Workers continue to fight after Next’s Sri Lanka factory closure 15 July, 2025In May, more than 1,400 workers were reportedly dismissed via a WhatsApp message when UK retailer Next closed its wholly owned factory in Sri Lanka without proper notice. Two months on, the affected workers and their union remain determined to challenge what they call an unlawful and irresponsible closure. Those who refused to sign resignation letters are now unemployed while their case is heard by the Department of Labour’s Employment Unit. Many face severe hardship during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, with some skipping meals daily.
Just Transition manifesto: garment workers demand a fair, worker-led shift10 July, 2025Workers must not be forced to bear the costs of the green transition. That was the resounding message from the third workshop on decent jobs and social protection for a Just Transition in the textile and garment supply chain, held on 7 July, by the ITUC’s Just Transition and Climate department, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union.
How Next abandons its workers 24 June, 2025Next is proving not to live up to its fundamental promises when it comes to workers’ rights. From refusing to sign a landmark agreement to improve wages in Cambodia, to abandoning Sri Lankan workers by text and continuing business in Myanmar despite documented risks of grave human rights abuses under the military junta, Next consistently puts profit over people. Even its UK retail staff are denied a living wage, dismissed as “not breadwinners” by the company’s CEO.
India: garment workers defy illegal closure 17 June, 2025On 9 June, Celebrity Fashions Limited (CFL), a garment manufacturing company in India, illegally shut down its factory in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, unlawfully terminating 560 workers overnight. After several rounds of negotiations, managements and workers have reached an agreement, but the struggle for closure compensation continues.
Digel workers in Türkiye fight union busting 17 June, 2025For more than 150 days, workers sacked from Digel, a German menswear company operating in the Aegean Free Zone in Gaziemir, Izmir, have picketed against union busting.
Social dialogue is key to revitalizing Tunisia’s textile, clothing and leather sector27 May, 2025Under the banner “Social dialogue: a cornerstone for promoting the textile, clothing and leather industry”, union and employer representatives in Tunisia’s garment sector came together to discuss joint solutions for the future of the industry.
Textile and garment unions in Asia-Pacific advance Just Transition agenda 21 May, 2025On 15-16 May, affiliates from the Asia-Pacific textile, garment, shoe and leather (TGSL) sector met in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a regional workshop on Just Transition. Organized by IndustriALL Global Union and Japanese affiliate UA Zensen, and hosted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), the event brought together more than 40 trade leaders to exchange experiences and strengthen solidarity within the sector.
Union petitions parliament over workers’ rights violations at Fine Spinners6 May, 2025The Uganda Textile, Garment, Leather and Allied Workers’ Union (UTGLAWU) has petitioned the Parliament of Uganda’s committee on tourism, trade and industry, over gross abuse of workers’ and human rights at Fine Spinners Uganda.
Legally binding Accord delivers safer workplaces 23 April, 202524 April marks the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, one of the deadliest industrial disasters in history. Over 1,100 workers, most of them women, lost their lives when the building housing several garment factories collapsed in 2013.
Belgian unions demand end to military uniform production in Myanmar27 March, 2025Trade unions in Belgium are calling on Sioen, who manufactures military uniforms, to immediately stop production in Myanmar, given the serious human and labour rights violations under the country’s military regime.
