Jeremy Blasi
Director of Research and Investigations
Worker Rights Consortium (WRC)

Many of us had great hopes for codes of conduct.  These hopes were reinforced in the early 2000s when workers – utilizing international networks and complaint mechanisms – began using codes to make real gains.  Many readers will recall or were indeed involved in the efforts at factories like BJ&B in the Dominican Republic and PT Dae Joo in Indonesia to gain respect for the right to organize and collectively negotiate improved conditions.

But the honeymoon – if there ever was one – did not last long.  These same breakthrough factories, the objects of so much time and hard work, began to shut down, one after another.  More generally, despite codes of conduct, there has been precious little progress on labor rights throughout the industry, particularly on working hours, wages, and freedom of association.  Violations remain pervasive.

What happened?  There is a growing recognition that brand sourcing practices – particularly demands on suppliers for price concessions – are largely to blame. Many a factory manager, told to cut prices by 10%, will assume the brand making such a demand is not serious when it also says it expects costly labor rights improvements. Given the inexorable price pressure on suppliers, it’s no wonder wages haven’t kept pace with inflation, much less reached anything close to a living wage level.

There is hope on the horizon. The WRC, for our part, is working on an exciting project in the Dominican Republic, which will establish the first factory in the developing world to pay a true living wage while making mass-marketed apparel. The brand involved, a major university licensee, has committed to paying a price sufficient to make this possible.  The Dominican union federation, Fedotrazonas, and former worker leaders of the BJ&B plant are key partners.  We believe there is also great potential behind the Asia Floor Wage initiative, which is discussed in this newsletter.  The next several years will test whether codes of conduct can be rescued to deliver on their promise.