On 23 September, industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union, alongside members of the European Parliament and trade unionists from Turkiye, Cambodia and Indonesia, spent a full day in Brussels highlighting the urgent need for stronger European due diligence legislation to protect textile workers around the world. The day’s events - spanning debates, high-level meetings, and public mobilisation - underscored one key message: Europe must deliver on its promises to ensure fair, safe, and sustainable working conditions in global supply chains.

Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe said:

“Textile workers worldwide are counting on Europe to stand up for fairness, dignity, and justice. Europe must adopt laws that truly protect workers along supply chains - not create loopholes that allow exploitation to continue. Weak due diligence is not an option; only strong, enforceable rules can ensure that European action benefits people, not multinationals.

“Our action day in Brussels shows a united movement determined to resist deregulation and demand an ambitious due diligence framework that fully respects workers’ rights.”

Says IndustriALL textile and garment director Christina Hajagos Clausen:

"Behind every T-shirt made for European consumers are workers fighting for their most basic rights. Our message to EU leaders is simple: voluntary measures are not enough. We need legally binding agreements that make brands responsible for the people who make their profits. Europe has both the power and the duty to ensure that sustainability starts with respect for workers’ rights.”

Morning Debate: Why Europe Must Deliver on Due Diligence for Textile Workers

The day began with a breakfast debate in the European Parliament, co-hosted by industriAll Europe and MEP Saskia Bricmont, co-chair of the European Parliament’s Sustainable Textile Working Group. Participants discussed the ongoing challenges facing textile workers in countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, and Türkiye, where labour rights violations remain widespread.

Speakers stressed the urgency of robust due diligence obligations for European companies, particularly in light of ongoing negotiations around the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The debate served as an important opportunity to engage directly with MEPs, parliamentary staff, and European Commission officials on the need to safeguard workers’ rights throughout textile supply chains.

Meetings with the European External Action Service (EEAS)

Later in the morning, trade unionists from Türkiye, Cambodia, and Indonesia met with officials from the European External Action Service to discuss labour rights in Türkiye, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

In talks with Gabriel Munuera-Vinals from the Türkiye Division, the delegation raised the dire conditions faced by textile and refugee workers, emphasising that sustainability cannot be achieved without freedom of association and the protection of fundamental labour rights.

Discussions with Leila Fernandez-Stembridge, Head of the South-East Asia Division, focused on regional developments and cooperation on labour rights. IndustriAll Europe highlighted the legally binding TAFTAC agreement in Cambodia, a landmark accord between trade unions and employers supported by 12 major brands, as a positive example of social dialogue. The delegation also drew attention to Indonesia’s new labour law and its impact on textile workers and trade unions.

Engagement with the European Commission

In the afternoon, the delegation from industriALL Global and industriAll Europe met with two key units of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).

Unit G1, responsible for Business Conduct, discussed the upcoming EU regulation on forced labour and the Commission’s efforts to implement it. IndustriAll Europe reiterated that the textile sector remains at particularly high risk for labour rights abuses and expressed its willingness to contribute to the expert group overseeing the new rules.

Meanwhile, Unit F3 presented the EU’s Sustainable Textile Strategy, with exchanges focusing on the realities of textile workers’ lives — including the urgent need for living wages in Cambodia and Indonesia.

Evening Demonstration: Standing in Solidarity

The day concluded with an evening demonstration organised by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), bringing together trade unions, parliamentarians, and NGOs. The mobilisation called on EU policymakers to reject the proposed “Sustainability Omnibus” deregulation and to strengthen, rather than weaken, sustainability and labour protections.

Through this coordinated day of advocacy and action, industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that Europe’s trade and sustainability policies truly deliver for the workers who make the clothes we wear.