What we want

We focus in this update, just as in the original report, on the individual progress being made by companies.  One thing that should be clear, however, is that the industry is not moving as fast or as far as it needs to do to create decent work and to ensure that workers’ internationally-recognised rights are respected.  This demonstrates that we are missing something: a stronger, binding regulatory framework on supply chains ethics, in which companies should operate.

This does not mean that we should give up on existing multi-stakeholder approaches – far from it.  In the absence of binding legislation, the brands and retailers have a responsibility to act to secure workers’ rights.  If and when regulation appears, it would only be a framework of obligations, not the details of how to implement it.  The basis of that framework of obligations already exists, in ILO conventions, the UK companies act, supermarkets code of practice, and other tools.  So far none of these has the teeth to enforce the standards it lays out.  Added to this are the brands’ cavalier attitude to their obligations, and the misleading way they communicate about them to the public.

What the industry should do

We have already set out in detail what companies need to do to guarantee workers their rights.  It’s repeated on the page opposite.  Broadly speaking, it means getting on and implementing the living wage, ensuring that workers have meaningful access to their right to freedom of association, and involving local trade unions and NGOs in monitoring and verification
This year, our update focuses on the living wage, because it’s the area with the most potential for change at this time.  The fashion industry has the means to sort this out, but at present the brands seem too busy blaming each other and making excuses to actually achieve the living wage.  If they work together, through the ETI or other credible initiatives, the brands can come up with a plan to:

We’re not saying it can be solved overnight: of course there are complexities.  But if the fashion brands are really committed to making the living wage work, they’ll get past the talk and actually do something.

What the government should do

British companies behave overseas in a manner that would not be tolerated at home, despite many of them being signed up to voluntary ethical codes of conduct.  Yet the UK government continues to support the Corporate Social Responsibility approach, which relies on companies acting voluntarily, despite ample evidence that it systematically fails to protect workers overseas.  To rein in corporate power, the government must implement a framework of binding regulation that stops companies from abusing workers overseas.  Specifically, it should: