The campaign “Stop Paraquat”, conducted by non-governmental organisations, trade unions, and scientists around the world, calls to end the production and ban the use of the highly toxic and harmful herbicide.

The critics’ main target is the agri-concern and leading distributor of paraquat, Syngenta. The company markets the herbicide in over 100 countries, usually under the brand name ‘Gramoxone’. Paraquat is regularly used on banana, coffee, palm oil, rubber, fruit, or pineapple plantations. Growers large and small use it copiously on their maize and rice fields. Many workers and farmers exposed to paraquat on a regular basis have serious health problems, and deaths caused by the high toxicity of the herbicide, which has no antidote, are not infrequent.

This website contains important information concerning the campaign (links on the right side), as well as many facts about the use of paraquat and various studies on the health problems associated with it (links on the left side).

Read more on the Berne Declaration

Think it’s fair for a woman to be fired just because she joined a union? If not, then buyers at the DESA factory in Turkey – including Prada, Debenhams, M&S, Mulberry, Aspinalls of London, Nicole Fahri and Luella – need to hear from you today!

As we approach the first anniversary of the beginning of the union struggle at DESA, workers are still protesting every day outside the factory to demand the reinstatement of 44 workers dismissed for organising a union.

In December 2008 and April 2009 the Turkish court confirmed that 25 workers had been illegally dismissed as a result of union activities and demanded their reinstatement. DESA decided to appeal the court’s decision. No new evidence was brought by DESA to the recent court hearings – an indication that the appeal is just another attempt to delay the process. This is a common tactic to drag out disputes in the hope that workers will be forced to end their campaign through economic hardship.

• Take action now!: http://www.cleanclothes.org/

Demanding change from the world’s giant retailers

Discount retailers like Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Carrefour, and Walmart try to lure consumers into their shops with low, low prices. A man’s suit for £25 at Tesco, a woman’s dress for $9 at Walmart, or jeans for €8 at Carrefour. How do they do it?

...If you’re a worker in the workshops or factories that supply these stores, you’ll have some of the answers – poverty wages, forced or unpaid overtime, no work contract, harsh repression of any attempts to organize to improve working conditions. CCC believes these workers deserve a better bargain.

The CCC Better Bargain campaign focuses on the policies and practices of large global retailers such as Walmart, Tesco, Carrefour, Aldi, and Lidl – referred to as “Giant” retailers. These retailers all have huge market shares and exercise enormous buying power – they are truly giants in the field of retail. Although they sell many different products from a range of sectors, they have profound and ever-increasing power in the garment retail market. Consumers should be able to do their shopping in stores where they can be sure that every effort is being made to ensure that no human rights have been violated in the production of their clothing.

* Read more about Better Bargain Campaign
* Campaign News
* Read also the CCC’s ’Cashing In’ report

Play Fair 2008 is organized by:

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Worker’s Federation (ITGLWF). The campaign is also supported by a diverse coalition of organizations worldwide. PlayFair 2008 Supporters

We support the aims and demands of the PlayFair 2008 Campaign.

We believe that sportswear and athletic footwear companies, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympics Committees, as well as national governments must take steps to eliminate the exploitation and abuse of workers in the global sporting goods industry.

We urge them to take inspiration from the spirit of the Olympics and demonstrate to the world how the principles of fair play can be extended to the workplace...

• View the list of supporters

• More informations:http://www.playfair2008.org/