In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that followed exposed and exacerbated the exploitation and inequalities that have always been at the centre of the global fashion industry. In this end-of-the-year bonus episode from us at Remember Who Made Them, we discuss how we can inspire ethical consumers to become consumer activists. 

We talk with author and one of the initiators of #PayUp Fashion campaign: Elizabeth Cline and to labour organiser Andrew Tillet Saks about how brands hold the power and what more we can do to be in solidarity with workers. Venetia also talks to two Myanmar based workers, Tin Tin Wei: union president at Running-Tex Garment Factory and an organizer for the Federation of Garment Workers Myanmar and Thuzar Kyi, union president at Amber Stone factory. Myanmar hit the headlines earlier this year when several news outlets reported widespread violence and intimidation of workers which were also raised in the report by Business and Human Rights on emerging and widespread patterns of supplier factories appearing to target unionised workers, organising for better conditions who were being aggressively and illegally dismissed.

Tin Tin and Thuzar’s stories are incredibly powerful and we hope listening to their commitment to work everyday for a more fair and just fashion industry will inspire you. 

We also give deep gratitude to Shin, who translated for Tin Tin and Thuzar so more of you could hear their powerful stories.  

Read: Elizabeth Cline for Atmos: https://atmos.earth/ethical-consumerism/

Find Pay Up Fashion: https://payupfashion.com/

Guardian Article on Garment Worker Dismissals in Myanmar: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/aug/07/covid-led-to-brutal-crackdown-on-garment-workers-rights-says-report 

Business and Human Rights Report on Union Busting: https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/files/200805_Union_busting_unfair_dismissals_garment_workers_during_COVID19.pdf 

Find us on Patreon: RememberWhoMadeThem

Find us on Instagram: @RememberWhoMadeThem/

Get in touch: hello@rememberwhomadethem.com

Podcast artwork by: Judith_P.Raynault: @judith_p.raynault

Music: Melisa Le Rue Life Is Beautiful produced by Colin Emmanuel.

Disclaimer: This is a not for profit campaign. Everyone involved is giving their time free of charge. This podcast is not sponsored and features no adverts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all love clothes, let's Remember Who Made Them. 

Across this season and the campaign, we have explored how the Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdowns that followed have exposed the exploitation that has always been at the centre of the global fashion industry. Retailers have cancelled billions of dollars’ worth of apparel orders - including many that had already been completed. This has left millions of garment workers around the world without a source of income, or forced to put their lives at risk to feed themselves and their families. But it’s nothing new. Coronavirus didn’t change the apparel industry overnight, it has just exacerbated the inequalities and discrimination that have always been there. 

In this final episode Devi speaks to Nazma Akter, founder and Executive Director of Awaj Foundation in Bangladesh. Nazma has been working to improve the rights of women working in the garment sector in Bangladesh for over three decades after beginning to work in garment factories at the age of eleven. 

Venetia, Devi, Ruby and Swatee reflect on the learnings from the campaign and speaking to the many garment workers and organisers who have been fighting for decades against unfair wages, unsafe working conditions, violence and sexual harassment in the workplace and environmental destruction in their communities. We reflect on the system of Capitalism and exploitation, the many actions we can take on how we can be better allies to reimagine the future of fashion and what alternative models and Solidarity Economies look like. These alternative models are always inspired by principles of cooperation, equity in all dimensions (race, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, ability, etc), participatory democracy, sustainability and pluralism. The new solidarity economy redistributes wealth and resources more fairly, and puts the respect of people and planet at its core. 

Our guest:

Nazma Akter - Founder and Executive Director of Awaj Foundation, a grassroots labour rights NGO with over 600,000 worker members across Bangladesh.

Find us on Patreon: RememberWhoMadeThem

Find us on Instagram: @RememberWhoMadeThem/

Get in touch: hello@rememberwhomadethem.com

Podcast artwork by: Judith_P.Raynault: @judith_p.raynault

Music: Melisa Le Rue Life Is Beautiful produced by Colin Emmanuel.

Disclaimer: This is a not for profit campaign. Everyone involved is giving their time free of charge. This podcast is not sponsored and features no adverts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all love clothes, let's Remember Who Made Them. In the previous episode we started hearing how workers were organising to demand better: better wages, better treatment, better conditions and above all dignity. In this episode we delve into how and why the fashion industry is so full of extraction and exploitation, from workers perishing at Rana Plaza, to sexual exploitation in Lesotho, slavery in Leicester and millions on the brink of starvation during the COVID pandemic. Is it just a mistake that so much is going wrong? We speak to Business and Human Rights who explain what union busting is, why it’s increased during COVID and why we should all be concerned. In this episode we hear from workers and organisers from Julia and organiser from El Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (Border Committee of Workers), located on the US - Mexico Border about the levels of violence they face when they organise to demand better. We speak to Tania from Fondo Semillas who is hopeful that labour organising and feminist organising and the representation of the women who make our clothes will bring the change and equity we are looking for. 

Our guests:

Thulsi Narayanasamy from Business and Human Rights 

Julia Quinoz from El Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (Border Committee of Workers)

Tania Turner from Fondo Semillas, Mexico

Find us on Patreon: RememberWhoMadeThem

Find us on Instagram: @RememberWhoMadeThem/

Get in touch: hello@rememberwhomadethem.com

Resources: 

More on Business and Human Rights https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/

More on Fondo Semillas https://semillas.org.mx/en/

#WomenSewingChange campaign launched last year, as well as the video that ReMake made with Fondo Semillas' grantee partner MUSA Oaxaca in 2018.

#WomenSewingChange: https://bit.ly/2R75SbT

Podcast artwork by: Judith_P.Raynault

Music: Melisa Le Rue Life Is Beautiful produced by Colin Emmanuel

Disclaimer: This is a not for profit campaign. Everyone involved is giving their time free of charge. This podcast is not sponsored and features no adverts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.