Under the regime of private company or multi-stakeholder voluntary codes of conduct and industry social auditing, workers have absorbed low wages and unsafe and abusive conditions; labour leaders and union members have become the targets of both government and factory harassment and violence; and trade union power has waned. Nowhere have these private systems of codes and audits so clearly failed to protect workers as in Bangladesh’s apparel industry. However, international labour groups and Bangladeshi unions have succeeded in mounting a challenge to voluntarism in the global economy, persuading more than 180 companies to make a binding and enforceable commitment to workers’ safety in an agreement with 12 unions.
The extent to which this Bangladesh Accord will be able to influence the entrenched global regime of voluntary codes and weak trade unions remains an open question. But if the Accord can make progress in Bangladesh, it can help to inspire similar efforts in other countries and in other industries.
The drive to prevent and respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is widespread and there have been efforts to highlight CSEA’s global threat, to clear the path for victim-survivors to speak-up and to build the capacity of those worki...Read More
Human trafficking is a major problem in the EU and a priority for MS law enforcement agencies. Trafficking in human beings (THB) is a serious crime and an abuse of an individual’s fundamental rights and dignity. It involves the exploitation of v...Read More
It is estimated that there are 17.2 million child domestic workers globally, most of whom are girls (International Labor Organization (ILO), 2013; ILO, n.d.). Despite their large numbers, research related to this marginalised group is extremely limi...Read More
This September 2019 report offers an extensive analysis of the corporate controlled audit industry, connecting the dots between the most well known business-driven social compliance initiatives, such as Social Accountability International, WRAP, the...Read More
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