When you buy your clothes do you stop to think about the workers who made them? Who are they? How much were they paid? How much profit does the shop make? We all want clothes we can afford. But does that mean cheap wages for the garment workers?

The Clean Clothes Campaign was started in Holland by solidarity activists and trade unionists with links to Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where clothes are made for Europe. The campaign has now extended into the UK and other European countries, as well as Mexico and Jamaica.

The campaign aims to change the way that clothing is produced. It is concerned with all workers who make garments, whether they are in countries of the South or the North. The garment sub-contracting chain stretches all over the world. The big retail stores of the North place their orders with factories, particularly in Asia, who often sub-contract to illegal sweatshops and homeworkers. All along the way, it is mostly the labour of poor women. But it is the retail stores in Europe who are in control.

The Clean Clothes Campaign asks consumers to think about the working conditions of the workers who made the clothes they buy, and to support demands on the big retailers. The retail stores should be made accountable, says the Campaign.

It has developed a 'Charter of Fair Trade' based on standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The Charter says that all workers, whether they work in factories, offices, workshops or at home, must have the following rights:

• to freely organise and join independent trade unions and workers' organisations
• to be represented by organisations of their own choice and have the right to collective bargaining
• to get a living wage that satisfies at least their basic needs as defined by the United Nations for themselves and their dependants, and which is not less than the national minimum wage.

Garment employers must comply with ILO standards on:

• maximum hours of work and overtime
• health and safety
• minimum wages
• non-discrimination

The campaign hopes that enough consumer pressure can be built up to persuade retail companies to sign the Charter. Then the retailers will have the right to use a 'Clean Clothes' label. This label should attract consumers just as 'green' labels have in Europe which show that products are friendly to the environment.

Monitoring will be done by a body paid for by the companies but independent from them, involving garment workers. If a company breaches the code then it will lose the right to use the label.