"Tchibo calls on government to regulate garment industry", 4 April 2019

According to [Tchibo], it has been pursuing the strategic goal of a fully sustainable production chain for 13 years. But the company's Nanda Bergstein, who deals with issues of corporate responsibility, told German news agency DPA that "voluntary initiatives are no longer sufficient" to reach that goal.

"If we don't pay higher wages now, 'fair fashion' will remain an illusion," she said, adding that an initiative called ACT on Living Wage could help push that agenda...

Bergstein argues all German market players should join ACT, adding that the governments of nations where the textiles are sold should exert pressure on the governments in supplier nations to enforce higher wages and better working conditions...

The call for government assistance is not that new at all. In February, the German Development Ministry staged a forum where participants debated ways of shaping globalization in a fairer way..

Ahead of the forum, there had been international criticism of the German government's perceived failure to do something about the problem. In the fall of 2018, United Nations experts had chided Berlin for not introducing legislation that would help improve the conditions for workers in supply chains overseas...

[I]t would be an important first step to ensure those workers can actually live off their wages, but it's equally important to see to it that unified safety standards are introduced and adhered to at the production facilities overseas.

It's an issue of corporate solidarity...