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CCC Reference Guide on Code Implementation & Verification
Section 1: Codes of labour practice
Company response to the CCC Model Code
Companies developed their own codes partly as a result of the heightened
level of awareness. A few of these corporate initiatives are genuine efforts
to improve conditions, but many are only public relations tools intended
to deflect consumer inquires about workplace conditions and corporate
social policies. The standards they contain are weak - either vague or
incomplete - and there is no commitment to implement, monitor or verify
that the standards are applied. In some cases, these company codes make
the situation even worse by shifting all the responsibility for complying
with labour rights to the supplier level (production countries) without
demanding any changes be made at the top of the supply chain - though
it is delivery times and prices set at the highest level of the supply
chain which often determine if suppliers can actually meet the standards
called for in a code of conduct.
Therefore, while the CCC has utilized codes of conduct as a tool for
improving working conditions, the campaign clearly acknowledges the
limitations of such a strategy. CCC concerns about the use of conduct
(beyond the concern that there has been a proliferation of company-developed
codes which are incomplete, vague, not implemented and lack the inclusion
of sufficient monitoring and verification commitments) include the fear
that in the current political context of diminishing governmental influence
and increasing Trans-National Companies (TNCs) power, the existence
of non-governmental codes of conduct can be considered another mechanism
to further the dominance of TNCs in areas of society that used to be
primarily controlled by the state. Should business and civil society
solve labour problems amongst themselves, or should legislative solutions
to these problems be pursued? The relationship between codes and labour
legislation (especially national, but also in terms of international
legal obligations) is very important. In some cases codes have been
used to undermine the higher standards articulated in national legislation
You can find a range of company codes on the website of the International
Textile and Garment Workers Federation Trade Union.
http://www.itglwf.org/focus.asp?Issue=codes&Language=EN
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