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
Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean have experienced massive changes in the apparel and textile industries in the last three years. Most notably, factory closures have impacted most countries, with production moving both within and outside the region.
Many of the organizations attending the seminar are active in pushing national and local governments to improve labour regulations and their enforcement in order to protect worker rights. In recent years, there have been a number of initiatives both from the grassroots and from the international community to enhance labour ministries and their capacity to act on labour rights violations, many funded by US AID and linked to the DR-CAFTA trade agreement.
Smaller working groups of participants met to discuss the particular issues and experiences within their country or region.
The final panel highlighted two different campaigns - one at the international level focused on the sportswear industry and another in Asia focused on wages - to assess their relevance in the Americas.
Kevin Thomas from MSN presented the core pillars of an international campaign targeting sportswear manufacturers.
Predictions about apparel production after the end of quotas had the vast majority of production moving to China. At the time, there was much talk of Chinese workers "winning" in the competition for production orders.
After more than a dozen years of brand-based campaigns on labour rights in the garment supply chain, the participants have gained many insights into what works and what doesn't.
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