Mission statement
“Clean Clothes Campaign is dedicated to improving working conditions and supporting the empowerment of workers in the global garment and sportswear industries.”
Size and organisational structure
CCC is an alliance of organisations in 15 European countries. Its international secretariat is based in Amsterdam. CCC members include trade unions and NGOs covering a broad spectrum of perspectives and interests, such as women’s rights, consumer advocacy and poverty reduction.
It relies on a partner network of more than 200 organisations and unions in garment-producing countries to identify local problems and objectives, and to help it develop campaign strategies to support workers in achieving their goals. It cooperates extensively with similar labour rights campaigns in the US, Canada and Australia.
Sources of funding
Principally grants and subsidies from governments and the European Union, plus some small private donations.
Leadership and key personnel
The Amsterdam-based international secretariat has a flat organisational structure and a consensus-based decision model. The chairman of the board of trustees is Evert de Boer.
Brief history
Founded in 1989 during solidarity action for workers in the Philippines, Clean Clothes Campaign grew into an international partner network, bringing together more than 200 unions, women’s groups and research organisations worldwide. Since 1989, CCC has educated and mobilised consumers, lobbied companies and governments, and offered direct solidarity support to workers as they fight for their rights and demand better working conditions.
Campaign sectors
Workers’ rights and empowerment.
Campaigning highlights
2013: CCC started a Europe-wide campaign – No More Excuses – to demand companies pay sweatshop workers in Cambodia enough to lift them out of poverty.
2011: After an intensive campaign launched by CCC and recently hosted by Change.org, the Italian textile brand Versace announced it would join other denim manufacturers around the globe in calling for a ban on the practice of sandblasting on jeans, as it runs unacceptable health risks.
This profile is part of Ethical Corporation's special management briefing on activist NGOs
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