Author Archives: Mary Hanlon

Shamelessly Idealistic? Free the Children // We Day: Vancouver, Canada

[Centre: This child was 12 years old when he was assassinated for standing up for his rights]

“Acting is what I do for a living; activism is what I do to stay alive.” (Martin Sheen)

Today I witnessed 18,000 youth stand up and shout out  in support for children’s rights. Have you ever heard 18,000 children chant freedom, again and again? I can assure you that it is a sound I will not soon forget.

Did you know that he has been arrested more than 60 times for activism? He looks pretty darn innocent in this photo!

This year’s We Day events saw Free the Children co-founders Craig and Mark Kielburger celebrate the hard work and dedication of students all across Canada—students who have collectively raised 5 million dollars, banking 1 million volunteer hours along the way, for children in need.

The event has attracted human rights and environmental leaders from around the world; on stage to support, celebrate and motivate these students were activists Martin Sheen, Al Gore, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., Rick Hanson, Ethan Zohn, Philippe Cousteau, Spencer West, Scott Hammell, and Robin Wiszowaty, and musicians Hedley, Colbie Caillat, and The Barenaked Ladies.

Click here to watch it live on demand.

“Youth are not our future, they are our right now” (Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr.)

Empowering students by empowering teachers, the We Schools in Action program has built 150 schools (650 schools, over the last 15 years) in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ecuador, China, Haiti and Sri Lanka and provided more than 60,000 people internationally with clean water.

Free the Children Founders Craig and Mark Kielburger

Want to get your students involved? Teachers, this is a year long initiative, with campaigns set to keep your students motivated and engaged throughout the entire process:

• Halloween for Hunger asks children to collect canned goods instead of candy, for donation in their community: 2009 saw 217,000 pounds of food collected

• On November 19th students are asked to participate in a Vow of Silence; this day of action calls attention to the 218 million child labourers who have no voice.

• On January 12th, students celebrate and remember Haiti, through the We are all Haitians campaign

• February 19-25 is Aboriginal Education Week, where students are tasked to take action within their own local communities

• April 11-15 is 5 Days of Freedom. Register your interest and they will provide your school with posters, celebrity videos, motivational resources, etc.

Representing Social Alterations, I felt proud to be in the same room not with the leaders mentioned above, but with these kids…..these 18, 000 kids! It was like nothing I have ever experienced.

For more information, please check out We Day and Free the Children.

[Lesson 3] Global Governance and the Corporation

Introduction

Globalization has created a new world order; one where traditional notions of state-led governance have been replaced with corporate mandates. There is a grave need for international corporate governance.

In an attempt to curb the corporations’ seemingly unyielding power, the United Nations created the Global Compact (UNGP). The UNGP promotes international corporate governance, but is it working? Is it enough?

This lesson will introduce the corporation, and global governance within the context of human rights violations, with respect to notions of democracy, sovereignty, security, and ethics.

Objectives

– To educate learners on the issues surrounding global governance and the corporation
– To contextualize the realities for garment workers, as a result of pressures from the bottom-line
– To facilitate an understanding of the limitations of the Global Compact.

Click here to download this lesson: Lesson 3: Global Governance and the Corporation

[Lesson 2] Connect // Key Players

Introduction

Identifying the social, cultural, environmental and economic impacts of the fashion, textile and apparel industries requires interdisciplinary research.  There are countless touch points along these supply chains, as well as within each lifecycle stage of the products they produce. While the impacts of these industries may be positive and/or negative, it is important to recognize their complicated nature. Internationally, key players are working tirelessly to facilitate interdisciplinary research and learning for change.  This lesson hopes to introduce you to these players. Reach out to them and connect.

The learning materials, activities and assignments for this lesson are positioned within the context of a single basic cotton T-shirt.

Objectives

  • To direct learners to key players working to promote human rights and environmental protection within fashion, textile and apparel industries.
  • To encourage learners to reach out to key players within the responsible fashion community.
  • To connect the various touch points along the supply chain of fashion, textile and apparel industries.
  • To empower learners to become more educated on the impacts of fashion products and systems.

Freemind // Experiments in Interaction

We have embedded Freemind (below), an interactive online learning tool, into this lesson, so that you may explore various key players throughout the industry working to facilitate responsible fashion systems.  Explore the map, a work in progress, to discover organizations that may interest you, based on the category of specialization for which we have them listed. Click on the red arrows to be taken directly to their websites.

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Click here to download this lesson: Lesson 2: Key Players

IXEL MODA + SOURCE EXPO

There are two events in particular that we were sorry to have missed recently: IXEL MODA (Colombia) and the Ethical Fashion Source Expo (UK), held in conjunction with the RITE Conference. 

