ETI in action

In August 2019, with the support of HSBC, ETI launched two projects addressing worker’s rights in global supply chains, with a focus on garment workers in India and Bangladesh.

The evaluation of the first two phases of the Bangladesh Social Dialogue Programme found that it had led to improved awareness of the need for mutual respect, increased levels of respect and trust among workers and management, changes in management attitudes, reduced absenteeism, increased production and higher female engagement in phase II of the pilot. The HSBC funding will support the roll out of the programme in 15 factories in Dhaka, providing approximately 30,000 workers with a safer working environment, respect for their rights, effective resolution of issues, and factory managers who will safeguard their rights.

In Tamil Nadu, with HSBC’s support, we’re developing materials and tools to expand the existing, successful peer-group learning model, which has already led to a number of significant impacts, including the elimination of Sumangali schemes (a form of forced labour), the eradication of child labour below the age of 15, the establishment of committees to tackle sexual harassment, increased awareness among workers of labour rights and responsibilities, increased gender equality, and improved wages and working hours. In addition, mill managers participating in the programme have reported reduced absenteeism and worker turnover and improved worker productivity. This programme has so far been delivered in 36 workplaces and engaged around 16,000 women workers, but with the new tools that HSBC are supporting – including a commercially-focused business case based on the correlation of good labour standards and increased productivity, and a “train the trainer” model to enable local partners to recruit new factories and deliver the programme at scale – we will be able to expand this to an additional 100 spinning mills in Tamil Nadu, reaching 45,000 more women.

Working in partnership with key partners including the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and bodies including the BMA, ETI produced a major report on child labour in the NHS surgical instruments supply chain, focusing specifically on the Sialkot region of Pakistan.

Pakistan is a major exporter of high-quality surgical instruments, produced in the Sialkot region, that are used in public and private health authorities in Europe and the USA. Over the past decade a number of in-depth studies have highlighted instances of severe labour exploitation and child labour within the industry.

This report builds on existing knowledge of the sector and its challenges. It examines the root causes of poor labour standards, outlines the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in the global value chain and makes recommendations aimed at delivering long-term solutions to these complex, endemic problems.

The International Labour Conference (ILC) voted in June 2019 to adopt Convention 190 on Ending Violence and Harassment in the World of Work (C190).

This marks a significant victory for informal workers - especially women and socially excluded groups - addressing the realities of some of the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised workers.

ETI produced a briefing paper on the implications for members, and held a major event to mark International Women's Day, exploring how to work collaboratively across ETI sectors to demonstrate leadership in production countries on progressing the Convention.

ETI’s Modern Slavery Framework was adopted by UK Home Office, and used to develop and publish its first Modern Slavery Statement.

ETI was also awarded funding from the Home Office Modern Slavery Innovation Fund for a two-year project helping vulnerable migrant workers in Malaysia, a key sourcing market for international companies, including many UK brands.

It also manufactures goods such as rubber gloves and condoms that are found in UK hospitals and clinic, but is heavily reliant on migrant labour from its poorer neighbours, and these workers are often abused and exploited. ETI is working to establish a set of Access to Remedy Principles, to be endorsed by leading businesses and applied globally within their supply chains, and piloting an online technology platform to allow migrant workers in Malaysia to seek advice and support, report exploitation and access remedy.

We produced a report analysing conditions experienced by migrant workers in the Malaysian manufacturing sector following reports of forced labour in the rubber and electronics manufacturing sectors.

The report provides an overview of the operating context, and an overview of the legal context and risks in practice. It also outlines actual and potential risks against the “Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework.

ETI has also been active, and seen impacts, in international advocacy in relation to the Thai seafood sector, providing a unifying influence to drive effective change for workers by building understanding and collaboration between actors, informing workers of their rights, and providing both channels to give voice to their concerns, and an enabling environment for freedom of association and worker empowerment.

We have joined the Seafood Taskforce as part of the External Stakeholder Advisory Group, gained access to influential advocacy platforms and enabled linkages between civil society organisations and individual Thai companies, and secured ILO funding in support of the Ship-to-Sore programme.

The issue of irregular labour in tomato harvesting in Southern Italy is one that continues to attract the concern of many stakeholders in the supply chain, including ETI and its members. We have been running a working group focused on tackling the labour rights abuses in the fresh produce sector of south Italy Puglia for over two years. The process of putting the working together and formalising its objectives has been a complex process of managing stakeholder concerns and interests. 

In the summer of 2019 we enlisted a local consultant based in Italy to conduct stakeholder interviews with producers, NGOs, unions and other relevant stakeholders in Southern Italy Agri sector to better understand what the issues are but more important what collaborative solutions could we support. We then produced a report summarising the contents of the interviews with detailed recommendations. This was presented back to the members for discussion.  The recommendations that showed there was an appetite from these stakeholders to explore the opportunity to develop local multi-stakeholder forum dedicated to ethical trade in southern Italy. This was presented back to members who agreed, and, in the autumn of 2019, we had developed a new plan to engage with local producers and growers through a serious of working group meetings in Puglia. Unfortunately, our first meeting was planned for March and was inevitable postposed due to Covid restriction.  Since then we have redesigned the meetings to take place remotely using online video software that we hope allows an inclusive and collaborative environment for key stakeholders to engage. 

In February 2020, the Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship confirmed that export factories should now be paying apprentices a stipend equivalent to the minimum wage, as well as providing access to social security payments.

This followed extensive advocacy work involving ETI brands and coordinated by the ETI Secretariat staff in both India and the UK, after concerns were raised by brands over the exploitation of trainees and apprenticeships in garment factories.

As part of ETI’s Working Group on Peruvian Horticulture, we commissioned and published a study of good practices in the Latin America horticulture sector for export, focusing on Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all important sources of fresh produce for UK supermarkets and importers.

The study focuses on two suppliers, Campasol and Avoselect, identifying good practices and, in particular, good social dialogue models and seeks to promote discussion and debate regarding what good practice should look like.

Caste is one of the greatest sources of prejudice and discrimination in the world today, depriving people of access to decent work and human dignity, and used to justify slavery and child labour for millions across the globe. ETI partnered with NGO member Dalit Solidarity Network to produce Base Code Guidance on caste, supporting businesses in understanding the risks when their operations and supply chains stretch into caste-affected countries.

The guidance explains how caste, if unaddressed, can fundamentally undermine the implementation of the ETI Base Code and ensuring compliance on labour rights. It also sets out good governance and management practices to enable businesses to proactively counter caste-based discrimination, respect fundamental human rights, and advance access to decent work for all.

The issue of forced labour in private sector supply chains is rising up the business agenda, even more so now that Covid-19 is leading to a shortage of migrant labour in some sourcing countries, and reports of forced labour are on the rise.

But what happens when the forced labour is imposed by the State itself, perhaps as a systematic practice of punishing political dissidents or religious minorities? Ongoing reports about forced labour in relation to Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) suggest a growing problem.

Many companies are unaware of the use of state-imposed forced labour (SIFL) in their supply chains, but any business tainted by forced labour will not only suffer severe reputational damage, but could also be subject to litigation.

ETI has published a briefing paper on SIFL, with recommended actions companies can take both individually, and jointly with industrial groups and other stakeholders, to prevent and remediate forced labour. There is also advice for companies on knowing when, and how, to stop sourcing from a country or region affected by SIFL.