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France investigates fashion brands over forced Uyghur labour claims

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into four multinational fashion retailers on suspicion of concealing and profiting from crimes against humanity in China’s Xinjiang region by sourcing goods produced using forced Uyghur …

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U.S. bans imports of solar panel material from Chinese company

The Biden administration on Wednesday ordered a ban on U.S. imports of a key solar panel material from Chinese-based Hoshine Silicon Industry Co (603260.SS) over forced labor allegations, two sources briefed on …

Workplace Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in China: Harmonizing Domestic Law and Practice with International Standards

“The incidents discussed above provide a glimpse into the widespread gender-based violence and harassment (“GBVH”) that exists in the Chinese workplace, as well as the significant forces that keep victims …

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The Unequal Impacts of Covid-19 on Global Garment Supply Chains – Evidence from Ethiopia, Honduras, India and Myanmar

“This report documents deteriorating living and working conditions for workers in garment supply chains, including a surge in vulnerability to forced labour, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. We undertook this study …

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Taiwan factory forces migrant workers back into dormitories amid Covid outbreak

A major manufacturer in Taiwan is forcing some migrant workers out of private homes and back into shared accommodation at the height of the island’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the pandemic began, …

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Enforceable social clauses in trade agreements with ‘bite’?

“Implications of the EU–South Korea Panel of Experts Report of 20 January 2021 Policy Implications The EU–South Korea Panel of Experts Report (‘the Report’) confounded expectations by asserting that it …

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FORCED LABOUR AT SEA: The case of Indonesian Migrant Fishers

In this report, a follow up to “Seabound: The Journey to Modern Slavery on the High Seas” (2019)2 , Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysed complaints from Indonesian migrant fishers over a …

With the government reluctant to ratify ILO C176, Pakistan’s miners are condemned to work in death traps

“Mohammad Israr, 17, says that he prays with a heavy heart every time he enters the deadly coal mine in the mineral-rich, south-western province of Balochistan that claimed the life …

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Sectoral Bargaining is Coming to New Zealand

In a recent post on this blog, Dr David Madland examined the resurgence of interest in sectoral collective bargaining in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.  Support for sectoral …

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‘Slavery’ found at a Malaysian glove factory. Why didn’t the auditor see it?

In December 2020, with coronavirus infections spreading rapidly across factories and workers’ dormitories in Malaysia, officials raided latex glove maker Brightway Holdings near Kuala Lumpur. They said they found workers …