This week, The New York Times reported that labor activists are protesting garment factory working conditions in Bangladesh, home to suppliers that work for global brands such as H&M, Gap, Zara, and others.
Reporters Rachel Abrams and Maher Sattar examined arrest records to discover that at least 14 labor activists and workers have been imprisoned since the protests began in December. “The police say the unrest has led to the suspension or firing of roughly 1,500 workers, many of whom took part in the protests,” Abrams and Sattar write.
The police and factory owners allege the protesters encouraged vandalism and other crimes. Labor rights groups tell a different story: They are accusing the government of intimidating workers so that they are silent and of arresting innocent people.
“They say the detentions, and the looming risk of more arrests, are the biggest setback for workers since the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building that housed garment factories, where more than 1,100 people died in 2013,” Abrams and Sattar write.
The Rana Plaza collapse showed the world the safety hazards of factories in Bangladesh, which is the second-largest exporter of ready-made garments after China. Many of the global brands insisted their suppliers improve working conditions. Retailers formed two coalitions dedicated to this cause: the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
“Both groups point to progress, like the installation of fire doors and regular safety inspections,” Abrams and Sattar write. “But as international attention has waned in the years since Rana Plaza, worker rights groups have expressed concern that the gains could be lost.”
Also this week, Forbes contributor Jonathan Webb wrote an article about supply chain audits. He focused on a year-old economy brief from the UK’s Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) that found supply chain audits to be largely ineffective. However, Webb calls for greater transparency as a “move in the right direction.”
This SPERI global political economy brief is based on interviews with ethics auditors; business executives; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and supplier firms in North America, the United Kingdom, and China. Also, the authors visited factories in China. They argue the following:
- Audits work for corporations but fail workers and the planet. Labor exploitation, poor working conditions, and environmental abuse within global supply chains remain widespread.
- Audits are ineffective tools for detecting, reporting, or correcting environmental and labor challenges in supply chains. Audits reinforce current business models and preserve global production as it is.
- Audits sustain the labor and environmental problems that civil society NGOs are striving to improve. For example, the investigators suggest that multiple audits create the opportunity for consultants to teach companies how to pass audits rather than improve conditions.
- As audits become more widespread, with the involvement and support of NGOs, states and governments become less involved in regulating corporate behavior. This reorients “global corporate governance toward the interests of private business and away from social goods,” the researchers contend.
Making partnerships effective
We’ve focused on the profound challenges facing supply chain professionals as they strive to ensure and further labor and environmental standards. How can audits be more effective? Consider the definition of supplier audit from the APICS Dictionary, 15th edition, “Auditing supplier processes as part of a supplier development system.” This is a simple definition outlining a complicated task.
As supply chain professionals and APICS move forward, how can we promote the rise of supply chain while also realizing supply chain’s influence on other aspects of the world’s economy? It’s a complicated situation, and we’re just beginning our path toward answers. First, take a look at our video outlining the rise of supply chain, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfP6roPJA5Q. Next, please think about how you might contribute to your organization’s vision of supply chain’s future. Lastly, I invite you to explore how you might get involved with APICS by visiting www.apics.org/apics-for-individuals/volunteer-with-apics.
