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1Precarious Work in the Gap Global Value Chain 2 3 1Precarious Work in the Gap Global Value Chain 2 3 Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) was oicially formed in 2006 and includes up to 71 organizaions, which consitute a network from 17 countries across Asia, Europe and North America to represent garment industry trade unions, NGOs, consumer groups and research insitutes. The Center for Alliance of Labor & Human Rights (CENTRAL) is a local Cambodian NGO. The organizaion empowers Cambodian working people to demand transparent and accountable governance for labor and human rights through legal aid and other appropriate means. Sedane Labour Resource Centre/Lembaga Informasi Perburuhan Sedane (LIPS) is a non governmental organizaion in labor studies. LIPS works to strengthen the labor movement by documening knowledge through paricipatory research and developing methods of popular educaion in labor groups and unions. SLD is a Delhi-based labour rights organisaion, that believes in equitable development through social and economic well-being of labour, migrants, and women workers; and through cultural renewal among disenfranchised people. SLD is a naional organisaion that originated with a focus on the Naional Capital Region and works with partners in Utar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Kerala. The Naional Centre for Development Cooperaion, or CNCD-11.11.11, includes nearly 80 development NGOs, trade unions and associaions engaged in coninuing educaion for internaional solidarity in the French Community and Community of Belgium. The United Workers Congress (UWC) is a strategic alliance of workers that are either by law or by pracice excluded from the right to organize in the United States. This naional network represents a base of workers, and also regional networks and individual organizaions in industries where there is no naional network. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 5 that physical punishment and illegal terminaion— commitment. To date, Gap has refused to make especially of pregnant women who were also a contractual commitment to work with their denied maternity beneits—were normal suppliers and local and internaional trade unions occurrences (IGLHR 2013). to ensure that repairs are made and workers have the right to refuse dangerous work. Working condiions like those reported in Next Collecions are far from isolated incidents. Gap Due in no small part to this egregious refusal to lags far behind other brands in their commitments join the Accord, in 2014 Gap earned the Public to decent work and safe workplaces. For instance, Eye Jury Award from the Berne Declaraion and more than 200 brands signed the legally binding Greenpeace Switzerland—an award that aims Accord on Fire and Building Safety following the to shine a light on the current and most serious collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in Bangladesh, cases of human rights violaions and disregard for killing 1,127 workers. Instead of signing the environmental protecion and sustainability (CCC Accord, Gap together with Walmart, founded the 2014a). Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. Unlike the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Gap currently operates 3,300 stores and employs Safety, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety more than 150,000 employees across their is a voluntary measure rather than a contractual global producion network. (ILO 2014; Donaldson Campaigners on Oxford Street, London call on Gap to ensure beter safety in their Bangladeshi factories. To date, Gap has refused to make a contractual commitment to work with their suppliers to ensure that repairs are made. by Trade Union Congress licensed under CC 2.0. jpg Gap 5th Avenue, New York by Ingbruno licensed under CC3.0 In March 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama garment workers in overseas producion hubs. made headlines by ceremoniously shopping Although Gap has also publicly announced a at a Gap store on East 42nd and Third Avenue. commitment to set humane working condiions, Obama’s decision to visit the store followed an just months before Gap announced an increase announcement by Gap that they would raise in wages for U.S. workers, the Insitute for Global minimum wages for U.S. workers to USD 10 per Labour and Human Rights exposed sweatshop hour by 2015. Gap’s decision to raise minimum condiions in Gap supplier factory run by the hourly wages broke with U.S. retailers and Ha-Meem Group in Bangladesh—where together business groups that urged lawmakers to maintain Gap and Old Navy account for 70% of producion the federal minimum wage at USD 7.25 an hour (Boyer 2014). The 3,750-worker Next Collecions (Banjo 2014). factory in Ashulia, Bangladesh, on the outskirts of Dhaka, rouinely forced workers into 14-17 Gap—the parent company of Gap, Banana hour shits, seven days a week amouning to Republic and Old Navy—has commited to raising workweeks of over 100 hours. Workers were paid wages for U.S. workers but this commitment poverty level wages: just USD .20 - .24 per hour. does not extend to establishing living wages for