Australian textile workers to benefit from new law

AUSTRALIA: Clothing workers “to benefit” from new law

By Richard Woodard | 22 March 2012

Contracted outworkers in Australia’s textile, clothing and footwear industry will gain from new legislation aimed at treating them like full-time employees, according to local reports.

The Fair Work Amendment (Textile, Clothing and Footwear Industry) Bill 2012 will harmonise the way that contract outworkers are treated, giving them the same rights as full-time employees.

Unions will also be aided in entering and identifying “sweatshops” and helping employees working in poor conditions, the reports suggest.

The passing of the bill by the Australian Senate follows a number of reports over the past 15 years, including one in 2007 that found that workers, many of them migrant women from south-east Asia, enduring bad working conditions and were underpaid.

Australia’s House of Representatives will now discuss the bill.

Sectors: Apparel, Footwear, Social & environmental responsibility