Corporations have increasingly turned to voluntary, multi-stakeholder governance programs to monitor workers’ rights and standards in global supply chains. This article argues that the emphasis of these programs varies significantly depending on stakeholder involvement and issue areas under examination. Corporate-influenced programs are more likely to emphasize detection of violations of minimal standards in the areas of wages, hours, and occupational safety and health because focusing on these issues provides corporations with legitimacy and reduces the risks of uncertainty created by activist campaigns. In contrast, these programs are less likely to emphasize workers’ rights to form democratic and independent unions, bargain, and strike because these rights are perceived as lessening managerial control without providing firms with significant reputational value. This argument is explored by coding 805 factory audits of the Fair Labor Association between 2002 and 2010, followed by case studies of Russell Athletic in Honduras, Apple in China, and worker rights monitoring in Vietnam.

post

page

attachment

revision

nav_menu_item

custom_css

customize_changeset

oembed_cache

user_request

wp_block

wp_template

wp_template_part

wp_global_styles

wp_navigation

wp_font_family

wp_font_face

acf-taxonomy

acf-post-type

acf-field-group

acf-field

ai1ec_event

exactmetrics_note

The Nexus of Illegal Gold Mining and Human Trafficking in Global Supply Chains
Publications

In-depth research carried out by Verité has found that Latin American countries export staggering amounts of illegally mined gold, which is tied to human trafficking, as well as legal and reputational risk for major companies with gold in their su...Read More

Risky Business: How leading venture capital firms ignore human rights when investing in technology
Publications

Venture capitalists shape the future of technology, and with it the future of our economies, politics, societies and fundamentally, our human rights. They decide which new technologies and technology companies will receive early-stage funding. This,...Read More

Human Trafficking & Native Peoples in Oregon: A Human Rights Reports
Publications

A report on human trafficking and native people in the state of Oregon, seeking to identify if federal, state, and local government protections are effective in addressing trafficking amongst this population. State,  Federal, and Tribal legislatio...Read More

Labour shortages – turning away from bad jobs
LegislationPublications

Policy recommendations Rising labour shortages reflect structural shifts, including the digital and green transitions, as well as a cyclical component in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.The policy debate tends to focus on the need for skills an...Read More

TAGS: