On 5 February 2026, ITUC published the Just Transition Manifesto for the Textile and Garment Supply Chain, setting out a global unions’ vision for a worker-informed transition in the sector.
Human Level’s Take
- Fashion is both emissions-intensive and labour-intensive. This makes it a priority sector for decarbonisation under the Paris Agreement, but also one where transition risks to workers can be significant. In such a labour-intensive industry, climate targets may also be difficult to deliver without a transition that considers workers – which is why this manifesto is valuable and timely.
- The manifesto calls for a transition that considers and embeds workers’ rights, gender equality, social dialogue and decent work into climate and environmental strategies at company, sector and national policy level. In particular, it calls for workers and unions to be consulted and included in transition planning, more union-to-union coordination and increased reliance from fashion brands on tools like Global Framework Agreements or standardised frameworks for assessing social and labour performance.
- Interestingly, the manifesto expects a just transition must cover climate mitigation pathways but also climate resilience (adaptation) and the digital transformation, as these parallel transitions are already reshaping global fashion supply chains and creating compounded impacts at supply chain-level for informal and formal workers.
- The manifesto specifically calls out some of those impacts: job losses linked to abrupt sourcing shifts and factory closures, widening skill gaps, increased work intensity and surveillance, new occupational health and safety risks and heightened gendered impacts and discrimination are the most common risks to people. It also highlights that some of the costs of the transition are being transferred to workers, especially in contexts where institutional and financial support are lacking.
- At the same time, the Manifesto gives hope for the sector’s ongoing transformation. The transition has immense opportunities to produce benefits for workers, including climate-resilient infrastructure, more stable jobs, less informality, new jobs in circular supply chains and increased engagement of workers in decision-making.
Some key takeaways:
- A worker-led vision for a just transition in fashion: The manifesto starts by stating that a just transition is not a luxury, but a necessity for environmental and technological progress not to come at the expense of human rights. For this reason, the manifesto urges brands, manufacturers and governments to adopt practices and policies that ensure that workers are not left behind in the shift to a greener economy. More importantly, it calls for a worker-led or informed transition, in which trade unions are consulted when developing climate strategies, assessing climate or transition risks and proposing solutions for workers. To materialise this vision, the manifesto also encourages union-to-union cooperation and outlines six principles for a worker-led climate transition: (1) worker-led and democratic governance, (2) equity, inclusion, and justice, (3) context-sensitive just transitions for the Global South, (4) decent work and social protection, (5) sustainable industry and responsible supply chains and (6) fair financing and just transition support.
- How fashion’s transition can impact workers: The manifesto describes specific mitigation and adaptation pathways, like transitioning factories to renewable energy, retrofitting or replacing machinery to improve efficiency, redesigning products and production processes, reducing overproduction and waste (including through automation), scaling technological innovation, advancing circular business models and shifting sourcing and logistics models. These shifts are already restructuring global supply chains and can contribute to or create risks for workers, such as job loss from sudden disengagements and factory closures, widened skill gaps, increased work intensity and monitoring and health and safety risks (from climate impacts but also from new technologies and automation). It also highlights how these transitions, when just, have opportunities for workers, like more climate-resilient infrastructure, more stable jobs, less informality, longer-term production cycles, new jobs in circular supply chains, and increased engagement of workers in decision-making.
- What the expectations are from brands, employers and governments: The manifesto sets out targeted demands for brands, employers and governments, reflecting their differentiated but interdependent responsibilities as described in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights:
- Asks for brands: Through 22 specific asks, brands are urged to: (1) use their leverage to shape working conditions and sustainability outcomes across global supply chains; (2) strengthen worker representation and voice through Global Framework Agreements (GFAs), adoption of the Social & Labour Convergence Program (SLCP), establishment of Just Transition Committees and publication of Just Transition plans with mandatory worker consultation; (3) adopt responsible business conducts by complying with mandatory HREDD legislation, implementing responsible purchasing practices and integrating financial and institutional support for the transition into supplier contracts; (4) advance gender equality and eliminate gender-based discrimination and harassment; and (5) respect environmental rights by recognising environmental union participation and sharing climate and environmental plans with worker representatives.
- Asks for employers and industry associations: Manufacturers and suppliers are being called to: (1) strengthen worker representation, occupational health and safety systems and structured social dialogue, including through Just Transition Committees; (2) advance gender equality and inclusion; (3) climate-proof operations; and (4) manage digital and AI deployment responsibly, ensuring workers share equitably in productivity gains and exploring worker ownership models for green or technological assets.
- Asks for governments: Finally all governments, including buying and selling countries, are being asked to: (1) develop industrial strategies, just transition policies and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with formal worker and union participation; (2) adopt robust human rights and environmental due diligence legislation; (3) expand and strengthen universal social protection systems; and (4) recognise new or emerging labour rights, including protections against extreme heat and flooding, the right to cease work during extreme weather events, and the right to access to paid re-skilling and up-skilling.
