Update

As there are no new scandals to report, or at least none that I am aware of, I'd like to take some time to remind you of a great company that specializes in helping you update or create your own policy and process for Fair Labor management.
Yes, I'm talking about Fair Labor Solutions
If you are finding it hard to navigate this complicated and time consuming issue, give me a call or send me an email and I will schedule some time to review your situation.
Regards
Wally

And so it continues.....

Here is a link to a report from CBS news about a factory in Bangladesh. Walmart, Asics and Wrangler products are in the factory at the time of the investigation. There seems to be plenty evidence to suggest that child labor is being used, as well as many serious health and safety issues, including blocked fire exits.
If you are working in Bangladesh, or you are considering moving production there, you really need to see this. Mind you, I am not sure it will make any difference. This sort of stuff has been going on for years. As the old adage goes, "If things don't change, they'll stay the same."

Maybe it is time to really address why that might be, before your products are visible in one of these documentaries. Become engaged, look at root causes.
This is only going to get worse unless companies seek to understand their role in non compliance.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57585804/cbs-news-goes-undercover-in-a-bangladesh-clothing-factory/

Jordan Free Trade Agreement and labor abuse in the export factories.

Here's a link to a report that is coming out tomorrow. It is from the Institute for Global labor and Human Rights.


http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0657

The President and Vice President are travelling to Jordan tomorrow (Friday 22nd March) to discuss the “agreement to a new initiative aimed at promoting labor rights and improving working conditions in Jordan."

Hopefully, they will discuss how human rights abuses will become a thing of the past. Let us hope the spirit of spring and rebirth in nature takes hold here too. At the moment, these abuses are still taking place, as the report points out.
I'll keep you posted on any updates.
Wally

Industry Collaboration

I've just returned from the Outdoor Industry's Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, where collaboration was the key word. At least for the brands on show there. I was fortunate to be among the brands who formed the OIA working Group on labor compliance many years ago, and I'm still part of it. We have collectively created a set of tools, including a code of conduct, to get brands started with a policy and a process if they do not already have either. There were also seminars created and training sessions to help brands improve on what they already have.
The existing tools can be downlaoded from the OIA website and the new updated tools will go live in October 2013.
If you don't already have a policy, you are way behind the leaders.


Now it just wouldn't feel right if I didn't add some news on recent labor conflicts, so here you are.
The good part of all of this is the empowerment of workers to take matters into their own hands.
This report is from Richard Woodard, from Just-style magazine

Workers at a shuttered apparel factory in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh are maintaining a 24-hour vigil at the facility, claiming they are owed US$200,000 in unpaid wages and benefits.
The workers – who hope to catch the managers if they return to collect machinery or other assets – believe the Kingsland factory closure in December was engineered to enable a new factory to open, employing temporary workers without union representation.
Now a number of international labour rights organisations, including Clean Clothes Campaign, are supporting the workers.
They are calling on retailers Walmart and H&M – which they say were supplied with underwear by Kingsland – to ensure that Kingsland pays all monies owed in accordance with Cambodian labour law.
The statement, signed by 17 organisations from around the world, also urges “immediate and transparent” investigations to be carried out by the retailers.

New report from the Global Labor Rights

http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0656

The link above takes you to new allegations against Wal-mart and Disney, in the wake of the Bangladeshi fire that killed over 100 workers. This is a bit like the mass shootings at a school in Connecticut last week. We all wring our hands with sorrow when these events occur, but do little to prevent them from happening. Let me re-phrase that. We DO many things, but not many that are effective, and we do the same things over and over again, with little impact.
It is time to change.

Could this happen in one of your factories?
Don't know?

Maybe it is time to take a good look.

Wally

Here we go again

Here is a link to another story giving details of a blaze at a Bangladeshi apparel factory. This might be one of your factories. Do you know where your products are made?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121126/as-bangladesh-factory-fire/?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=business

Labor Compliance programs at your company are not just a nicety. They can help prevent tragedies like this from occuring. How many more deaths will it take to have your suppliers take ownership of compliance?

Apparel Industry Trends - From Farm to Factory

This report, by an organization called "Free2work" provides detailed information on fifty apparel companies’ CSR practices: In their words "It assesses each management system in four categories: Policies, Traceability & Transparency, Monitoring & Training, and Worker Rights. Each Free2Work indicator correlates with a piece of a system that should, if appropriately used, enable improvement in working conditions and the elimination of modern slavery. We hold that child and forced labor are far less likely in supply chains that are highly visible to companies and where workers have a voice to negotiate working conditions and speak out against grievances."

The report can be accessed through this link.
 http://www.free2work.org/trends/apparel/Apparel-Industry-Trends-2012.pdf

There has been much improvement over the last 10 years, but as this report shows, there is a lot more to do. For some, they have not even started yet.
For those companies that are in the same position at the bottom of the grade, Fair Labor Solutions can help create a path to the top.
Contact me through this site if you are interested.
Regards
Wally