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 data in this report represents signals and cases from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and is accurate as of July 30, 2020. Cases of trafficking may be ongoing or new information may revealed to the National Hotline over time. Consequen...Read More
Violence and harassment at work causes harm to individuals, families, businesses and societies. It affects people’s lives, dignity, health and wellbeing. It also exacerbates inequality in societies and undermines business productivity. There shoul...Read More
In July 2018, the Walk Free Foundation released the latest Global Slavery Index (GSI), which presents estimates for the number of victims of modern slavery in 167 countries. Using data from the Gallup World Poll’s module on modern slavery, which w...Read More
KnowTheChain's Investor snapshot on Forced Labour in the Construction Sector highlights why investors should be concerned about forced labour risks in the construction sector, what the sector is doing to address these risks, and what action investor...Read More
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