifically in China. It also contents a consumer-protest-card to take out. • Sewing Set A sewing set with a link to the CCC website was produced. • Political Night-Prayer – LIDL-campaign In cooperation with several church groups, we published a book “Political Night Prayers” that includes prayers, songs as well as action and campaigning ideas related to the LIDL campaign. One article of the book explains workers how sourcing strategies of LIDL lead to massive workers’ rights violations in the garment industry. International secretariat – Clean Clothes Campaign Coordination Organisation Euromeeting The IS, together with CCC Spain, organised and coordinated the European meeting, June 27-28 in Madrid. Meeting similar campaigns On April 26th, a by CCC organised and hosted meeting took place with fellow European campaigns on working conditions. Next to the CCC, the GoodElectronics campaign, the Coffee Coalition, the International Flower Campaign and the AAI European Supermarkets campaign were present. We shared information on coordinating cooperation and campaigns and work with partners in production countries, and discussed possibilities for cooperation. Starting up in Denmark Marieke has visited the starting CCC in Denmark. On June 13th she spoke at a meeting where organisations were invited which are interested in forming a national CCC in Denmark. Launching CCC Norway CCC staff spoke at the press conference that launched the CCC Norway (June 14th), emphasising the international dimension of the campaign. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals Worker tour The IS issued an international press release in support of the worker tour, that took place in the UK, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Norway and Germany. During the tour the CCC received a renewed appeal to take action in the River Rich case where management refused to implement an agreement reached in February this year, involving Athit Kong of C.CAWDU participating in the tour. Within this period, a new agreement was reached and the workers have been reinstated! Urgent Appeals Apart from working on the River Rich case in Cambodia, the IS followed up on cases in Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Turkey, El Salvador and the Philippines, The CCC International Secretariat and the Dutch SKK received summons to appear before the Bangalore court on June 25th, being accused by FFI of defamation, acts of racist and xenophobic nature and cyber crime. Partner Activities Visit Thailand For the GoodElectronics network CCC staff visited Thailand in May and met with several CCC partners during and besides the meeting. Visit Tunesia In April representatives of CCC France, Belgium South and the IS visited Tunisia to talk with the union and NGOs about collaboration, communication and possible projects. Companies Brand related work Giants meeting Brussels The working group on the giants campaign met in Brussels on the 4th of May to discuss the Giants campaign. Public Authorities Meeting EU Supermarkets campaign On May 15th, CCC staff attended a meeting of the EU supermarkets campaign, focused on action towards European legislation and MEPs. New Publications and Materials New international newsletter A new newsletter was published in May 2007, containing an interview with the director of China Blue, articles on factory closures, the ETI impact assessment, the national CCC Switzerland, urgent appeals, news from the CCCs, and new resources. Report on the Olympic logo goods and new Olympics website The Olympic logo goods was launched on the 11 t h of June 2007, together with the PlayFair2008 website. International press coverage has been extremely well and widespread. The initial press release has been followed up with 2 new press statements from PlayFair 2008. Italy – Campagna Abiti Puliti Public Awareness Activities and Events - We organised a training and public meeting to raise awareness on the garment sector, corporate crimes and CCC - A big event about the CCC was organised by the University of For in May 2007 - We participated in two big events at Terra Futura (Fear on Sustainability held in Tuscany in May) Two new organisations joined the campaign, Altraqualità and Rete Radie Resch. We organised a training course for CCC activists: the course hasbeen set up during April and May and will be held again in September / October; after the course participants will be asked to take active part in the CCC activities Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals METRACO CASE: Follow-up of the case with Italian companies involved; new pressure letter sent in March FFI CASE: follow-up with media to raise the attention on the case, new letters sent to the Italian Government CHE VICHEA: the appeal has been translated, mailed and posted on the website CAVITE EZP: the appeal has been translated, mailed and posted on the website The Netherlands – Schone Kleren Kampagne Public Awareness Groen Licht voor Schone Kleding The Groen Licht (Green Light for Clean Clothes) campaign aims to raise awareness of workers working in the public transport sector and create a need for clean clothes within this sector. Related to this campaign the CCC organised a bus tour (May 9) visiting some major public transport hubs. Public transport employees, mainly bus drivers, were asked for a signature to push their company to buy clean work wear. A very high percentage of about 90% was willing to sign. Fashioning an Ethical Industry This project started June 1 s t . An intern made an inventory of the needs of fashion institutes for incorporating CSR issues in modules: students are interested and do want more information on codes and monitoring/verification initiatives illustrated by case studies. Play Fair 2008 In March, the CCC contributed to two workshops at the Made in China seminar organised by FNV (Dutch trade union federation): one about the Olympics, one in cooperation with the Fair Wear Foundation. The launch of the IOC logo report received a lot of media attention. We have informed NOC*NSF in advance, no reaction as yet. Two of the official Beijing Olympics mascots (Fuwa’s) were at the main post office in A’dam to mail the report to the Dutch IOC members. HEMA campaign In March the extremely popular Dutch retailer HEMA was for sale. The CCC called upon the Dutch people to collectively buy the store, so that we could improve the conditions of the workers that make HEMA’s clothes. The campaign generated enormous publicity and the public bought virtual ‘shares’ for an amount of more than € 340.000. Though quite a success, this was nowhere near the 1.2 billion needed. Eventually Lion Capital, a British ‘private equity investor’ bought the HEMA. The CCC now has transformed the ‘buy the HEMA’ campaign into a ‘friends of the HEMA’ campaign. The friends of the HEMA will push their favourite retailer to sell clean clothes. Gender platform WO=MEN is a new Dutch gender platform. CCC participated in a debate with politicians on gender, responsibility of companies and the role of the Dutch government. On March 8, we distributed about 200 Made by Women brochures (Dutch translation). Solidarity work Urgent appeals Fibre & Fabrics International – India A restraining order imposed on five Indian labour organisations continues. FFI is threatening everyone who is criticising the company. In May, CCC and ICN received a summons to appear in court on 25 June in Bangalore. FFI accuses us of cyber crime, acts of racist and xenophobic nature and criminal defamation. We’re working with an Indian lawyer. We have been given time by the court till 27th July for appearance. On the day of the summons, the CCC organised an action at G-Star’s office in Amsterdam. Last two weeks, we’ve got a lot of media attention: 5 radio interviews, an extended radio program on the case, 5 articles in newspapers; journalists are still calling about the outcome/development of the summons. Metraco – Turkey Ongoing work on just published urgent appeal. Companies New members FWF McGregor Fashion Group, Suit Supply, Young Fashion (private label), P-P Projects (promotion), Tricorp and De Berkel (work wear). Total number: 36 members. In April, the FWF organised its annual members day. Switcher gave a presentation on its compliance management system. A Dutch ETI? In order to make companies contributing to the realisation of the millennium goals, the Dutch government pushes for a Dutch version of the ETI, though with a stronger focus on environment. The initiative is still in a very early phase. New publications and materials - Schoon Genoeg, April 2007 - Effe Checken card for consumers - Monitoring brochure (updated version) Norway - Rene Klær The 14th of June the CCC Norway - Rene Klær – was launched. Our programme consisted of some speeches; Marieke Eyskoot (IS) talked about CCCs international work, national coordinator Carin Leffler spoke 'bout how Rene klær will work and the goals for the campaign, Athit Kong, vice president i CCAWDU, held the speech "Conditions at the workplace for garment workers and their struggle for Trade Unions in Cambodia". Two member organizations of Rene klær spoke as well. Straight after the launch we went to two shops, for out first street actions. We handed out leaflets to costumers where they could tick questions (like: "Do the workers producing clothes for this shop get a minimum wage - or a wage they can live from?") to give to the staff (and hoping to receive a reply from the management of