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NEWSLETTER 22, Oct 2006 Jo-In: Trying to Make Codes Work

Over the past decade there has been a proliferation of initiatives on the responsibilities and accountability of garment and sports shoe companies for working conditions in their supply networks. Some have their own codes of conduct that specify labour standards to be met where their goods are produced. Some have come together to promote a particular version of "corporate social responsibility". Then there are "multi-stakeholder initia-tives" (MSIs) bringing together companies, NGOs and unions/ workers' networks to take up these issues. There is also a new industry of "social auditors", with various ways of verifying that codes are being implemented.

The CCC has spent a lot of effort on evaluating the different approaches, to see which ones might bring actual benefit to workers in terms of their pay, conditions and organising rights. And on the ground, individual clothing factory managements and workforces are faced with a bewildering array of sometimes conflicting demands from the different codes of their customers. It is not uncommon to see a range of code notices up on the office wall, and auditors arriving one after another to inspect how well each one is adhered to. This can set up a "cat-and-mouse" game between suppliers and brands - with little benefit to workers.

The Joint Initiative on Corporate Accountability and Workers' Rights - or Jo-In for short - was set up in 2003 to try to find some common, workable approaches, some order out of the chaos. The idea is to replace the duplication of effort that currently occurs and, where approaches differ, to find out how they can be made more compatible for the best way forward. A key aim is to agree on what best practice is for the implementation of codes of conduct - and thereby make a real difference to the conditions for garment workers and their families. In the first stage, the project runs to the end of 2007.

Who is in Jo-In

Jo-In was founded and is steered by six major organisations in the field, including MSIs and the CCC. They are:

> Clean Clothes Campaign www.cleanclothes.org
> Ethical Trade Initiative www.ethicaltrade.org
> Fair Wear Foundation www.fairwear.nl
> Fair Labor Association www.fairlabor.org
> Social Accountability International www.sa-intl.org
> Worker Rights Consortium www.workersrights.org

To keep the scope of the project manageable, it was decided to undertake a trial in one country. Turkey was chosen because it is a large exporter of textiles and garments to global markets, particularly to nearby Europe, thus far the various initiatives had not yet developed a serious presence there, and there were trade union and civil society partners to work with. Also Turkey has incentives to improve because it wants to join the European Union. Later, it is hoped to take the lessons learned in Turkey to other countries.

Eight multinational brands that are sourcing goods in Turkey have agreed to take part in the trial project. They are adidas, Gap, Gsus, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Otto Versand, Patagonia and Puma.

Fifteen of their suppliers in Turkey have been invited to join in. They were chosen by the project's steering committee to reflect a range of sizes, types of relationship to the brands, quantity of orders, whether unionised or not, geographical location, and so on. To date, six have come on board. At this stage, the suppliers' names are withheld from the public.

Other organisations in the host country have also been identified as project stakeholders. They include industry organisations such as the Turkish Chamber of Commerce, plus trade unions, labour-related and women's NGOs and community-based organisations, as well as government bodies such as the labour inspectorate, and also the ILO office in the country.

The early consultation process took some time. At first, the organisations in Turkey were not willing to meet as a group and insisted on separate consultations. It was not until October 2005 that a project seminar was held with all international and Turkish stakeholders present. Now the Turkish organisations have formed a "local working group" that will meet several times a year to provide input into the project.

At an international level, there are also the umbrella organisations of trade unions - the Global Union Federation ITGLWF and the European ETUF/TCL representing garment workers, as well as the ICFTU and WCL international union confederations. There are labour-related NGOs such as Oxfam too. The Global Unions specifically requested a stronger and more official role in the project, and so an "advisory panel" also including representatives of brands and NGOs is being set up.

Others such as academics, auditors, and the local staff of international organisations, can make important contributions to the project as consultants or service providers but have not been identified as "stakeholders". The project's steering committee has also decided to set up an "independent observer group" whose role it will be to monitor and evaluate the project impartially.

Keeping everyone properly informed and consulted takes some care, time and effort, of course. All stakeholder organisations have to consult their own internal structures and networks too. It is also true that some in the project were unclear about the nature and role of other stakeholders, and so training events on "who's who" have had to be held. Improving stakeholder involvement - learning how to do it well - is one of the project's aims.

It is agreed that all partners and stakeholders meet twice per year at the Jo-In stakeholder and participants forum in Istanbul.

Jo-In's Action Plan

In 2005, a draft Jo-In Code of Labour Practice was drawn up through a process of consultation. It is not the project's aim to produce yet another code. However, a common starting point was needed, and the result is an amalgam of best practice on codes from among the six partners. Now the focus is on implementing the draft Code, and the best methods of verifying, enforcing and evaluating this. Readers are invited to contact Jo-In or the CCC with their comments on the Jo-In Code.

