FLA urges apparel firms to adopt transparency requirements

31 Mar '19

2 min read

Pic: HRW

In response to requests from trade unions, and other independent labour rights and human rights organisations, the Washington DC-based Fair Labour Association (FLA), a non-profit collaborative effort of universities, civil society groups and businesses, on February 27 voted to require its company affiliates to publicly disclose their supplier lists.

Members of the Transparency Pledge Coalition, a group of global unions and other independent labour rights and human rights organizations, will monitor this decision to ensure its full and meaningful implementation while calling on other apparel sector multi-stakeholder Initiatives (MSIs) and business associations to follow suit.

This FLA decision follows the Transparency Pledge Coalition’s request that the FLA require supply chain disclosure as a condition of membership.

Since its inception in 2016, the coalition has successfully convinced numerous apparel brands to adopt its minimum standard on transparency and persuaded many others to take meaningful steps in the right direction.

The nine organisations that are members of this coalition are Clean Clothes Campaign, Human Rights Watch, IndustriALL, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, International Labor Rights Forum, International Trade Union Confederation, Maquila Solidarity Network, UNI Global Union, and Worker Rights Consortium.

If the FLA, with offices in China and Switzerland, follows this decision with robust enforcement of this requirement for its member companies, it will be a significant development towards greater transparency and corporate accountability for garment workers’ rights in global supply chains, Human Rights Watch reported on its website.

The coalition will continue to engage with the FLA’s Factory List Transparency Working Group to ensure that there is robust implementation. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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