the shop via e-mail or post). This launch was featured in the main national news, "Dagsrevyen". Public Awareness Campaigns Play Fair We have approached the NOC: - On 24th of June we sent a letter to the Committee asking them to answer a questionnaire sent out to all NOCs. So far we did not receive any reply. - On the 11 t h of June we sent the Olympic report to the Committee asking them to get in contact with IOC and take steps forward to ensure that all production of goods and clothes should be in accordance with ILOs core conventions. We explicitly asked for feedback on our suggestions but didn’t receive a reply yet. Other activities and Events - Street actions outside shops to raise consumers’ awareness of working conditions in the garment industry. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals Metraco, Turkey - Norwegian buyer Helly Hansen is involved. Public Authorities Ethical Procurement We have asked politicians in Parliament whether they support ethical guidelines as a condition for public procurement. Four out of seven have replied so far. Their answers will be published in a mini-report. New Publications and Materials Leaflets: Kampanjen Rene klær. Norwegian, 12 pages. Website: www.reneklaer.no Spain – Campaña Ropa Limpia (CRL) Public Awareness Campaigns Giants: we had a meeting with the union CC.OO. to collect figures and information about the union affiliation at the targeted companies. PlayFair 2008: we are trying to organise a meeting with the NOC together with the union CC.OO. and ask them to comment on the logo goods report. Other activities and Events Press Events: - April 11: press release on Spectrum fund. - June 12th: press Conference organized by the CRL with the participation of Athit Kong and AFESIP (NGO working with sexually exploited women in Cambodia). Very good response from the press. Interviews on radio, TV and newspaper. - June 14th: press release, asking for transparency and good labour conditions in the production of uniforms for the International Exhibition in 2008 to be held in the city of Zaragoza. Good media coverage. Interviews on radio, TV and newspaper in Aragón. - Article published in Ecosostenible, specialised magazine on sustainability issues. Street Events: - March, 8th: 15 activists of CRL took part in the demonstration of “El Día de la Mujer Trabajadora” in Barcelona: performance and distribution of leaflets - April, 5th: At “Biocultura”, a fair of alternative and responsible consumption in Barcelona, we did a performance: simulation of a garment factory. Photos at: http://www.robaneta.org/accions/biocultura/ - May 28, 29, 30: information stall on Fair Trade Festival in Madrid to raise awareness and support the urgent appeals on the Spanish CCC website. - June 14th: “International Exposition 2008” to be held in Zaragoza: the day of the announcement of the officials uniforms for the Expo 2008 the CRL did a performance (simulation of a garment factory) and distribution of leaflets asking the organizers to be transparent about the labour conditions in which the uniforms for the Expo will be produced. Educational activities: - March, 2: CRL participates in the conference held in Barcelona “Doing good and doing well” organised by the business school IESE on socially responsible business in Europe. Other participants: ITGLWF, Inditex and Timberland. (50 participants) - March, 9: Conference in Cordoba organised by the campaign “Quién debe a Quién” about the Spanish garment industry in Morocco. (130 participants) - March 9 to 19: exhibition of the exposition “Nuestra moda trae telafor the meeting “Solidarity Economy” in the city of Pamplona the “week of the Solidarity” at the University of Navarra - March 13 to 16: Presentation and role playing in two high schools in the city of Zaragoza. - March 18: Presenting CRL in the course “Volunteers for International Cooperation” in the city of Zaragoza - March 28th: Lecture to students enrolled in a Master on Sustainable Development, organized by the Escuela de Organización Industrial. - April 11, 13 and 16: presentation in a high school in the city of Zaragoza - April, 13: Fair Trade Fashion Show, organised by the CECJ (National Fair Trade Platform) CRL provided information related to labour rights in the garment industry. Screening of the CRL documentary “Golpeados, pero no vencidos” (Beaten but not defeated) - April 16th: Lecture to high school professors in Madrid - April 18th: Lecture to students enrolled in a course named “Campaigns, Educational Development, Research and Lobbying,” organised by Ingenieros sin Fronteras in Madrid - April 27 and May 13: presentation at a high school in the city of Zaragoza. - May 4 and 11: presentation at a high school in the city of Zaragoza. - Screening of the documentary produced by CRL “Golpeados, pero no vencidos” in the Week of Fair Trade. May 7 to 11 in Zaragoza. - May 10: Screening China Blue in Zaragoza. - May 17: talk with the students of the University of Social Education in Barcelona (35 participants) - June 7: screening of the documentary produced by CRL “Lo último en moda” in the city of Tarragona. - June 8: screening of the documentary “Lo último en moda” and talk by Athit Kong in Barcelona (50 participants) Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals SPECTRUM (Bangladesh): follow up with Inditex CSR responsible, Spanish union CC.OO. and with social organisations and media following the case. Cyber action: Two weeks before the local elections (municipalities) we launched a cyber action consisting of sending emails to the political parties that sells garments on their websites (on-line shops) asking about labour conditions in the places where those garments were made. Worker tour: Athit Kong visited Barcelona and Madrid to raise awareness on labour conditions. In Barcelona, besides giving talks, he met with MANGO’s CSR resp. In Madrid he participated in a press conference. Public Authorities Ethical Procurement We organised a seminar on Ethical Public Procurement together with CRAN (environmental organisation) in the city of Pamplona with the participation of the City Hall of Barcelona. Sweden - Rena Kläder Public Awareness Campaigns Public Procurement – Mina Skattepengar – My Tax Money During the last year we have been working on a report on surgical tools and hospital/patient clothing together with Fair Trade Center (FTC) and SwedWatch. Swedwatch is a non-governmental organisation that publishes reports on Swedish business relations with developing countries. The aim is to highlight the violations of human rights in these industries to put further pressure on the county councils as well as create a public opinion. Swedwatch has done the research in Pakistan and India and Rena Kläder and FTC wrote the recommendations to the buying companies and to the county councils that purchase from these companies. The report was produced together with a documentary film and released in March. Part of the film was shown on TV and most national media highlighted the report and the film. Before the release we had a meeting with the county councils and the companies concerned in the report. The response from the county councils was good; they have now come together to work on a pilot named “sustainable procurement” with the aim to make public procurement ethical. We have also been planning activities at this year’s politician week in the middle of July. We will target politicians and the public through seminars, film shows, fashion shows and with 25 activists lobbying politicians during the week. Play Fair The Swedish Play Fair-campaign put focus on two Swedish sportswear retailers, Stadium and Team Sportia and the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC). The report “No Medal for the Olympics on Labour Rights” got a lot of media attention in Sweden. Other activities and Events Education on different levels We have extended our educations for activists so we now offer education on a first level and an advanced level for experienced activists. In March we held a first level education meeting and in May we had a advanced level education meeting in Stockholm focusing on exchange of experiences, global framework agreements and MSI’s. Meeting with Fair Trade Association In the beginning of June we met the Swedish Fair Trade Association to talk about the recent development of fair trade labelled cotton on the Swedish market. Seminar tour Together with IF Metall and The Commercial Employees´ Union, two of the trade unions that are members of the platform, we held a seminar tour in three cities. The seminar was a whole day of lectures and workshops on the themes garment industry, FoA and the CCC. Trade union members participated. The writer of our reports on Swedish retailer such as H&M and Indiska presented his studies and Rena Kläder talked about what we do. Urix – Opinion festival for youths Urix is a big annual festival in which around 600 youths from all of Sweden participate every year. Rena Kläder held a workshop with the Red Cross Youth, organised a fashion show and showed China Blue. Companies Brand related work Round table meeting On April 26 we arranged a round table meeting for Swedish fashion companies. 