Ethiopia: Meeting stirs debate on living wages23 May, 2018A meeting on organizing the international supply chain in the textile and garment sector has kick-started much-needed debate on wages and been met with approval from unions.
Garment workers in Ethiopia need strong unions3 December, 2019Located in the Sidama Region, Hawassa Industrial Park is the largest in Ethiopia with potential to employ over 60,000 workers, in line with government policies to create decent jobs for millions of the unemployed. The park currently employs about 25,000.
ACT initiative: a potential strategy for living wages in Ethiopia27 February, 2020The campaign for living wages in Ethiopia is at the point where the question is not when the low wages will be increased but how soon this can be done.
Unions fear job losses if AGOA eligibility is withdrawn from Ethiopia20 October, 2021Ethiopian unions fear that millions of jobs will be lost if the United States withdraws the country’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which gives duty-free access to the country’s textile, garments, shoe, leather and other products.
Massive job losses reverse union gains in Ethiopia’s Hawassa Industrial Park21 July, 2022After a long and difficult campaign to gain access to organize and recruit members in Ethiopia’s biggest industrial park, Hawassa, the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather, and Garment Workers Trade Union (IFTLGWTU) says its efforts are unravelling from the huge job losses caused by factory closures.
PROFILE: Organizing in the garment and textile sector in Ethiopia20 May, 2019On 7 March, thousands of textile and garment workers went on strike at Ethiopia’s biggest industrial park, Hawassa, demanding better wages, safe working conditions and an end to sexual harassment. The workers were not represented by a trade union, because for the past two years, management at the industrial park has refused to allow unions to organize.
Strengthening union organizing as Ethiopia industrializes12 August, 2018With more industrial parks being opened in Ethiopia as part of government’s industrialization strategies, unions are taking the opportunity to recruit, organize and build their capacity for effective collective bargaining.
Union busting at Shints garments in Ethiopia condemned30 July, 2020Over a number of years, management at Shints ETP Garments built cordial industrial relations with the union at the factory at Bole Lemi industrial park in Addis Ababa. Unfortunately, recent changes in management have seen the introduction of union busting tactics that are pushing back the gains.
Ethiopia’s Bole Lemi industrial park sets up workplace daycare centres 30 October, 2024One of Ethiopia’s industrial parks, Bole Lemi, in Addis Ababa, has set up workplace child daycare facilities to cater for young mothers working in the park.
Ethiopia: workers strike for a union in Hawassa industrial park26 March, 2019With no commitment towards addressing their grievances, thousands of textile and garment workers at Ethiopia’s biggest industrial park, Hawassa, went on strike 13-15 March demanding that the employers act on sexual harassment, improve health and safety and increase wages.
