A good seven years after the founding of the German Textile Alliance to promote humane working conditions in global textile production, the industry initiative crashes. The Campaign for Clean Clothes Germany announced on Wednesday that it was withdrawing from the alliance supported by companies, associations, aid organizations and the federal government. “The textile alliance cannot prove any improvement in working conditions in the global clothing supply chains,” the campaign justified its step.
Clean clothes campaign: Companies refuse to engage in low wages
“Too many member companies use every conceivable excuse to evade responsibility,” complained Waltraud Waidelich, board member of the campaign. The majority of companies refuse to do anything, especially when it comes to low wages. During the corona pandemic, the living conditions of people in The supply chains have therefore “deteriorated dramatically again”. The Christian Initiative Romero (CIR) and the Office for Mission, Ecumenism and Church World Responsibility of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia (MÖWe) had already left the alliance at the end of last year. They too had complained that After seven years of the Textiles Partnership, there has been no progress on the issue of living wages in the producing countries.The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, or Textile Partnership for short, was founded in 2014 in response to fatal accidents in textile factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan ments in textile production and the avoidance of harmful chemicals. The alliance includes fashion companies such as Adidas or Esprit and retail chains such as Hennes & Mauritz, Primark or C&A, but also associations, authorities and aid organizations. In an interview with the German Press Agency, the head of the alliance secretariat, Jürgen Janssen, regretted the withdrawal of the campaign for clean clothes, but defended the work of the alliance. Improving production conditions and purchasing practices is a very complex and lengthy process. “We know that things are not going fast enough for many. But we also see many concrete steps.” Bernd Hinzmann from the development policy Inkota network, as a member of the steering committee of the Textile Partnership, showed understanding for the step of the campaign. What the textile alliance had done in terms of securing jobs and social security during the pandemic was insufficient. This is difficult to bear, especially for a campaign organization. On the other hand, he also emphasized the need to have staying power when converting textile production. If companies have to redesign their purchasing strategy in times of crisis and also shoulder the costs for more sustainability, then this simply takes time. The Textile Partnership could still play an important role here. However, the goals should not be watered down. (dpa)