The scale of ETI members' ethical trade activities grows every year - last year they touched the lives of over 8.6 million workers. But although ethical trade has brought marked improvements for workers around the world, conditions for many remain poor. The scale of our members' ethical trade activities grows every year. Last year they reached nearly 40,000 supplier companies representing 8.6 million workers - up from 6 million workers in the previous year. Companies reported that their suppliers had agreed to take over 84,520 separate actions to improve workers' conditions. A comprehensive assessment of the impact of ETI members' ethical trade activities confirmed that they are helping make workplaces safer, stamping out child labour and encouraging suppliers to pay workers their statutory entitlements. The ETI Impact Assessment was carried out by the Sussex-based Institute of Development Studies between 2004 and 2006. Many issues remain Although marked improvements have been made, conditions for many workers remain poor. Researchers found that fundamental principles, such as workers' rights to join a trade union and negotiate collectively, are not being sufficiently addressed. There has been little progress in other areas - for example, discrimination and harassment. Casual and informal sector workers are still receiving scant benefit from codes of labour practice. And global food and fuel inflation means that real wages are declining at an alarming rate in many countries. Radical response required Both the conclusions of the Impact Assessment, and the current global economic climate require a radical response from ETI and ethical trade generally. There is a clear need for us to do more to help companies support their suppliers to build sound management structures and mature systems of industrial relations, and more broadly, to integrate their ethical principles into company buying practices. For example, lead times and price negotiations with suppliers can have a profound effect on hours of work and pay levels.ERI |
