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WELCOME TO THE ARCHIVE (1994-2014) OF THE MAQUILA SOLIDARITY NETWORK. For current information on our ongoing work on the living wage, women's labour rights, freedom of association, corporate accountability and Bangladesh fire and safety, please visit our new website, launched in October, 2015: www.maquilasolidarity.org

Wal-Mart

November 5, 2013

Six months after Rana Plaza: Workers still waiting for compensation

Six months after the Rana Plaza building collapse, more than 2,500 injured workers and the families of more than 1,100 workers killed in the disaster are still waiting for compensation.

(photo: Laura Gutierrez)

 

 

September 16, 2013

Victims of the Rana Plaza disaster still waiting for compensation

Rana PlazaAlmost five months after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, only nine of the twenty-nine brands invited to discuss compensation for the victims showed up for a meeting convened by IndustriALL Global Union and chaired by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

November 26, 2012

Another preventable factory fire takes the lives of Bangladeshi workers

A catastrophic factory fire at the Tazreen Fashion garment factory in Dhaka took the lives of over 112 workers on Saturday, November 24. What was reportedly an electrical malfunction appears to have been compounded by the factory’s lack of basic safety features like emergency exits, functioning fire extinguishers, and worker training.

December 7, 2010

MSN report finds holes in Wal-mart de Mexico's CSR reporting and underlying policies

A new report by MSN and Red Puentes Mexico examining Wal-Mart Mexico's (Walmex) CSR reporting, finds weaknesses in the company's reporting and practices, particularly in the areas of labour rights and the environment. "Walmex needs to better address underlying policy issues such as the presence of protection contracts in most of its retail outlets, its treatment of over 23,000 "volunteer" youth baggers and the lack of consultation with civil society stakeholders on social and environmental issues," says Beatriz Lujan, of the Authentic Labour Front, a member organization of Red Puentes Mexico.

Download report summary.

December 11, 2006

Chong Won Campaign 2006-2007

Workers producing clothes for Wal-Mart at the Korean-owned Chong Won Fashion garment factory in the Philippines went on strike to end the employers' attempt to destroy their union through violence, mass firings and intimidation. The employer responded by shutting down the factory.

December 7, 2006

Revealing Clothing

2006 Transparency Report Card

Revealing Clothing cover Revealing Clothing, ETAG's second Transparency Report Card, picks up where Coming Clean on the Clothes We Wear left off. It assesses and compares public reporting on labour standards compliance by 30 top apparel retailers and brands selling clothes in the Canadian market, including Levi Strauss, Nike, adidas, H&M, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Roots, La Senza, Reitmans and 22 others. This year's report also discusses worker involvement, purchasing practices and sustainable compliance.

More information.

December 19, 2007

The Next Generation of CSR Reporting

codes memo cover

MSN Codes Memo #22

Is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting measuring the right things? How can stakeholders assess whether a company’s business practices bear any relation to its CSR principles and objectives?

March 26, 2007

Investigative reports find serious abuses at Chong Won

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) released the results of an independent investigation of the Chong Won Fashion Inc. factory in the Philippines on February 21, 2007. On March 26, 2007, Wal-Mart released a synopsis of a report by the US monitoring organization Verité. Both reports confirmed serious abuses of worker rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining at the factory.

December 20, 2006

Chong Won: Workers left hanging as Wal-Mart stalls on corrective action

Chong Won workers marchThree months after receiving reports of serious worker rights abuses and police violence against protesting workers at its Chong Won Fashion supply factory in the Philippines, Wal-Mart is still delaying taking the necessary steps to fix the problem. Take action now.

November 1, 2006

Wal-Mart factory workers assaulted, fired for going on strike

Workers producing clothes for Wal-Mart at the Korean-owned Chong Won Fashion garment factory in the Philippines desperately need your support to put a stop to their employers’ attempt to destroy their union through violence, mass firings and intimidation.