Index

NEWSLETTER 24, Oct 2007 In Brief

CCC Input to the United Nations

The Clean Clothes Campaign International Secretariat has been in correspondence with John Ruggie, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative on Business and Human Rights. In our five-page letter dated 23 March 2007, the CCC offers Ruggie suggestions on how multinational companies could improve labour conditions in supply chains and takes a critical look at the general impact of corporate social responsibility initiatives, voluntary supply chain initiatives, stakeholder involvement, and so on. The CCC letter can be found at: www.cleanclothes.org/ftp/070323_CCC_to_Ruggie.pdf

In his response, Ruggie agrees with much that we say. For example, "I think it is a well-established fact by now that supply chain monitoring by itself has a limited impact on inducing behavioral changes" and he agrees with the need to involve state actors. However, he warns that, while his mandate is broad, his time is limited. He is going to concentrate on "overall system architecture". Find Ruggie's letter at: www.cleanclothes.org/ftp/070417-Ruggie_to_ccc.pdf.

The CCC International Secretariat is helping Ruggie to organise an expert workshop on improving human rights performance of business through multi-stakeholder initiatives. The workshop, hosted by the Netherlands Ministry of Development Cooperation, will be held November 6 and 7th.

GSCP: By Business, For Business

The Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP), launched in 2006, represents business' latest proposal to address sweatshop conditions in the global supply chains of multinational corporations. Behind the initiative are the giant retailers Carrefour, Metro, Migros, Tesco and Wal-Mart, in collaboration with CIES - The Food Business Forum. CIES is a network of CEOs and senior managers of nearly 400 food companies in over 150 countries, headquartered in Paris.

The GSCP aims to promote the "harmonization of existing codes and implementation systems". It wants "to build consensus on best practices and develop a harmonized message for suppliers globally in order to reduce duplication of effort and accelerate progress in monitoring of working conditions."

In recent months, the GSCP has been inviting labour rights organisations to take part in the GSCP Advisory Board and to give comments on their draft code.

The CCC has rejected the GSCP's invitation. The problem is that GSCP membership is only open to companies. Their engagement with stakeholders - whom they name as the ILO, NGOs and trade unions - is in an advisory capacity only, and after key decisions have already been taken.

We told the GSCP: "We do not believe that companies… either acting alone or together, possess the credibility to address these issues by themselves… Only the multi-stakeholder organizations that involve others in the design, implementation and governance of their operations can lay claim to any measure of credibility."

In addition, the letter expresses a concern that the GSCP could become a vehicle for companies that are hostile toward trade unions and help them gain a façade of credibility without changing their practices. Particularly the role of Wal-Mart in this initiative serious raises questions concerning the character and purpose of the GSCP.

Read the June 8, 2007 CCC letter to the GSCP at www.cleanclothes.org/codes/07-06-11.htm. To visit the GSCP website: www.ciesnet.com/2-wwedo/index.asp.

Wal-Mart: "Top-down monitoring built to fail"

US-based Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world, with 3,800 stores in the US, and 2,800 in some 13 other countries. Its new slogan for customers is "Save Money Live Better" but it also has a "Wal-Mart Ethical Standards" program that is, in the words of Vice President of Ethical Standards Rajan Kamalanathan, "in place to do what is right for factory workers and the environment".

In August 2007, Wal-Mart released its "Ethical Sourcing Report" for 2006. Wal-Mart says it was based on over 16,000 audits at 8,873 factories producing goods for its stores, more audits than ever. It also claims other improvements such as better environmental criteria.

The response of Wal-Mart Watch and Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) was to issue another report, this one on the conditions in toy factories in China that supply Wal-Mart. China is Wal-Mart's largest sourcing country.

The SACOM report shows serious and wide-ranging labour violations there, from wage and hour violations, to unsafe working conditions, illegal firings, unsanitary housing, and coerced audit responses from workers. It is based on off-site interviews with 82 workers at five Wal-Mart toy supplier factories in the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

SACOM describes why Wal-Mart auditors fail to grasp the reality at their Chinese suppliers. At the Tai Hsing factory in Shenzhen, managers conducted "training sessions" with workers on how to answer questions from Wal-Mart's auditors in preparation for pre-announced inspections. Managers warned workers, "If you answer auditors' questions incorrectly, we get to lose orders and you get to lose your job".

SACOM also reports, "When Tai Qiang workers petitioned the Wal-Mart corporate responsibility department in April 2005 to set up a worker-run union in accordance with the Chinese law, they received no reply."

Highlighting the recent recall of unsafe toys produced in China, Wal-Mart Watch's David Nassar adds, "It is not a stretch to draw a connection between the pressure Wal-Mart puts on its suppliers for low cost merchandise, the problems at these factories, and the safety issues of the products". He calls Wal-Mart's own report "an attempt to avoid responsibility for the problems the company itself has created".

Wal-Mart's "Ethical Sourcing Report for 2006"
Available at walmartstores.com/Files/2006ReportonEthicalSour cing.pdf

"The Story of Toys Made in China for Wal-Mart"
SACOM, Hong Kong, June 2007
Available in English at www.sacom.hk/html/uploads/WalMart% 20Report(SACOM)Jun2007.pdf, and in Chinese at www.sacom.hk/html/uploads/WalMartCHINESE2007.pdf

Wal-Mart Watch: www.walmartwatch.com

"Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers' Right to Freedom of Association", Human Rights Watch, US, May 2007

GoodElectronics Network Launched

Inspired by global networks such as the Clean Clothes Campaign, a new network has been launched to take up labour rights and environmental concerns in the context of the global electronics industry.

The new initiative, known as the GoodElectronics network, already links 150 NGOs and trade unions. The main focus of the network is to strengthen grassroots organisations and workers in their local and global struggle for human rights and a sustainable environment.

The network was formally launched in May 2007 at a meeting in Bangkok attended by 50 representatives from all over the world. Its coordination is hosted by the Netherlands-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO).

The network's founding announcement notes that: "… the electronics industry has evolved into the fastest growing global industry. With that it has created a wide variety of worker and environmental challenges. Many of these challenges are comparable to those of the garment industry, including the undermining of international rights such as freedom of association, a living wage, and responsible health and safety measures…"

The CCC looks forward to working together with GoodElectronics on relevant cases and campaigns and wishes the network success with their important work.

For more information on the network and its activities, see www.goodelectronics.org