25 people participated from 8 companies, 2 trade unions and 5 NGOs. Several of the companies have started CSR work and adopted Codes of Conduct since we released the report last year on fashion companies. New Publications and Material Public Procurement Report. In Swedish. Summary available in English. Documentary Film on public procurement. In Swedish. Switzerland – Clean Clothes Campaign Public Awareness Clean Clothes Events - We organised 5 public debates on CCC issues in different Swiss cities. Clean Clothes comment on Ethical Fashion on the German National TV SF1 - Ethical Fashion attracts a lot of attention in Switzerland. SF1 broadcasted a feature on this trend (Kuyichi, Bono, American Apparel, organic cotton), in which CCC commented. See link: http://www.evb.ch/p25012345.html Clean Clothes on the French national TV, June 19th 2007 - Interview for a consumer programme about the ethical problems in the t- shirt production. The consumers are asked to get more informed about the CCC. See link: http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=311200&wysistatpr=www.abe.ch Publication on alternative garments and textiles in Zurich City (June 2007) CCC Switzerland published an alternative Shopping Guide for Zurich City. Volunteers listed all alternatives offers in shops:139 offers in 109 shops are indicated on a City Map (garments, shoes, textiles, carpets). The criteria were very strict: for “Fair trade Cotton” they need a FLO-Certification; for “Bio” they need a certification of organic farming; for “social” they have to be member of a MSI (STEP, FWF = only Switcher, WWF Panda, Hess Natur) and then there are some young designers all “Swiss-Made” as well as some second hand shops (“Recycling”). This map was featured on the main Swiss TV-News, 6 radio stations and got good coverage in newspapers. After two weeks, more than 500 orders for more than 2’000 Shopping Guides were sent in. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals Spectrum / Bangladesh Media work and homepage update on French CCC-Homepage and press release on April 11 . Hermosa / El Salvador We are following the case Adidas / Hermosa. Companies Monitoring and Verification ISCOM During the last two years ISCOM has already been working closely with the Fair Wear Foundation and has used its audit teams and partner networks in the producing countries. Now the verification of working conditions in the production chains of member companies is transferred to the Fair Wear Foundation. ISCOM member Switcher became FWF member. Public Authorities Lenten Campaign on IT sector (Bread for all, Catholic Lenten Fund) - As a follow up on the big campaign on labour rights and environmental issues in the IT sector, an interpellation (signed by 25 MEPs) in the federal parliament was handed over to the Swiss government to respect social and ecological criteria when ever computers are purchased for the public administration. This could be the first step to a more active campaign on public procurement. Other relevant news Swiss TV: report on Chinese Garment Facories in Prato, Italy There are supposed to be some 30’000 Chinese migrant worker in Prato, Italy, many of them are living illegally in Italy. According to the report, during a police control in 40 factories they found labour rights abuse in every factory, 20 factories have been closed, 700 machines have been confiscated. United Kingdom – Labour Behind the Label Public Awareness High street fashion campaign • We are updating the Clean Up Fashion report. Letters were sent to all the companies asking them what progress has been made over the past year. Several want to meet with us about it. • War on Want, a platform member, are doing some research comparing living, actual, poverty and minimum wages in the main exporters to the UK. • CCC UK spoke at the Drapers Global Sourcing Summit - a major industry event. Bargain retailers/Tescopoly campaign • UK NGO ActionAid published their 'Who Pays' report on supermarkets, including garments in Bangladesh. There was some media coverage, meetings with companies and government, and they organised a debate. • We are working on some materials on school uniforms, to be produced over the summer. ActionAid are sending a journalist to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to research conditions in school uniform manufacture. Sportswear • The PlayFair 2008 report launch gained a lot of coverage. • We organised an event in parliament, which was well attended. • We are now building grassroots support through the trade unions and a written motion to parliament. Solidarity Work Urgent Appeals FFI • update on case and e-action posted on website Sri Lanka • appeal for support of trade unionists under attack posted on Labour Start website. Cambodia murders • Posted info and e-action on website • Wrote letter to Cambodian ambassador and British embassy New Publications and Materials We wrote articles for the Development Edeucation Journal, Institute of Directors Magazine, Public Affairs Magazine.