It is the role of the brands to introduce the Jo-In draft Code to their suppliers and encourage implementation. Where the Jo-In draft Code has higher standards than an existing code used by the brand, they and their suppliers are asked to make a commitment to reaching the higher standards.

The trial in Turkey is not dealing with a wide range of elements normally found in a code of conduct. Instead it is focusing on certain key questions: freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, wages, and hours of work. These elements were chosen after extensive consultation, and because they are the areas of most difference between the six partners.

Brands, suppliers and some trade unions also requested more explanation of what the project means by a "living wage". The explanatory note can be found on the project website.

Beginning in mid-2006, supplier factories in the trial are due to go through an initial assessment on the three chosen issues, carried out by a Jo-In appointed team of experts. The baseline survey outcomes will be collected, and then presented to the stakeholders locally first, this November, for discussions on what the remediation "menu" should look like on these topics.

Armed with the assessments, the project will then focus on the best methods to achieve improvements, what is termed "remediation" - steps that will make a real difference for the workers at each of the Turkish suppliers. A remediation plan, with a timeframe for action, will be drawn up for each supplier, involving also the multinational brand that it supplies and the MSI to which the brand is affiliated. The plan may include training (for managers, supervisors and workers), better worker participation and dialogue with management, changes in buying practices by the brands who place the orders, and technical assistance (for example money, productivity improvements, advice on production, capacity building in broad) or any combi-nation of these.

Later, the Jo-In project will assess progress at each supplier. In doing so, they will also study the merits of different assessment methods such as social auditing with and without worker interviews and of different types of complaints mechanisms. They will also focus on what is sometimes the missing link in the chain: how to make sure corrective action is actually taken after a social audit or a complaint has revealed a need for it.

It is another of the Jo-In project's aims to build more effective complaints/grievance procedures and this is the subject of a special study. A point of departure for the project is that every effort should be made to resolve differences between workers and management at the plant level.

All suppliers in the project should have a complaints procedure because they are producing for buyers for whom this is an obligation under their own code or MSI membership. If by some chance they do not, then the Jo-In Draft Code requires it. Examples of factory-level complaints/grievance mechanisms include, but are not limited to, collective bargaining agreements, worker/management grievance panels, and mediation or arbitration through outside bodies.

There is also a separate Jo-In complaints procedure, for when there is an issue at one of the participating factories and the brands or MSIs concerned do not move quickly or satisfactorily enough.

Some of the Challenges

The Turkish suppliers have been consulted since 2004 but there has been resistance among them. At the time of writing, only six have signed up to the project's "terms of engagement".

Many are hesitant about being required to show increased compliance with the three key elements. They say the Turkish textile and garment industry is going through a difficult period, facing changing competitive conditions in the world market, an over-valued Turkish lira, increasing costs and decreasing prices and orders from customers. Some are worried that the focus on freedom of association will lead to the formation of a trade union in their factory.

Of course it is true that the competitive market - at home and abroad - in which the Turkish suppliers are situated is characterised by a high use of unregistered, low-paid workers, obliged to work excessive hours and denied union rights (see box on the situation in Turkey). That is the context and rationale for the project. There has been a lot of discussion about how the project can encourage more suppliers to come on board. Should brands really be pushing suppliers to join, but then risk that they will not be constructive participants? Or what about giving suppliers incentives (ex. better prices and long term relationships) to join? This "push" or "pull" debate is ongoing.

The project should, of course, try to encompass the whole supply chain. With about 80 percent of Turkish garment production taking place in unregistered workplaces, the suppliers in the project may well be contracting out to workshops or homeworkers, or employing workers on contracts that put them outside the formal economy. It is not realistic to expect the suppliers to identify their own unauthorised activities. So this is the subject of a community-based research project, starting in mid-2006, being carried out by university researchers.

The CCC recognises that this project will not solve all problems related to code implementation (it is also important to remember that it is not the CCC's position that code implementation should be our only goal). However the CCC continues to believe that participation in Jo-In is worthwhile because this is an opportunity to harmonize initiatives involved in the implementation of good labour standards upward. If there is a thinning out of initiatives (as is anticipated since everyone with a stake in these issues feels that the multiplicity that currently exists needs to streamlined) it is important that the efforts that actually involve workers/their organisations are the ones that survive. The CCC welcomes the opportunity to work closely with our Turkish partners every step of the way throughout this project to see that they have power to influence the shape of this trial project.

Jo-In is an opportunity to focus on issues that the CCC and partners have agreed are key areas: living wages, freedom of association, and hours of work. The project provides a clear channel for the CCC to influence strategic players on these topics and to learn more ourselves.

For more information see the project website at
www.jo-in.org/giris.htm