This month Oxfam Australia will be meeting with Australian retailer The Just Group to raise several issues about the human rights of workers in the company’s supply chain. This includes the conditions for workers overseas and in Australia.

In December last year Herald Sun investigations confirmed that home-based workers in Australia who sew The Just Group labels such as Portmans and Jacqui-E work under poor conditions with wages as little as $2 an hour. Oxfam Australia hopes that The Just Group will address this issue by fulfilling its commitment to undertake full accreditation with Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA). Full accreditation to ECA will take The Just Group through a process to ensure that they comply with Australian laws and the industry Award.

Oxfam Australia will also be raising serious health and safety issues regarding production of The Just Group clothing overseas. Denim sandblasting seriously endangers the lives of sandblast operators. Oxfam Australia will be asking The Just Group to ban sandblasting in the production of its garments. Oxfam will also be raising issues of auditing and transparency, including asking The Just Group to make public its overseas supplier lists so that factory conditions can be verified.

During the meeting we will pass on messages from more than a thousand supporters who are asking The Just Group to take action to protect workers’ rights. Please add your voice to this campaign by signing one of our letters to The Just Group or leaving your own personal message below.