The congress in Colombia, founded by Danilo Cañizares and Erika Rohenes Weber, is unique in its integration of international runways and professional presentations. College of William & Mary Professor, and author of Couture and Consensus, Regina Root serves as President Ad Honorem of Ixel Moda and oversees the academic vision of the congress along with fellow scientific committee members Kathia Castillo (Brazil) and Alex Blanch (Spain). Root’s keynote speech, invited by the founders and the sponsors which included among others the Cartagena Chamber of Commerce, the Colombian Ministry of Education and Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, focused on Latin American heritage in world fashion.

The announced theme for next year’s congress is “Origins of Latin American Fashion”.

The conference also featured speakers such as Marsha Dickson of University of Delaware, author of Social Responsibility in the Global Apparel Industry and editor of Sustainable Fashion- a Handbook for Educators as well as Francesca Granata, editor of Fashion Projects, among other fantastic presenters.   

Lucky for us (and you!) Fashion Projects and TED have posts up on their sites to sum up some of the great research and work presented.

Jen Ballie and Matilda Aspinall, two of TED’s PhD students, checked out the EFF Expo, and attended the ‘Innovation’ seminar. If you too missed out on these events, pop on over to TED and Fashion Projects to learn more.

Fashioning the Future 2011 Award // Fashion’s Campaign for Unique

Attention tutors, students, and recent graduates! The Centre for Sustainable Fashion has launched the 2011 Fashioning the Future Award brief.

  • What kind of world are you designing for?
  • What is your motivation as a designer?
  • What is your unique contribution to our collective futures?

To participate, you must register your interest online: www.sustainable-fashion.com from1 October 2010 where you will have access to resources and ideas to stimulate your work.

Here are the submission dates and deadlines:

Round 1 of submission: you will be required to submit your work online by 15 June 2011.

Candidates who are shortlisted from Round 1 will be invited to Round 2!

Round 2 submission deadline: July 2011.

Good luck!

Source: Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion

Cambodian Court Cracksdown on Garment Worker Protest

This guest post was written by Dr. Robert Hanlon, a post-doctorial Research Associate at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia.  He is a former editor at the Asian Human Rights Commission and focuses on corporate social responsibility, corruption and human rights in Asia.   

Rueters Image via The Daily Mail, Batons out: Nine garment workers were injured with riot police in Phnom Penh on July 27th as officials tried to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official

Earlier this month, tens of thousands of garment workers flooded the streets of Phnom Penh demanding the government review a $US 5/month wage increase that was approved earlier this summer.  Workers are demanding a further increase to the national minimum wage from US$ 61/month to US$ 93/month.   The government and manufactures have rejected the demands saying it would reflect negatively on Cambodia’s competitiveness.  With many employees refusing to return to work, a Cambodian court has branded the industrial action illegal and has given the green light for manufactures to fire anyone who continues to strike.  

“[…] while the minimum wage law is only legally applicable to a small proportion of the entire workforce, it has far reaching implication throughout Cambodian society“

While minimum wage is a critical step for any government in guaranteeing the well-being of society, the Cambodian law only extends to the garment industry.  This accounts to roughly 350,000 workers in the apparel and footwear sectors combined (less than 8 percent of the country’s working-age individuals).  While Cambodia positions itself as a competitive garment manufacturer, nearly 70 percent of the country’s total workforce still reside in the rural areas and are not privy to the minimum wage law.  Nonetheless, this group is highly dependent on remittance sent home by family members who have migrated to the city looking for work in the garment sector.  In this sense, while the minimum wage law is only legally applicable to a small proportion of the entire workforce, it has far reaching implication throughout Cambodian society.  

Interestingly, most garment manufacturers (especially those associated with International Labour Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia program) agree that a minimum wage is critical in sustaining a certain quality of life while rightly arguing that workers already earn well-above the current minimum.  In fact, the Cambodian Institute of Development Study (CIDS) has found that the average take-home income is $US 86.88/month.  While workers may earn this wage, the amount is dependent on significant overtime. 

What makes Cambodia exceptional is that the garment manufacturers are right in highlighting the actual take-home is higher than the minimum; however, conveniently disregard the often mandatory overtime requirements placed on workers.  Moreover, the ILO estimates that nearly 30 percent of inspected factories do not adhere to the minimum wage requirements while only 8 percent follow the legal requirements governing overtime.  When these challenges are factored in, the CIDS estimates garment workers in Cambodia must earn at least $71.99 to sustain their very basic well-being and that of their dependents.  

“Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and is still recovering from one of the world’s worst atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge. “

With some manufacturers disregarding the law and the government consistently backing industry, it should come as no surprise why Cambodian garment workers are frustrated.  The government’s hard-line approach has not only protected local industrialists at the expense of workers, it has also given tacit approval for the courts and police to intimidate and assault those who challenge the system. 

Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and is still recovering from one of the world’s worst atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge.  Nonetheless, it is slowly developing with one of the region’s highest annual growth rates.  With the government competing for market-share with countries like China and Bangladesh where costs are low and quality is high, it remains unlikely that plight of Cambodia’s garment workers will be heard anytime soon. 

Nonetheless, in a country where 30 percent of the population is still living on less than 50 US cents a day, we may take some solace in witnessing the determination of the Cambodian people to organize and reject the abject poverty inflecting so many of its communities.

TAKE ACTION // labour rights activists at risk of judicial harassment, Cambodia

 

 

 “The action taken by Cambodian workers does not stand alone. Across Asia, workers are contesting poverty wages and deplorable working conditions.” (CCC)

 

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), are calling for action, requesting an urgent intervention in Cambodia.

“In recent months, worker stoppage and demonstration are happening in Bangladesh, Burma, China, and Vietnam, which underlines the necessity for brands and retailers to start working on a living wage.” (CCC)

According to their report, Cambodian garment workers went ahead with an organized strike (scheduled and announced to appropriate parties, 2 months in advance) on September 13th. The strike was called off on the 16th when the government invited unions to a negotiations meeting, schedule for next week (September 27th).

Unfortunately, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) fears that labour rights activists in Cambodian face judicial threats, calling for the employer association and the Cambodian Government to “cease any interference with, threats against and intimidation of trade unionist.” (CCC)

Research out of the Cambodia Institute for Development Studies shows that a wage increase to US$ 93 is necessary to cover the workers basic needs, concluding the following:

The current effective wage in the garment industry of US$79 per month, which includes overtime and other allowances, is not a living wage (as shown in Figure 9). If we exclude overtime, which is currently being reduced by factories at the moment because of the economic crisis, the average effective wage is US$67 per month. Overtime has played a very important role in enabling workers to cover their basic expenses and maintain a minimum living standard. This practice means that the living standard of garment workers is highly dependent on the economic situation. If the economy is in a good state, they get overtime, and their living standards improve; if the economy is in a bad state, overtime is reduced and the living standards of workers deteriorate even if they are employed. This set up provides no security for a decent living standard, which undermines industrial relations and the stability of the garment industry. To make the environment conducive for both employers and workers, there is an urgency to institutionalize the living wage, which should not be dependent on overtime.

According to our survey and calculations, the living wage of garment workers should range from at least US$90 per month to US$120 per month.

(Source: Cambodia Institute for Development Studies)

The International Federation for Human Rights is calling for action: click here for details.

PLAY// Labour Behind the Label, PlayFair: Online Game

Okay…. I’ve just found the most amazing online game, educating players/learners on the realities for workers inside factories where basic human rights are violated each and everyday.

Teachers! Get this game inside your classroom! This is an amazing educational resource, with every single aspect of the game based on real stories. Players are invited to click on “What’s the story?” with each incident to learn more on the issues, such as poverty wages, forced overtime, disposable workers, and union busting. You can also hear form the workers themselves, through worker opinions.

After playing for only a few minutes, I (a factory worker sewing hats for a generic/unidentified sportswear company) was overworked, underpaid, threatened, stressed, assaulted, punished, docked pay, and at last, too fatigued to work. Throughout the game, the boss was screaming at me. I was told that I was unable to use the bathroom, that talking was prohibited, and that I wasn’t working hard enough!

Elements of this game are reminiscent of a chose your own adventure, as workers are prompted to make unbelievably difficult decisions throughout their shift—decisions that could render them unable to support themselves or their families. There is, however, one major difference: there is no real choice for these workers—they are slaves to an unforgiving system of violence and corruption.

Readers, I am at a loss for words! Well done Label Behind the Label!

Yves Bèhar // 1st Puma.Safe Sustainability Lecture, London

If you find yourself in London near the end of October (the 24th @ 4:00pm), be sure to check out the first Puma.Safe Sustainability lecture at the Design Museum, where Yves Bèhar will delve into his design practice.

Yves Bèhar is the founder of design studio fuseproject and the winner of Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2008 for the One Laptop Per Child.

Tickets £15 / £7.50 Members: Includes entry to all current exhibitions before the talk.
T 020 7904 8783
E tickets@designmuseum.org
W Ticketweb (booking fee applies)

Listen in on a three part series on the designer (back in 2008) via Designing Minds:

Source: Design Museum, and Sustainable Futures