January '26 | Community-Based Monitoring Exposes Chemical Pollution, Heat Stress Risks Intensify, and Workers Mobilise Ahead of Election
In our ongoing commitment to providing insight into the evolving landscape of labour and environmental rights within the textile and garment industry, we share with you the latest developments. In this edition, we focus on how environmental harm, climate impacts and political shifts are converging in global garment supply chains. New findings from our project on community-based monitoring in Bangladesh reveal alarming levels of chemical pollution linked to textile production, while recent studies and opinion pieces highlight heat stress as an escalating threat to worker health.
Against this backdrop, garment workers and labour organisations are mobilising in Bangladesh, raising demands around wages, safety and rights in the lead-up to the national election. With EU due diligence rules weakened and brand accountability under pressure, the articles and incidents in this issue point to an urgent need to centre worker voices, community data and enforceable protections.
We hope you find these insights useful!
Your project team
STUDIES & REPORTS
Project Findings Expose Chemical Pollution Around Textile Factories in Bangladesh (pdf)
As part of this ongoing project, HEJSupport and ESDO have published new findings from a community-based monitoring (CBM) initiative on chemical pollution in communities surrounding textile factories in Bangladesh. Analyses of soil, water, wastewater and hair samples, particularly in the heavily affected Ashulia region, reveal widespread contamination with PFAS, chlorinated paraffins, nonylphenols and heavy metals. The findings (full report | summary) point to a clear link between textile production, environmental pollution and health risks for local communities. They underline the need for stronger corporate due diligence, the phase-out of hazardous chemicals, more transparent supply chains and the systematic integration of community-based monitoring data into reporting and accountability systems.
The results of the first round of worker-based monitoring through the Decent Work Check, which were collected in parallel with community-based monitoring, are also available on Textile-Incidents.info. The second round of data collection is currently ongoing, and results will be shared in upcoming editions of this newsletter.
The Heat is On: How Heat Stress Impacts the Apparel Industry, Jobs, and Worker Health (pdf)
A new report by ILR-Cornell analyses how rising temperatures and heat stress are increasingly affecting the apparel industry and garment workers worldwide. The study shows that excessive heat threatens worker health and safety, reduces productivity and income, and poses growing risks for supply chain stability, highlighting the urgent need for prevention measures, workplace adaptations and stronger protections for workers in a warming climate.
“They Don’t See What Heat Does to Our Bodies”: Climate Change, Labor Rights, and the Cost of Fashion in Karachi, Pakistan
Climate Rights International’s new report documents how extreme heat inside garment factories in Karachi is harming workers’ health, with frequent symptoms like dizziness, nausea and fainting as temperatures routinely exceed outdoor highs and basic protections are absent. Interviews with workers show that inadequate breaks, limited water access and strict production demands compound heat stress, while most major brands fail to implement effective heat-risk safeguards, underscoring urgent gaps in labour rights and climate-related workplace protections.
NEWS
Can the Fashion Industry Adapt to a Warming World?
In a commentary for Context, Jason Judd and Kalpona Akter build on mounting evidence of heat stress in garment factories and argue that the fashion industry is failing to respond to the realities of a warming world. Referring to the growing health risks for workers documented across production countries, they stress that climate adaptation must include enforceable labour protections, worker participation and brand accountability, rather than relying on voluntary or technical fixes alone.
Weakened CSDDD Sets New Framework for Supply Chain Due Diligence
The article provides an overview of the current situation around the European Supply Chain Act CSDDD and Germany’s Supply Chain Act LkSG following intense lobbying and political shifts in 2025. The CSDDD was significantly diluted, including higher company size thresholds, extended transition periods, the removal of EU-level civil liability and the abandonment of mandatory climate transition plans. Yet core risk analysis and due diligence obligations remain and national laws such as Germany’s LkSG continue to set practical standards as EU member states prepare to implement the directive by mid-2028.
PRODUCTION COUNTRIES
Bangladesh
Labour Leaders Present 15-Point Manifesto Ahead of National Elections (pdf)
Ahead of upcoming national elections, labour leaders and unions have presented a 15-point manifesto calling on political parties to prioritise workers’ rights. Key demands include fair wages, safe workplaces, social protection, freedom of association and stronger safeguards for garment workers, highlighting growing pressure to place labour rights at the centre of election debates.
Mass Factory Closures Leave Over 150,000 Garment Workers Without Jobs
More than 327 factories in key garment production hubs such as Gazipur, Savar and Ashulia have shut down in recent months, leaving over 150,000 garment workers unemployed as rising costs and declining orders hit the sector. Many affected workers are struggling to find new employment and are pushed into informal work, underscoring the severe social impact of factory closures and the lack of effective protection for workers during economic downturns.
Workers Protest at Mahmud Denims Ltd, Bangladesh (New Textile Incident)
In Kaliakair, Gazipur, garment workers at Mahmud Denims Ltd staged a protest and work stoppage to demand payment of three months’ overdue wages, highlighting ongoing wage-delay issues in the Bangladeshi apparel sector and persistent gaps in enforcement of labour rights.
Justice Won, Orders Lost: The Dindigul Agreement and the Cost of Brand Withdrawal
A new Guardian feature revisits the Dindigul Agreement, where a grassroots campaign after the rape and murder of a young garment worker led to meaningful workplace reforms in an Indian factory. However, despite better conditions under the agreement, the factory has struggled to regain business as major brands reduced or halted sourcing, underscoring challenges in translating worker-led gains into sustained brand commitment.
Pakistan
Protest Over Missing Trade Unionist in Karachi Raises Rights Concerns
In Karachi’s Korangi Industrial Area, protests erupted after a young trade unionist, Iqbal Abro, went missing, with labour leaders alleging police involvement at the behest of industrialists because he had spoken out against unfair retrenchments. The Clean Clothes Campaign called for his release and raised alarms about enforced disappearances and pressure on worker representatives, spotlighting broader rights issues for labour voices in Pakistan.
NETWORK & EVENTS
10 February 2026 | 10:00 –17:00 | Berlin (in German)
Roundtable “How Can the Plastics Transition Succeed?”
A full-day roundtable in Berlin will bring civil society actors together to explore the forces driving the plastics crisis and how they can be changed. The programme includes a keynote by Dr Melanie Bergmann, policy inputs on German and EU political processes, workshops on communicative, political and economic dimensions of the plastics transition, and networking opportunities. The day will be rounded off by an evening panel on “Ways Out of the Plastics Crisis.” Registration required.
19 February 2026 | 12:00 PM CET / 5 PM BDT | Online
Green Industry, Grey Realities: Environmental Certifications and Worker Justice
FAIR and BCWS will present new research from Bangladesh showing that current environmental certifications used by international brands fall short of delivering a just transition that protects garment workers in the climate crisis. The 90-minute public webinar will unpack the report “Green Industry, Grey Realities” and discuss pathways for meaningful change in the RMG sector. Registration required.
05 March 2026 | 11:00 – 16:00 | Berlin (in German)
Future Conference on Textile Strategy and Extended Producer Responsibility
FairWertung invites stakeholders to the “Zukunftskonferenz Textilstrategie” focusing on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles in Germany. The conference will highlight current regulatory developments and their impacts on used textile collection systems and the social sector. Registration required.
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