Genuine worker participation: What we can learn from the worst factory disaster of our times

More than 20 years of global corporate social responsibility (CSR) monitoring — factory audits by both in-house auditors and by “independent, third party” monitors of corporate codes of conduct — have failed to detect unsafe and illegal conditions, failed to correct unsafe conditions that have been observed, failed to engender any long-term changes in factory conditions, and failed to even identify where and by whom the brands’ consumer products are being made.

Case studies from China, Pakistan and Bangladesh provide a backdrop for understanding the flaws of the current CSR system: a “sweatshop business model” where sourcing/purchasing practices contradict CSR goals; ineffective and corrupt monitoring of actual factory conditions; and the lack of meaningful worker participation in developing, implementing and maintaining factory-level health and safety or CSR programs. 

The presentation will demonstrate how a failed CSR system facilitated the “perfect storm” of conditions which have caused major fires and the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh and factory disasters in other countries producing goods for global supply chains. The presentation will also explore the effective alternative: empowering workers to monitor and improve conditions in their workplaces, and revamp the global system so it protect workers and ensures safe and healthy workplaces throughout the supply chain.