Garment workers worse off now than a decade ago'

Garment workers worse off now than a decade ago’
Hindu Business Line, India

Coimbatore , May 20
Garment workers world over are worse off now than they were a decade ago and intense activity in the name of corporate social responsibility could bring about little improvement in their workplace conditions, according to the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF)

“If anything, conditions have worsened in the past 10 years, especially since the advent of trade liberalisation in textiles and clothing. Everywhere the story is similar: long hours of work, low wages, workers cheated of benefits and denied fundamental rights,” said Mr Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Federation Read more about Garment workers worse off now than a decade ago'

WTO puts garment biz on pins and needles

WTO puts garment biz on pins and needles
Viet Nam News, Vietnam

HCM CITY — Viet Nam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will mean not only new opportunities but also challenges for its textile and garment industry.

US import quotas, imposed on some Vietnamese textile and garments products since 2003, will be lifted and Deputy Industry Minister Bui Xuan Khu said “it will be a golden opportunity for [the] sector.”

WTO membership would make Viet Nam’s investment environment healthier, attracting more foreign investors to its textile and garment industry, he said. Read more about WTO puts garment biz on pins and needles

Wages of garment workers

Wages of garment workers
The New Nation, Bangladesh

A REPORT on the killing of a female garment worker and the injury of twelve other workers has appeared in the press. The workers of a garment factory at Gazipur near the Capital city staged a demonstration against the officials of the factory, who failed to pay dues on the day. The demonstrators called for the payment of overtime arrears along with monthly wage fixed as per tripartite agreement for the month of March. The owners of the factory called in the Police forces, who opened fire on the workers Read more about Wages of garment workers

Govt to come up with new initiatives for textile sector


Economic Times, India – 5 hours ago
NEW DELHI: In a bid to attract investments worth Rs 1,50,000 crore by 2014 into the textiles sector, the government will soon unveil a host of new initiatives including setting up of a centre of excellence for technical textile in different categories like geotech, meditech, agritech and biotech.
Read more about Govt to come up with new initiatives for textile sector

Court drops 2 charges vs. woman who allegedly supplied garment company with illegal workers

Court drops 2 charges vs. woman who allegedly supplied garment company with illegal workers
Saipan Tribune, Micronesia
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

The Superior Court has dismissed two charges against the person who allegedly provided Rifu Apparel in San Vicente with undocumented Chinese workers.

During preliminary hearing, associate judge David Wiseman found no probable cause to charge Zhen Juan Zhang with one count of smuggling of persons and one count of illegal subcontract employment.

The judge, however, found probable cause to charge Zhang with employment of illegal aliens. Read more about Court drops 2 charges vs. woman who allegedly supplied garment company with illegal workers

CNMI garment sales plummet

CNMI garment sales plummet
Radio New Zealand International, New Zealand

Posted at 02:03 on 21 May, 2014 UTC
Garment sales in the Northern Marianas have dropped by 43 percent or about 16.7 million US dollars in April compared to the same period last year.
14 garment factories in Saipan have closed becuase they cannot compete with the low wages paid by developing countries that are now allowed to export their cheaper garments to the U.S.
The Marianas Variety newspaper says the user fees collected by the government from in sales for April did not even reach the 1 million dollar mark. Read more about CNMI garment sales plummet

‘Leather garment exporters denied subsidised refinance’


The News – International, Pakistan – May 17, 2014
By By our correspondent
5/18/2014
KARACHI: Commercial banks are not providing subsidised refinance to leather garment exporters, said Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PLGMEA) Chairman Fawad Ijaz Khan.
Read more about ‘Leather garment exporters denied subsidised refinance’