News

Every day in the UK, even through the pandemic, we buy thousands of garments and shoes. Homeworkers often help to make these clothes - yet many brands don’t even recognise that these workers are likely to exist within their supply chain.  The work done by homeworkers is often very skilled and labour intensive.  They are a vital part of the manufacturing process however this hidden workforce is often completely overlooked, paid an absolute pittance and denied their legal rights as workers.

Homeworkers should have the same rights as all workers.  Without exception.

Our partners, Traidcraft Exchange, have just launched their Hidden Hands campaign, which addresses these issues and calls for equality amongst all workers.  Join their campaign today

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The devastating effects of Covid-19 are still rippling through the garment industry in South Asia.  Homeworkers are amongst the most vulnerable workers within the supply chain and are facing extreme hardship as a consequence of the pandemic.

Our partners HNSA  have joined forces with WIEGO ,  AFWA and HNSEA to release a joint statement calling on brands to make a supply-chain relief contribution (SRC) to compensate the wage loss of all their production workers, including time-rated, piece-rated, subcontracted and homeworkers.

Brands need to recognise the homeworkers within their supply chain as the hard-working women workers that they are, and give them the same rights as their sisters in the factories!

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Today we’re publishing two new resources on our website: firstly in our Information for Organisers section, an update from our partners Traidcraft India, who are leading our Hidden Homeworkers project, on the ways in which our local partners in India and Nepal have adapted project activities to respond to the Covid 19 crisis. And secondly, our What does Due Diligence for Supply Chains using homeworkers look like? Factsheet, highlighting the different stages in the journey towards the decent employment of homeworkers, and listing the actions that brands can take to safeguard this vulnerable group of women workers.

For the next three years Homeworkers Worldwide can offer brands sourcing apparel and footwear from parts of South Asia additional support to address these issues, through the Hidden Homeworkers project co-funded by the European Union, and specifically opportunities to collaborate with local civil society partners to document homeworkers’ working conditions within your supply chains.
Do get in touch to find out more about what is available.

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The final blog in our series, hosted by BHRRC, looks at why organising is essential for Homeworkers.  A really interesting read with lots of useful information for brands and suppliers on how the can improve their homeworker due diligence.

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Homeworkers in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, supported by our partner SAVE, have recently registered their own unorganised workers trade union, Anuhatham. Here they are joining the nationwide day of action called today by the Indian trade union movement, to resist the radical reform of labour law introduced in some parts of the country, in response to the pandemic - and also highlighting the particular vulnerability of homeworkers, who lack employment contracts, legal protection and social insurance. (Due to the lockdown, no more than five workers could congregate in any one place - so they held 30 mini-actions across the city!)

As the factories remain closed and subcontractors still have no work for homeworkers, our partner SAVE is continuing to provide emergency food supplies to support migrant families who are excluded from the limited government schemes. HWW has set up a Justgiving page here, so that you can support their efforts - HWW will then transfer the money raised to SAVE, to be used for their relief work.

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