Our year in business and human rights

“We are happy the workers received at least some money to support their livelihoods,” a trade union President in Cambodia told us after, together, we achieved a payment to workers for unpaid wages from a European fashion brand. Amidst the tragedy of the pandemic, it was wonderful when our efforts paid off – quite literally – for women apparel workers who faced a crisis of hunger at home. Our engagement with fashion brands throughout the pandemic has persuaded or cajoled some to transform the initial gross mistreatment of supply chain workers. But many brands have returned quickly to their standard purchasing practices which sustain poverty wages, poor factory conditions, and the silencing of workers and their leaders.

And throughout the pandemic, the world continues to hurtle towards climate breakdown. Since 2014 the Resource Centre has been highlighting the urgent need for a fair and fast transition to clean energy. In 2020 we published the first-ever human rights benchmark of renewable energy companies. The scores were dreadful (average of 22%), but this has been a wake-up call to more responsible companies, and investors, regarding abuse faced by communities and workers in this industry. This abuse creates the risk that companies lose their social licence to operate, and engender protests, repression, suspension of projects, and rising costs. But most clean energy companies remain willing to run these risks in search of high returns on investment.

These examples illustrate why, in 2020, we have done more to help drive stronger government regulation – a ‘level playing field’ of minimum corporate standards of behaviour. Our work with allies has focused on government opportunities to insist companies assess their worst risks to workers, communities and environment, and take action to prevent them (due diligence). Otherwise, unscrupulous companies should face liability for their failure to prevent harm in operations and supply chains. We have amplified the voices of diverse allies across Europe, including welcome statements from responsible business and investors. And we have worked in Latin America, East Africa and Asia to promote this advance.

I would like to thank all our donors, supporters, allies and our Global Team for the immense contribution that all have made to our impact in the year.

Phil Bloomer Executive Director

Chris Jochnick, Chair of the Board

The pandemic interrupted organisational plans during 2020 and into 2021 – but for workers and communities around the world, it did more than that. It put a magnifying glass on the power imbalances fuelling corporate profits. It highlighted the price ordinary people pay as businesses chase profits at the expense of their human rights responsibilities and commitments.

The Resource Centre reacted swiftly - we engaged with partners, tracked corporate abuses and developed solutions-focused analysis to drive accountability and limit harm.

COVID-19 Apparel Action Tracker

The pandemic had devastating consequences for garment workers, driven by global brands which cancelled or simply didn’t pay suppliers for billions of dollars in orders, which left workers unpaid and destitute. We sought to shed light on how existing purchasing practices and historically unequal relationships between brands and suppliers led to such terrible outcomes for workers. In May 2020 we surveyed 35 fashion brands (26 responded) on the details of how they were responding to both their suppliers and workers during pandemic. It was the first time brands published information about their commercial practices. The research found nearly half (40%) of companies had not made a public commitment to pay for all completed orders. A fifth (23%) had demanded discounts on orders already agreed. We followed up with brands in November 2020, widening our focus to the top 50 fashion brands (34 responded). More than half (29) of the brands had recorded profits since the onset of the pandemic, and just three brands – all supermarkets – had specific pandemic policies on prices.

Company representatives were very interested in how their performance compared with others, and often discussed what they could do to change their performance on specific indicators. A number of companies changed their stance on fulfilling order payments and creating pandemic policies on price reductions and discounts after direct engagement from the Resource Centre among a number of other actors. Partner CSOs referred to our research in their advocacy work, which led us to publish two reports on union busting and wage theft case studies during the pandemic which ultimately led to many of these cases being resolved.

Worker-led action in Tunisia

We intervened to help convince the country office of an e-commerce multinational to reinstate 80 employees who had been dismissed unfairly during the early months of the pandemic. The trainee workers were laid off amid growing concerns about job insecurity and high rate of unemployment, particularly among young people, in Tunisia. Civil society activists and trade unions, including the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), called on Vistaprint Tunis to reinstate the workers and to comply with national laws which clearly consider unfair dismissal to be abusive. We complemented this by taking up the allegation and seeking a response from Cimpress, the Netherlands-based firm which owns Vistaprint.

Cimpress responded, explaining it had reversed its decision: “We’ve heard concerns from our team members and agree that more can be done to show support in Tunis...  Following those discussions and after significant thoughts, we’ve reversed our decision and will be offering all affected team members the opportunity to return to their roles at Vistaprint effective immediately," - General Manager of Vistaprint Tunis.

Migrant worker voices in Brazil

With local partners, we surveyed 146 migrant workers in São Paulo’s fashion industry to highlight reports of poor working conditions during the pandemic and found nine in 10 had seen a drastic income reduction during the pandemic. We put a spotlight on the struggles of vulnerable supply chain workers, mostly Bolivian women (73%), during the pandemic. Brazilian media was shocked and covered the report extensively.

We called the attention of the São Paulo City Chamber, where we participated in a public hearing and also presented the findings of the report, Masking Misery, at a seminar with Latin American migrants. We will keep pushing these findings into the public eye to ensure their voices are heard and migrant workers’ rights are respected.

Forced labour in PPE supply chains

Ebos, the largest medical and personal protective equipment supplier to the healthcare market in New Zealand, stopped importing a brand of disposable gloves after the Resource Centre highlighted links with Top Glove, a huge Malaysian glove producer accused of using forced migrant labour. 

By approaching Ebos and asking them to investigate their supply chain, the Resource Centre made further progress combatting labour exploitation by highlighting issues with supply chains in the region.