Interview with Annabel Meurs, Fair Wear’s Executive Director and Gina Burgard, Head of Secretariat of “Partnership for Sustainable Textiles”.
The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (PST) and Fair Wear have partnered for many years, jointly expanding access to remedy for workers across the garment and textile sector. Now, they are strengthening their joint commitment to building industry alignment, and from July 2025, members of PST (including those that are not Fair Wear members) will gain access to Fair Wear’s well-established grievance mechanism. This next phase marks a significant step forward for the two organisations.
We sat down with Annabel Meurs, Fair Wear’s Executive Director, and Gina Burgard, Head of Secretariat of “Partnership for Sustainable Textiles”, to explore what’s driving the continued collaboration, the importance of local context in delivering access to remedy, and what lies ahead.
Why did Fair Wear and PST decide to collaborate on a joint grievance mechanism? And how does this collaboration contribute to the broader goal of access to remedy in global supply chains?
“There are many compelling reasons behind our decision,” Gina explains. “At the heart of it is a shared understanding that effective grievance mechanisms are fundamental to human rights and corporate due diligence.”
“For workers in the textile supply chain, having a safe and reliable way to raise concerns at their workplace is essential. It is not only how individuals and communities can seek remedy when their rights are violated, but also how companies can become aware of issues they may not otherwise see.”
To make this possible, companies need to establish or support grievance mechanisms. This is also reflected in existing and upcoming legislations like the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The message is clear: companies must take responsibility and ensure effective access to remedy throughout their supply chains.
Gina further explains that “while it is promising that more workers are gaining access to remedy, the growing number of mechanisms – especially those that are unmanaged and uncoordinated – poses challenges. Too many overlapping systems can create confusion, duplicate efforts, waste resources, and weaken accountability.”
She states that this fragmented landscape is the main reason “why PST chose not to create its own industry-wide grievance mechanism.” Instead, she adds, they “actively promote and work with existing mechanisms, like Fair Wear’s, to improve and strengthen them together. Fair Wear offers invaluable expertise and experience. Applying their model across PST’s member network is an unmissable opportunity to extend remedy access to more workers.”
In essence, the long-term collaboration aims to:
- Expand access to remedy for more workers in garment supply chains
- Improve how grievances are handled and resolved
- Support brands in identifying risks and meeting due diligence responsibilities
- Align industry efforts and reduce duplication
Ultimately, their shared goal is to give brands access to “a unified, credible approach”, Annabel adds, which can move the textile industry closer to fairer supply chains that respect and advance human rights.
Gina thanked Fair Wear for their ongoing support and for sharing their expertise and for their motivation to change the sector, while Annabel added that this partnership is “not just about responding to individual grievances, it’s about showing leadership in shaping a more responsible industry.”
What role do local stakeholders, such as complaint handlers and organisations, play in building an effective grievance mechanism?
The answer is clear: “They are absolutely essential.”
Ideally, grievances are best solved through factory level grievance mechanisms, in a setting of effective social dialogue. Annabel and Gina explain that local stakeholders are often the first point of contact for workers, and it is their proximity, cultural understanding, and grasp of local laws and workplace dynamics that make the grievance process more accessible, trusted, and effective on the ground.
“This is already a core part of Fair Wear’s approach,” Annabel adds. “Primarily, we aim to strengthen worker and management dialogue and help brands in strengthening worker voices. Our grievance mechanism operates as a safety net, with local teams are on the ground. Trusted complaint handlers receive grievances directly from workers. After verifying that the complaint falls under Fair Wear’s mandate, it is forwarded to the brand, which in turn engages the relevant factory and rightsholders to address the issue.”
A shared responsibility model underpins this process, with brands, factories, and local teams working together on remediation. This includes safeguarding the worker’s identity, involving unions and worker representatives, and supporting legal steps if necessary. Transparency is also a key principle: all cases are published in an anonymised format on Fair Wear’s website.
Gina adds that “this collaboration will connect PST members to a network of experienced local partners who resolve issues fairly, consistently and with deep contextual insight. These actors also help brands gain visibility into recurring or systemic problems in their supply chains, turning the grievance mechanism into a tool for both responsive and preventive due diligence.”
Ultimately, both Annabel and Gina stress that without the involvement of local actors, grievance mechanisms cannot function effectively. Their presence is foundational to the credibility, safety, and impact of the process.
What’s new or different about the next phase of collaboration?
The next phase is a milestone in the collaboration. It begins in July 2025, building on the success of the joint pilot initiative “Joint Grievance Mechanism,” which wrapped up in October 2024.
“That pilot was a response to growing concerns around the number of fragmented, unmanaged and ineffective grievance mechanisms in the sector,” they share. “Together, we tested coordinated approaches to delivering access to remedy to workers.”
The initiative unfolded in two phases, initially giving workers at selected Tier 1 suppliers of a small group of PST members access to Fair Wear’s mechanism. By the second phase, it had reached an estimated 18,000 workers across 26 factories, 60% of them women.
Gina went on to share that “the lessons learned confirmed the value of this kind of collaboration. After the pilot, Fair Wear agreed to keep the mechanism open for PST members, and now we’re moving into a long-term model that will enable more workers to access a trusted, field-tested redress system.”
“This isn’t just an expansion,” Annabel added, “it’s an investment in scale and sustainability. A broader scope enables deeper analysis of industry trends, giving brands better insight into risks, root causes, and effective remediation. For PST brands, joining now means immediate access to a proven mechanism, without the time and cost of building one independently. It’s also a strategic move towards meeting regulatory demands, strengthening supply chain trust, and shifting from reactive to proactive due diligence.”
Why is this collaboration particularly valuable for brands?
For brands, this collaboration presents a truly unique opportunity. By enabling PST members to access Fair Wear’s well-established grievance mechanism, they can learn from Fair Wear’s years of hands-on experience of providing workers with a confidential and trustworthy way to report labour rights violations through local, trusted complaint handlers. As mentioned earlier, this local presence and expertise make the mechanism particularly effective. Brands will be better positioned to identify risks early and respond appropriately.
But the grievance mechanism is not this partnership’s whole story. “The access to The HRDD Academy, powered by Fair Wear, also complements the wider partnership by allowing participating PST members to take their due diligence efforts to the next level”, Gina explained.
The HRDD Academy supports brands with targeted knowledge sharing and expert guidance, helping them shift from reactive to proactive risk management. It also provides access to stakeholder-validated information on issues like industry-specific risks, something increasingly expected as part of responsible business conduct.
Annabel adds that “factory conditions are deeply influenced by brands’ purchasing practices, and this collaboration helps make those links clearer. By offering practical tools to prevent and mitigate labour rights violations before they escalate to grievances, it builds stronger systems of accountability.” She also stresses Fair Wear’s thanks to PST for their openness in this collaboration, and for their clear and unwavering commitment to improving labour rights across the global garment supply chain.
On a broader, more systemic level, the two make clear that this kind of collaboration is not just about tools, but about strategy.
“Given how fast the regulatory landscape is shifting, particularly in Europe, initiatives like ours must adapt. Closer collaboration helps brands to align with those evolving standards, harmonise approaches and drive broader systemic change across the textile industry.”

Annabel Meurs, Executive Director of “Fair Wear”

Gina Burgard, Head of Secretariat of “Partnership for Sustainable Textiles”