Category: Publications | Page 2 | Together for Decent Leather

Shine a light on leather – Analysis of 100 companies

3 November 2022

The global leather garment, footwear, and accessories industry is notoriously associated with human rights and labour rights violations as well as environmental damage in the different production stages. Workers often toil for long hours and low wages in deplorable conditions. Union-busting, gender and caste discrimination, and child labour occur regularly. Workers struggle with health issues because they work with toxic substances and unsafe heavy machinery, often without adequate protective equipment. Environmental damage includes groundwater pollution through the discharge of untreated wastewater.

There is an urgent need for greater supply chain transparency in the sector. Workers, trade unions, and workers’ support organisations need to know which corporate actors have a responsibility to address labour rights violations, for example.

This paper analyses the current state of supply chain transparency in the leatherbased apparel, footwear, and accessories industry. For this paper report SOMO has investigated the level of supply chain transparency of 100 international buyers in two specific leather-based segments of the global garment industry: luxury goods and footwear. These segments typically produce a wide variety of items. Additionally, we included a number of online retailers (“e-tailers”) in the selection, in view of their increasing market share. Among the 100 selected companies are some of the largest players in these segments in terms of size, turnover, and market share.

SOMO used information from various sources to undertake this analysis. These included Fashion Revolution’s 2021 Transparency Index, which reports on 250 major players in the garment industry, Veraart Research Group’s Retail-Index, and Refinitiv Eikon. We also looked at the supply chain transparency requirements that responsible business initiatives, multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs), and sustainability certification schemes have in place for their member companies. We checked the scope of such requirements and whether they are merely “soft” suggestions or genuinely “hard” standards.

Download ‘Shine a light on leather Analysis: supply chain disclosure practices of 100 companies in the leatherware industry’

See our online table with the data of the analysis.

Shine a light on leather – discussion paper

3 November 2022

This paper makes the case for improved public disclosure of disaggregated and detailed supply chain data by international buying companies with the aim of increasing respect for the labour rights of workers in international supply chains. We make proposals in the paper for data categories and elements that brands and retailers should eventually include in their facility-level disclosures.

With this paper we aim to provide input into current discussions on enhanced supply chain transparency among brands, retailers, fashion conglomerates, workers and/or workers’ organisations, civil society organisations, responsible business initiatives, and governmental actors.

We publish this paper alongside our accompanying new report ‘Shine a light on leather Analysis: supply chain disclosure practices of 100 companies in the leatherware industry.’ The report provides an analysis of the current supply chain disclosure practices of 100 selected companies in two segments of the leather-based global garment industry: luxury leather goods and leather footwear.

Download paper ‘Shine a light on leather. Discussion paper on transparency in the leatherware supply chain’

Report: Employment and working conditions in Bangladesh’s leather industry

14 September 2022

In this study among 120 tannery workers reveals severe labour rights risks in Bangladesh’s leather industry. Problems include low wages, health hazards due to unsafe working conditions, heavy pollution, insecure jobs and forced overtime. The survey was conducted by Bangladesh Labour Foundation (BLF) and (RAPID).

The survey shows that 111 of the 120 interviewed workers were employed on a non-permanent basis. Of the surveyed workers, 95 per cent were appointed without a signed contract or any other formal employment arrangements, which leaves them without any written confirmation of their employment terms and without any proof of employment. More than half of the surveyed workers (56 per cent) received a monthly wage that was less than the national minimum wage of Tk. 13,500 ($ 158) set by the government for tannery workers. Tannery workers toil for long hours, sometimes with forced overtime, and are subject to the whims of their employers because of scant union activism and weak workers’ representation. A lot of workers in Bangladesh’s leather industry suffer from health problems due to unsafe working conditions like skin diseases (28 per cent), shortness of breath (13 per cent), stomach ailments (32 per cent), and headaches (63 per cent). Three-quarters of those interviewed work without proper protective gear, and 79 percent lack training in how to use chemicals safely during tanning work.

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Download here a short summary in Bangla: Bangla translation Bangladesh field research

Magazine – July 2022

29 July 2022

At about the same time as the corona pandemic started, a group of dedicated researchers and campaigners started working together on labour issues in the leather industry in Southeast Asia. The consortium led by SOMO from the Netherlands, consists of human rights and labour organisations from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. A challenging task because of the complexity of the supply chain and the impossibility to meet each other face to face.

In June 2022, the consortium gathered for the first time in Utrecht. With a lot of energy and a shipload of ideas, the consortium set out to evaluate the project results so far and to plan for the last year of the project.

There is still a lot work to be done: field research reports to be completed, running the consumer campaign and undertaking more advocacy and lobby activities. In this online magazine, we proudly report on we have done and achieved so far, but also on the inevitable bumps in the road. And we tell what plans we have developed for the coming nine months.

Asim Rafiqui | NOOR Images

The impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on leather workers in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

11 October 2021

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the garment and footwear industry, particularly on workers. The Corona chronicles bring to light the dramatic consequences of the crisis on leather workers in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India by portraying six of them. They speak about their experiences during the first lockdowns in 2020 and how the pandemic has affected them in terms of employment, livelihoods, rights, and how they fear for the future.

Millions of people worldwide work to produce leather garments, leather footwear and leather accessories. This global production network includes various phases, from animal husbandry to slaughter; from the tanning of raw hides to the finishing of leather; from the cutting of leather components to the production of a wide variety of leather end-goods, such as jackets, trousers, shoes, gloves, bags, trunks, and accessories.

With the coronavirus outbreak, production came to an abrupt halt. The international transport system, including container shipping, was completely upset. Supply chains were disrupted due to a lack of inputs and later on by the cancellation of orders by brands and retailers.

The six stories in this paper – composed by SOMO – were selected from a substantial number of interviews conducted by BLF in June 2020 in Bangladesh, by Cividep in July 2020 in India, and by NOW Communities in September 2020 in Pakistan. Both Cividep and BLF have published reports and analyses about the impacts of coronavirus on garment and leather workers in India and Bangladesh.

Added to these worker testimonies, the paper presents a set of recommendations to governments and businesses, to ensure better protection of workers’ rights.

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Trends in production and trade: Leather products from Bangladesh

30 July 2021

Bangladesh produces leather and leather goods such as shoes, belts, bags, suitcases, wallets and to a minor extent leather apparel. The leather and leather goods industry is the country’s the second largest export-earning industry. In particular, Bangladesh has emerged as an important producer of leather footwear for the international market. This overview of trends in the production of leather and leather goods in Bangladesh collates information on the main products produced in Bangladesh, and on important export markets for its leather and leather goods. The report further maps key Bangladesh-based leather manufacturers and foreign buying companies.

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Sudwind

Trends in production and trade: Leather products from India

19 May 2021

The leather sector in India takes up a prominent place in the country’s economy. It is known for its high consistency in export earnings and is placed in the top 10 of foreign exchange earners for India. This overview of trends in the production of leather and leather goods in India bundles together information on key products produced in India, as well as key export markets for its leather and leather goods. The report maps key leather manufacturers and buying companies.

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Trends in production and trade: Leather products from Pakistan

20 April 2021

The leather and leather goods industry is of considerable importance to the Pakistan economy. It is one of the five key export-oriented sectors for the country. This overview of trends in the production of leather and leather goods in Pakistan bundles together information on key products produced in Pakistan, as well as key export markets for its leather and leather goods. The report maps key leather manufacturers and buying companies.

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Corona analysis Bangladesh

27 May 2020

In this analysis BLF has evaluated the current overall conditions in the Tannery Sector in Bangladesh as a whole and specifically the conditions of the tannery workers since the outbreak of the Corona Pandemic.

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