Workers in the Next Collecions factory reported 6 7 2016a). Brands like Gap wield the potenial to Secion one provides a brief overview of global chains, the ILO should set new standards and transform working condiions through their producion networks in general and the garment Recommendaions enforcement mechanisms and encourage naional supply chains. Gap has not, however, commited global producion network in paricular. It for the ILO at the governments to do the same. to ensuring a living wage for workers beyond U.S. outlines key shits in employment relaionships employees and fails to disclose their suppliers— as producion processes evolve to include several The ILO Triparite declaraion of principles creaing signiicant barriers to allowing labour companies across muliple countries. This secion Internaional Labour concerning mulinaional enterprises and social rights groups, the government and other paries also traces the concentraion and distribuion of Conference, 2016 policy (MNE Declaraion), 2006 provides a to monitor labour rights in their direct supplier control over producion processes across various good staring point. However, within the MNE and subcontractor factories. Rather than actors in the garment global producion network. Declaraion, MNE refers only to subsidiaries or upholding rights and work for garment workers The ILO—the only global franchises. Accordingly, GVCs and GPNs in their overseas, Gap maintains high pressure sourcing Secion two reviews Gap public commitments to tripartite institution—has a current form are not covered by this Declaraion. models within the garment global producion promoing decent work in their supply chains, The need of the hour is for the ILO to clarify and network that create overwhelming incenives for including through the Gap Code of Conduct and unique role to play in setting update its standards and mechanisms to protect factories to reduce costs and speed producion by partnership programs. Where possible, it includes standards for all of the actors workers employed by transnaional corporaions ignoring labour standards. discussions and research on the eicacy of these (TNCs) across vast GPNs. iniiaives to date. that impact fundamental In recent years, the status of Gap commitments principles and rights at work. The following recommendaions emerge from to human rights at work has been the subject Secion three provides a brief overview of the our experience promoing rights at work in global of numerous studies by labour unions, human market share of Asian garment value chains and As detailed in this report on the garment global value chains. rights organizaions and their allies—ranging more focused country proiles on the Cambodian, producion network (GPN), due to the scale from Human Rights Watch to the Insitute for Indian and Indonesian garment industries. These of global trade accounted for by Global Value 1. Given the well-documented and rampant Global Labour and Human Rights. In the lead up secions aim to contextualize empirical indings on Chains (GVCs) there is an urgent need for global exploitaion of workers and resources by MNEs to the 105th Session of the Internaional Labour working condiions presented in the inal secion mechanisms to monitor and regulate GVCs operaing through GVCs, and noing the limits on Conference, focused for the irst ime on decent of the report. and GPNs. The ILO—the only global triparite regulaion under naional legal regimes, the ILO work in global supply chains, this report revisits insituion—has a unique role to play in seing should move towards a binding legal convenion the status of Gap’s commitments to decent work Secion four discusses, in detail, the intensive standards for all of the actors that impact regulaing GVCs. through the lens of rights at work as they are labour exploitaion and abuse faced by workers fundamental principles and rights at work. 1.1. Standards under this convenion must protected under Internaional Labour Organizaion in Gap supply chains in Cambodia, India and be at least as efecive and comprehensive (ILO) convenions and other instruments. Indonesia. Recent empirical indings are Transnaional Corporaions (TNCs) and their as the UN Guiding Principle on Business and supplemented with evidence of rights violaions suppliers have a duty to obey naional laws and Human Rights and exising OECD mechanisms, Shedding light on the gaps in implementaion of drawn from exising studies. In this secion the respect internaional standards—especially those including the 2011 OECD Guidelines for Gap commitments, violaions of internaional human rights violaions and consequences of pertaining to realizaion of the fundamental Mulinaional Enterprises. labour standards and challenges Gap may face precarious work in the Gap supply chain are principles and rights at work. A number of 1.2. The Convenion should include the in upholding commitments to decent work, ariculated themaically in order to surface the ILO core labor standards, such as the Forced following components, among others: this report contributes new research collected patern of rights violaions across Cambodia, India Labour Convenion, 1930 (No.
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