On International Workers' Day, WIEGO and more than 180 organizations from around the world called for a just fashion system that protects and creates dignified and climate-resilient jobs.
The manifesto, which centers workers’ rights in just climate action, was developed in consultation with garment workers and their organizations, the Clean Clothes Campaign Network and its allies.
It states that the climate and ecological crisis is deepening inequalities – with extreme weather patterns like floods, storms and heatwaves closing workplaces, endangering workers’ lives, and making excessive production targets even further out of reach.
Combined with poverty wages, a lack of social protection and union-busting practices silencing workers’ demands, workers are being excluded from future decisions that shape their lives.
The manifesto calls to build a new, just fashion system that centres the dignity of workers and the restoration of our planet. It outlines a set of principles that must underpin all action regarding the future of fashion: decent work to be guaranteed for all workers, for universal social protection to ensure workers are shielded from the impacts of a changing environment, and for workers’ livelihoods to come before company profits.
It also calls for workers to have a say in the decisions that shape the green future, utilizing their expertise and being led by their needs. Garment production models should be transformed to better respect workers’ rights and planetary boundaries and garment pricing should reflect the true cost of labour. This shift away from the current model of worker exploitation and overextraction to one of just clothing production could result in a fall in production volumes. These reductions should be carefully negotiated with workers and their unions to prevent sudden job losses and income security. And finally, corporations should be held accountable for any social or environmental damage they cause.
WIEGO joins trade unions and civil society organizations in signing onto the manifesto including HomeNet International, Oxfam, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, and Fashion Revolution.