Emerging from tragedies in Bangladesh: A challenge to voluntarism in the global economy

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.

Emerging from tragedies in Bangladesh: A challenge to voluntarism in the global economy- International Labor Rights Forum, 2015 DOWNLOAD

Contemporary Forms of Slavery Affecting Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minority Communities – Report of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Including Its Causes and Consequences

Publications

The present report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Tomoya Obokata, is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 42/10. The report is focused on contemporary forms of ...Read More

TAGS: Global

Supply Chain Risk Report: Child and forced labour in Canadian consumer products

Publications

The report looks at Canada’s connection to the issues of human trafficking and forced and child labour, by cross-referencing recent data on Canadian imports with the U.S. Department of Labour’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Lab...Read More

TAGS: Sourcing or Production Food & Beverage - Processing & Packaging Garments & Textiles Extractives & Mining Information and Communications Technology North America

Towards a global indicatoron on unidentified victims in child sexual exploitation material – Technical Report

Publications

Ground-breaking research released by INTERPOL and ECPAT International into the online sexual exploitation of children suggests that when online images or videos of child sexual abuse depict boys or very young children, the abuse is more likely to ...Read More

TAGS: Informal Sector Global

The Global Business of Forced Labour: Report of Findings

Publications

This report presents the findings from the Global Business of Forced Labour project. The project investigates the business models of forced labour in global agricultural supply chains. Over two years the project systematically mapped the business ...Read More

TAGS: Sourcing or Production Agriculture, Horticulture & Landscaping Asia Africa