Advancing gender equality across the garment sector30 April, 2026The textile and garment sector employs tens of millions of women around the world, yet gender-based discrimination, unequal pay and violence and harassment remain widespread realities for too many. Deeply entrenched social norms and power structures continue to block women's equal access to rights, resources and opportunities, in the workplace and within their unions. To counter this, IndustriALL Global Union's textile, garment, sportswear and leather sector has adopted a new policy directly confronting these structural barriers.
Thirteen years on: the Accord that changed an industry23 April, 2026On 24 April 2013, garment workers in Dhaka arrived for another shift at Rana Plaza. The cracks in the walls had been visible the day before. Workers raised the alarm and were told the building was safe. Within hours, all eight floors had collapsed, killing 1,134 people, most of them women, and injuring thousands more.
Bangladesh’s roadmap is stalling14 April, 2026The ILO Roadmap was established in 2021 because Bangladesh had serious, documented failures on freedom of association, labour inspection, anti-union discrimination and labour law reform. Years on, trade unions are clear: progress on paper has not translated into meaningful change for workers.
Strengthening union organizing efforts in Nigeria’s manufacturing industries26 March, 2026An IndustriALL Global Union delegation recently held consultative meetings with Nigerian affiliates to strengthen union organizing efforts and build unity and solidarity across the country’s manufacturing sectors. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with an estimated 242 million people, according to the UN, possesses a broad industrial base spanning energy and electricity, oil and gas, textiles and garments, footwear, rubber and leather, chemicals, steel and engineering, among others.
Collective bargaining changes lives for South African workers19 March, 2026More than 400 delegates representing workers across 21 sectors gathered in Cape Town from 7 to 9 March for the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) national bargaining conference, leaving with a mandate to fight for living wages and a declaration naming sweatshop conditions in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal a national crisis.
Myanmar: trade unions continue defending workers despite repression16 March, 2026With support from IndustriALL and Australian union MEU, the Industrial Workers' Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) continued to defend workers' rights in 2025 despite extreme repression, documenting abuses, helping workers recover unpaid wages and strengthening global pressure on the military regime.
US tariffs trigger gendered supply chain shock on Lesotho garment industries4 March, 2026The US imposition of steep tariffs on imports from Lesotho, announced by President Donald Trump in April 2025 as part of his "reciprocal" trade policy, has triggered a severe crisis for Lesotho garment workers — devastating the mountain kingdom's textile sector, its largest private employer and a lifeline for tens of thousands of women, leaving them without income, hours or prospects.
Myanmar workers and democratic unions face mounting pressure under military rule19 February, 2026Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar warns of worsening repression as global unions call for stronger international action under ILO Article 33.
Climate justice and wage justice go hand in hand in global supply chains17 February, 2026Climate shocks are no longer abstract risks for global supply chains. Extreme heat, flooding and water scarcity are already disrupting garment and footwear production, damaging infrastructure and endangering workers’ health.
Binding agreements deliver: Unions push wages and accountability in global supply chains17 February, 2026Global supply chains face constant disruption from pandemics and wars to trade tensions and climate shocks. Yet when crises hit, workers are too often forced to absorb the costs.
