A worker in the garment industry anywhere in the world today is faced with decreasing wages, deteriorating health, and an increased risk of losing her job. The Clean Clothes Campaign (or the "CCC" as it is popularly called) aims to improve working conditions in the garment and sportswear industry. Berne Declaration coordinates the CCC in Switzerland, which is also supported by Bread for all and the Catholic Lenten Fund. We are targetting 17 retailers to agree on a complete code of conduct (acording to the CCC-model code) and to accept an independent verification in any places, where their goods are produced.

The CCC is an international network that comprises a wide variety of organisations, such as trade unions, consumer organisations, researchers, solidarity groups, women's organisations, church groups, youth movements and worldshops (see: www.cleanclothes.org). Information on working conditions in the garment industry is distributed via newsletters, the Internet, and in the form of research publications.

Above all the Clean Clothes Campaign is a consumer campaign -- its strength comes from consumer power. The purchasing power of consumers is being mobilized on the issue of working conditions in the garment industry. Consumers are not only interested in the quality of the products they purchase, but also the work behind the brand names; the social and environmental conditions under which these items were produced.

Since the main demand of the Clean Clothes Campaign is that retailers live up to their responsibility to ensure that garments are produced in decent conditions, it's important to be clear about how we define good working conditions. Guiding principles for the improvement of working conditions can be found in the basic conventions issued by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a United Nations body; plus the international principles regarding fundamental rights in the workplace. These principles are: freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, no discrimination of any kind, no forced or slave labour, a minimum employment age of 15, safety and health measures, a working week of 48 hours maximum and voluntary overtime of 12 hours maximum, a right to a living wage and establishment of the employment relationship (a contract). Early on our partners from all over the world raised the need for a common code to campaign around. As a result, at the European level the CCC developed a code, called the "Code of Labour Practices for the Apparel Industry Including Sportswear," in which the principles listed above are elaborately described.