March 2001 Insights Issue #36
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Richer or poorer? Achievements
and challenges of ethical trade
Ethical trade
as an approach to supply chain management has mushroomed in recent years.
Northern companies are becoming increasingly concerned with the 'ethics'
of their operations and the risks to reputation and productivity posed
by bad employment practices in global supply chains. But can voluntary
private sector codes really improve employment conditions in supply
chains? Full editorial...
Other articles in this
issue:
Who benefits
in South Africa?
South Africa is now committed to a constitutional democracy whose labour
laws exceed ILO conventions, yet little improvement has been made in
the quality of life of farm workers.
Consensus
or conflict: what's in a code?
The increasing dissemination of information through new technologies
and the media which made possible the growth of global brands, has also
brought issues of workers' rights and conditions in the south into consumer
political consciousness in the north...
SA8000:
can standards evolve?
How has SA8000 changed and improved since its inception over three years
ago?
Code
compliance in Zimbabwe
Standards or Codes of Practice have been introduced covering chemical,
environmental and social issues. How can matching the criteria for social
performance be measured? How can consumers and retailers be sure that
producers are complying with codes of practice?
Death by a thousand codes?
Is harmonisation possible? Over two hundred published codes exist covering
labour issues, a figure that includes just a fraction of buyers' in-house
codes.
Fresh
off the shelf: gender and horticulture
UK supermarkets are applying codes of conduct to the growers that supply
them aiming to assure consumers that produce is grown in a socially
responsible manner.
Learning
by doing: the ETI way
ETI has examined the contribution that trade unions, NGOs, trade associations
and academics can make to identifying best practice in auditing labour
standards in global supply chains.
Are women
garment workers stitched up?
Can codes help women garment workers? The garments sector is a major
source of female employment: 75 percent of jobs in the industry are
held by women and yet theirs are the lowest paid and lowest status of
all.
Also:
Home Sweet Home? Codes for
homeworkers
Sainsbury's and ethical
trade
Trade union perspective
Just trading? An NGO speaks
Sites
for sore eyes
Further web resources on Ethical Trade.
Coming in
Issue #37:
Water for life? Securing water for all in the 21st century
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