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Global supply chain standards are industry’s dirtiest secret, as several tragedies in the past made us learn the hard way. Next month will mark the second anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Dhaka which killed 1,134 workers and injured more than 2,000, forcing many companies and governments to revisit supply chain standards. There have been similar tragedies in Cambodia and Pakistan. Still, millions of workers continue to work in unimaginably precarious conditions, mostly in the Third World.
In this context, a trade union input, prepared in association with the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD countries moots certain strongly-worded suggestions that can help tackle these abusive practices. The most important suggestion is to put an end to informal work and forced labour. Most GSCs get away with human rights violations and paltry pay. This can be checked only by ensuring a minimum living wage in each nation, the note suggests.
Several factories that supply products to global giants simply cannot be tracked down. Located in remote locations, operating on flimsy legal approvals, and run by goons masquerading as managers, they employ locals as well as migrants. This must end. The trade union note calls for G7 and the EU, home to many companies relying on GSCs, to introduce practices that ensure transparency and traceability of supply chains.
Of course that’s a big ask. Equally daunting is the question of accountability in the event of mishaps. Most multinational enterprises (MNEs) shrug off responsibility, especially when compensation settlements run into hefty sums. In the Rana Plaza tragedy, it took Italian fashion house Benetton more than a year to chip in with its share to the compensation fund worked out by the ILO. The TUAC note calls for the G7 and EU to work towards developing an ILO convention to hold MNEs responsible for rights and safety. If the EU and G7 can come up with a policy roadmap along these lines, that would give workers’ rights movements a huge fillip. That matters a lot to countries like India, which host several such units. Is the Modi government listening?
Assistant Editor
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