Our Brands and retailers are industry leaders in the movement to reimagine the global supply chain, where workers’ rights are realised and businesses gain a competitive advantage to grow.
Building a responsible and competitive global garment industry requires patience, commitment, and the involvement of a variety of stakeholders, who tackle complex challenges – both factory specific and across the supply chain. Workers, their employers and government are critical pillars for change within countries, and brand and retailers can serve as a fourth pillar of support for stable, sustainable improvement.
We engage with brands and retailers through a number of channels, including regular Business Forums at the country, region and international level, where they have the chance to network with each other and with national and international stakeholders including unions, government, employers’ organizations and NGOs. Brands and retailers also have the unique opportunity to hear directly from factories and workers on how to work together to transform the industry for the better. Recognising the role brands and retailers play in improving factory working conditions, we have experts on our team to build and strengthen our partnerships.
In addition to working directly with brands and retailers, we also form partnerships with their key supply chain partners, namely intermediaries and sourcing agents. Sourcing agents and other intermediaries make it possible for a brand or retailer to deliver its products to the end customer without needing to directly manage the whole supply chain. The greater the number of intermediaries and the more elaborate the supply chain, the more vulnerable the system is to losing control and oversight of working conditions at factory level. By working directly with this segment of the supply chain we can help to ensure responsibility is shared and support the full supply chain in improving working conditions.
Read more about our work and engagement with brands and retailers and contact [email protected].
