Mar 17, 2021
“Jeff Vogt, at the Washington, D.C.-based Solidarity Center worker rights group, said there was a clear trend toward recognizing improved rights and employment status for those working for gig economy companies dealing with food delivery and taxi hire. “These companies have gone to great lengths to insulate themselves from responsibility and have put an extraordinary burden on workers to claim their basic rights at work. Governments must step in now and enact legislation that protects the rights of all workers providing labor to a digital platform company,'”
Feb 18, 2021
“The accident took place earlier this month, in a factory that employs 130 workers, mostly women. The illegal factory is said to have been operating for 20 years. Labor groups including U.S.-based Solidarity Center, are campaigning for an investigation into the tragedy.”
Nov 12, 2020
“We’re really hopeful that there’ll be more attention that’s brought to the issue of forced labor again,” said Neha Misra, senior specialist on migration and human trafficking at the Solidarity Center, a workers rights’ advocacy group.
Oct 13, 2020
“Fashion’s unpaid bills have been catastrophic for garment workers. A September report co-written by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the WRC and the Solidarity Center’s ILAW network showed that these debts have led to mass layoffs (at least 1 million garment workers in Bangladesh, 150,000 in Cambodia), while the Clean Clothes Campaign found that millions of workers remain unpaid for the work they did at the beginning of the pandemic.”
Sep 14, 2020
“We see desperate workers willing to accept very low wages in extremely dangerous conditions, with no serious health and safety protections, let alone social distancing measures or personal protective equipment,” said Jon Hartough, Solidarity Center Bangladesh program director. When Bangladesh reopened hundreds of garment factories in April, thousands of desperate workers flocked back to overcrowded industrial areas, including the capital of Dhaka, which currently has the bulk of the country’s reported coronavirus infections.
Feb 17, 2020
Even so, David Welsh, country director of Southeast Asia of the Solidarity Center, a nonprofit aligned with the U.S.-based labor federation AFL-CIO, said the reforms, in the garment sector at least, risk amounting to a “race to the bottom”–slashing benefits to appease big international brands that can afford to pay. During the three months ended August–the most recent data available–Sweden’s H&M, which has manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, reported a gross profit margin of 50 percent before tax.
