Trade, Aid And Fashion: How Can We Make Fashion Fair?

nfo: Labour Behind the Label, an NGO campaigning for garment workers rights worldwide, are hosting an exciting People's Meeting free to the public to encourage active discussion on issues relating to trade, aid and fashion: How can we make fashion fair?

Every piece of clothing and every pair of shoes we buy has passed through the hands of women workers employed in every part of the globe – in tanneries, factories, cotton fields, shops and even in their own home. Whether we are buying a Primark jumper, Ecco shoes or a Mulberry handbag, chances are workers employed on low wages and in substandard workplaces made it. Consumers say they want more ethical produced clothes and shoes but we can’t simply shop our way to a better world. Poor working conditions are not simply a question of bad employers, but result from a whole system of trade and globalisation that serves to promote an economic model based on cheap labour and exploitation.

To improve working conditions for the millions of women employed in the fashion industry we need to demand real change. Labour Behind the Label strongly believes that by getting informed, getting organised and getting active as citizens we can demand and drive changes to the current global economic system that will make a real difference, not only to the lives of the millions of women employed to make and sell our clothes and shoes, but to all of us hoping for a more just and sustainable world. This People’s Meeting is a step towards instigating this change.

Open and free to the public, this event is an opportunity for us to join together, connected by our shared interest and concern, to learn and discuss how the EU’s trade, development and regulation policies impact on the rights of workers. Most of the day will be in the form of workshops, with facilitated discussions and expert input. The aim of the People’s Meeting is for participants to develop a critical understanding of how the actions of the EU already impact on women workers, and to generate discussion on what role the EU could or should play in supporting social and economic rights for women workers both within and outside of Europe.

Some of the issues that will be discussed during the workshops and debates include:

o How trade impacts global supply chains, looking specifically at the implications of TTIP not just for Europe but for the rest of the world;

o How transparency over the operations of multinational could be improved, and how this could help in the struggle for decent work;

o Whether the newly announced sustainable development goals offer any opportunities to strengthen women workers’ rights;

o How EU legal regulatory frameworks might be strengthened to ensure corporate accountability

This People’s Meeting is just one of many similar events currently being held across 12 European Union countries.

Organised by Labour Behind the Label. Supporting and participating organisations: Action Aid UK, CORE, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam Indonesia, Trade Unions Congress (TUC).