Do workers benefit from ethical trade? Assessing codes of labour practice in global production systems

Abstract

Corporate codes of labour practice have proliferated as a result of trade union and ngo campaigns against poor labour conditions in global production. Analysis of global production systems highlights the complexity of commercial networks and the wider social and institutional environment in which codes operate. It posits tensions between a corporate approach focusing on compliance with outcome standards and a civil society approach focusing on process rights. A detailed study of codes operated by companies in the UK Ethical Trading Initiative finds that codes have led to improvements in outcome standards but little change in process rights for workers. The authors conclude that corporate codes have a role to play in improving labour standards, but are currently doing little to challenge existing commercial practices or embedded social relations that underpin poor labour standards in global production systems.

Notes

We would like to thank two anonymous referees for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. The views represented here are those of the authors alone. They do not necessarily represent the views of eti or of its member organisations. The authors are responsible for the accuracy of information contained in the paper and our recommendations have not necessarily been endorsed by eti.

1 R Jenkins, R Pearson & G Seyfang (eds), Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights: Codes of Conduct in a Global Economy, London: Earthscan, 2002, ch 1.

2 N Klein, No Logo, London: Flamingo, 2000; and G Gereffi & M Korzeniewicz, Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism, CT: Praeger, 1994.

3 For a full discussion of the background and issues related to ethical trade and codes of labour practice, see Jenkins et al, Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights; M Blowfield, ‘Ethical trade: a review of developments and issues’, Third World Quarterly, 20 (4), 1999, pp 753 – 770; and S Barrientos & C Dolan (eds), Ethical Sourcing in the Global Food System, London: Earthscan, 2006.

4 N Kearney & D Justice, ‘The new codes of conduct: some questions and answers for trade unionists’, in I Wick, Workers' Tool or pr Ploy? A Guide to Codes of International Labour Practice, Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Section 6; C Ferguson, A Review of UK Company Codes of Conduct, London: Department for International Development, 1998; S Barrientos, C Dolan & A Tallontire, ‘A gendered value chain approach to codes of conduct in African horticulture’, World Development, 31 (9), 2003, pp 1511 – 1526; and R Pearson & G Seyfang, ‘New hope or false dawn? Voluntary codes of conduct, labour regulation and social policy in a globalizing world’, Global Social Policy, 1 (1), 2001, pp 49 – 78.

5 See S Luce, The Case for International Labour Standards: A ‘Northern’ Perspective, ids Working Paper 250, Brighton, 2005; and K Elliott & R Freeman, Can Labour Standards Improve Under Globalisation?, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 2003.

6 See D O'Rourke, ‘Monitoring the monitors: a critique of corporate third-party labor monitoring’, in Jenkins et al, Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights, pp 196 – 208; and D Auret & S Barrientos, ‘Participatory social auditing: developing a worker focused approach’, in Barrientos & Dolan, Ethical Sourcing in the Global Food System, ch 8.

7 See, for example, Oxfam, Trading Away Our Rights: Women Workers in Global Supply Chains, Oxford: Oxfam, 2004.

8 See R Locke, F Qin & A Brause, Does Monitoring Improve Labour Standards: Lessons from nike , mit Working Paper No 4612-06, Cambridge, MA, 2006.

9 See the following for a fuller discussion of gvc analysis, Gereffi & M Korzeniewicz, Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism; R Kaplinsky, Spreading the Gains from Globalisation: What can be Learned from Value Chain Analysis?, ids Working Paper 110, Brighton, 2000; G Gereffi & R Kaplinsky (eds), ‘The value of value chains’, ids Bulletin, 32 (3), 2001, pp 9 – 18; and G Gereffi, J Humphrey & T Sturgeon, ‘The governance of global value chains’, Review of International Political Economy, 12 (1), 2005, pp 78 – 104.

10 Gereffi et al, ‘The governance of global value chains’.

11 See P Dicken, K Kelly, K Olds & H W-C Yeung, ‘Chains and networks, territories and scales: towards a relational framework for analyzing the global economy’, Global Networks, 1 (2), 2001, pp 89 – 112; and U Efendioglu, A Posthuma & A Rossi, Decent Work in Global Production Systems: An Integrated Approach to Economic and Social Upgrading, ilo Working Paper in progress, Geneva, 2005.

12 P Newell & J Wheeler, Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability, London: Zed Books, 2006, esp chs 1 and 2.

13 See P Newell & S Bellour, Mapping Accountability: Origins, Context and Implications for Development, ids Working Paper 168, Brighton, 2002; and Newell & Wheeler, Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability.

14 AM Goetz & R Jenkins, ‘Voice, accountability and human development’, Background paper for undp Report, 2002; and Newell & Wheeler, Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability.

15 M Mayo, Global Citizens: Social Movements and the Challenge of Globalization, London: Zed Books, 2005; N Ascoly & I Zeldenrust, ‘Working with codes: perspectives from the Clean Clothes Campaign’, in Jenkins et al, Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights, ch 14; M Prieto, A Hadjipateras & J Turner, ‘The potential of codes as part of women's organizations’ strategies for promoting the rights of women workers: a Central American perspective', in Jenkins et al, Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights, ch 12.

16 See Newell & Wheeler, Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability, ch 2.

17 For a detailed summary of the methodology and findings from the eti Impact Assessment, see S Barrientos & S Smith, The eti Code of Labour Practice: Do Workers really Benefit?, Sussex: Institute of Development Studies, 2006, at www.ethicaltrade.org/d/impactreport.

18 Core ilo conventions cover freedom of association and collective bargaining, no discrimination, no forced labour and no child labour. In addition to these, the nine principles of the eti Base Code cover health and safety, regular employment, no harsh treatment, living wages, working hours and regular employment. See Ethical Trading Initiative, Purpose and Principles, London: eti 1998.

19 We would like to thank the full research team for their contribution to the study. The full team included: Augusto Aceytuno, Stephanie Barrientos (co-ordinator), Sarah Best, Jude Howell, Naila Kabeer, Andrienetta Kritzinger, Kanchan Mathur, Savi Mull, Khalid Nadvi, Lindsey Napier, Hester Rossouw, Sally Smith (research officer), Atul Sood, Nguyen Thang, Tran Thi Van Anh and Dang Bich Thuy. Diana Auret and Dave Spooner were advisors on the project.

20 Oxfam, Trading Away our Rights; Acona, Buying your Way into Trouble? The Challenge of Responsible Supply Chain Management, London: Insight Investment Management, 2004; and Actionaid, Power Hungry: Six Reasons to Regulate Global Food Corporations, London: Actionaid, 2005.

21 See Clean Clothes Campaign, Looking for a Quick Fix: How Weak Social Auditing is Keeping Workers in Sweatshops, Amsterdam: Clean Clothes Campaign, 2005; and Auret & Barrientos, ‘Participatory social auditing’.

22 See Oxfam, Trading Away Our Rights.

23 See Jonathan Birchall, ‘An onus on retailers to keep hands clean’, Financial Times, 16 January 2007.