18 March, 2025Trade unions, industry leaders and activists met at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW69) Forum to push for legally binding agreements that protect women workers in the textile and garment industry. Hosted by IndustriALL Global Union, the event shed light on the ongoing struggles of garment workers, particularly women, and the urgent need for greater corporate accountability in global supply chains.
According to the ILO, the textile, garment, leather and shoe sector employs over 60 million workers, the a significant portion of those being women. The sector is the largest employer of women workers among all industrial sectors.
A panel featuring Nazma Akter, president of Bangladeshi union Sommilito Garment Sramik Federation, Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL sector director and Pinar Özcan, international relations secretary at Turkish union Öz İplik İş, emphasized how voluntary corporate commitments have failed to address systemic human rights abuses, leaving millions of workers vulnerable to unsafe conditions, poverty wages and gender-based violence.
"Women in the garment industry continue to face exploitation and dangerous working conditions. The only way to ensure real change is through binding agreements that hold brands accountable,"
said Christina Hajagos-Clausen.
"Agreements like the International Accord, the Agreement to Support Collectively Bargained Wages in the Garment, Textile, Footwear and Travel goods Industry in Cambodia (negotiated under the ACT initiative), and global framework agreements are examples of binding agreements that have impact on women garment workers."
Call for greater corporate accountability
The event highlighted the International Accord, a legally binding framework that has already demonstrated measurable impact in improving workplace safety and rights. Key achievements under the Accord include:
- Over 38,000 factory inspections to ensure compliance with fire, electrical, and structural safety standards
- 92 per cent remediation rates, ensuring safer workplaces for millions of workers
- More than 2 million workers trained in workplace safety, including gender-based violence prevention
- Over 1,000 complaints resolved through enforceable grievance mechanisms
In Bangladesh, where the workforce is about 60 per cent female, around 6,046 women are members of factory safety committees, and nearly 1,600 000 women workers have been trained on workplace safety. Under the Pakistan programme, where the workforce is estimated to be around 11 per cent female workers, 223 women are members of safety committees and close to 2,000 women workers have been trained.
Discussions stressed the critical role of unions in negotiating and enforcing worker protections. Pinar Özcan stressed the importance of global framework agreements in ensuring safer workplaces for women workers. She highlighted the recently co-developed H&M GBVH guidelines and their roll out in H&M supplier factories
IndustriALL is calling for more brands to sign legally binding agreements and for governments to mandate corporate accountability in supply chains.
“Garment workers, the majority of whom are women, deserve better. We need stronger unions, binding commitments, and enforcement mechanisms that ensure their rights and safety,”
said Nazma Akter.
The event concluded with a call for greater collaboration between trade unions, governments, and global brands to implement solutions that promote gender equality, fair wages, and safe working conditions.
Photo: garment factory, Vietnam © Better Work Programme