MEXICO CITY — Mexico has launched efforts to boost fashion manufacturing transparency and sustainability just as new reports slammed the industry and the government by alleging ongoing labor and environmental abuses.
At a recent event, U.K.-based non-profit Fashion Revolution revealed plans to roll out its Fashion Transparency Index Mexico 2020 to encourage up to 20 brands and retailers to report their impact on labor and the environment. The event gathered top retail and apparel associations Antad and Canaive, which lent their support to the initiative.
Just before the the launch, however, the Human Rights Commission of Tehuacan, a major maquila hub in Puebla State south of Mexico City, singled out local denim maker Hera for violating workers’ rights and worsening pollution in their laundry and stone-washing facilities.
“I have received many claims and have talked to Hera Apparel’s sewers…,” the organization’s leader Martin Barrios said in a Facebook statement. “These executives are exploiting aquifers and contaminating the environment.”
Barrios, who claims the Tehuacan textiles company sources clothing for big global brands, also alleged that Hera does not share profits with workers and often changes its name to flout taxes and social security contributions. “They have called themselves Lean Operations, Texting Tex, Elemental Denim…,” Barrios
At a recent event, U.K.-based non-profit Fashion Revolution revealed plans to roll out its Fashion Transparency Index Mexico 2020 to encourage up to 20 brands and retailers to report their impact on labor and the environment. The event gathered top retail and apparel associations Antad and Canaive, which lent their support to the initiative.
Just before the the launch, however, the Human Rights Commission of Tehuacan, a major maquila hub in Puebla State south of Mexico City, singled out local denim maker Hera for violating workers’ rights and worsening pollution in their laundry and stone-washing facilities.
“I have received many claims and have talked to Hera Apparel’s sewers…,” the organization’s leader Martin Barrios said in a Facebook statement. “These executives are exploiting aquifers and contaminating the environment.”
Barrios, who claims the Tehuacan textiles company sources clothing for big global brands, also alleged that Hera does not share profits with workers and often changes its name to flout taxes and social security contributions. “They have called themselves Lean Operations, Texting Tex, Elemental Denim…,” Barrios
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