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.
Author: Marika McAdam Sheltering victims of trafficking require a complex balance to be achieved between the rights of victims (including to freedom of movement and liberty), and the sometimes competing interests of other stakeholders. This Study...Read More
The following information is based on incoming communication with the National Human Trafficking Hotline from January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016 about human trafficking cases and issues related to human trafficking in South Carolina. ...Read More
While some challenges around design and implementation remain, the aim of the reforms- to improve conditions for workers in the sector, help to restore Thailand's depleted fish stocks and ultimately to make the industry more safe, sustainable and pr...Read More
The primary aim of the study was to provide baseline estimates of prevalence of forced labour among children (aged 10-17 years) and adults (aged 18 and over) working in the cocoa sector in Ghana and Cote d' Ivoire, as well as updated estimates of th...Read More
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