Brand firms, retailers urged to fight against abuse of mill workers

“Brands have a vital role in ending exploitation of women and adolescent girls in textile spinning mills in Tamil Nadu. As textile production resumes in the wake of COVID-19, the workers are even more vulnerable to exploitative practices. Hence, we call on brands to work with us to build a stronger and more sustainable textile sector,” said R Karuppusamy, convenor, Campaign Against Child Labour- Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Till date, there has been limited action by international brands and retailers to identify and address rights violations taking place in their textile supply chain. For many years, the civil society groups have documented exploitative practices, including excessive and involuntary overtime work, extremely low wages, physical and sexual violence and restriction of freedom of movement in textile spinning mills.

“Clothing brands and retailers are one of the critical stakeholders in the supply chain, from cotton to garments. They wield influence in the operations of mills, which they should leverage to address workplace issues and listen to the needs of voiceless workers in mills,” said a former bonded labourer, in a statement issued to media on Tuesday.

As a first step, the Tamil Nadu Alliance is asking signatory brands to publicly disclose a list of textile manufacturing sites in the supply chain and support policy implementation efforts to protect mill workers’ rights. It has also called for effective implementation of labour laws and support development of collective grievance mechanism in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is a textile manufacturing hub producing yarn and fabric destined for the supply chains of European and US brands.