Pitt and the Worker Rights Consortium: An Argument for Affiliation

It is widely acknowledged that workers in the apparel industry—one of the largest employers in the world—often labor under conditions that are unsafe, illegal, and abusive. While many people and groups would like to change this state of affairs, only a few institutions have the buying power and influence to do so. As a large-scale buyer and seller of apparel bearing its well-respected name, Pitt is among this select group of institutions. In the past, Pitt has demonstrated its commitment to improving labor standards by affiliating with the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a group that monitors labor conditions in factories producing university apparel. It is the purpose of this paper, however, to demonstrate that Pitt can better fulfill this commitment by affiliating with another organization, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC)

Corporate Social Responsibility and Workers’ Rights (Chinese)

[Excerpt] Corporate social responsibility (CSR) brings an important dimension to the global economy. CSR can enhance human rights, labor rights, and labor standards in the workplace by joining consumer power and socially responsible business leadership—not just leadership in Nike headquarters in Oregon or Levi Strauss headquarters in California, but leadership in trading house headquarters in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and leadership at the factory level in Dongguan and Shenzhen. Ten years ago, I would not have said this. I viewed corporate social responsibility and corporate codes of conduct as public relations maneuvers to pacify concerned consumers. Behind a facade of social responsibility, profits always trumped social concerns. CSR was only a fig leaf hiding abusive treatment of workers. But in recent years some concrete, positive results from effectively applied CSR programs convinced me of their value. In Mexico in 2001, workers at the Korean-owned KukDong sportswear factory succeeded in replacing a management and government dominated trade union with a democratic union of the workers\u27 choice. Compliance officials from Nike and Reebok, two of the largest buyers, joined forces with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) enforcing their codes of conduct to achieve this result

Corporate Social Responsibility and Workers’ Rights

[Excerpt] Corporate social responsibility (CSR) brings an important dimension to the global economy. CSR can enhance human rights, labor rights, and labor standards in the workplace by joining consumer power and socially responsible business leadership—not just leadership in Nike headquarters in Oregon or Levi Strauss headquarters in California, but leadership in trading house headquarters in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and leadership at the factory level in Dongguan and Shenzhen. Ten years ago, I would not have said this. I viewed corporate social responsibility and corporate codes of conduct as public relations maneuvers to pacify concerned consumers. Behind a facade of social responsibility, profits always trumped social concerns. CSR was only a fig leaf hiding abusive treatment of workers. But in recent years some concrete, positive results from effectively applied CSR programs convinced me of their value. In Mexico in 2001, workers at the Korean-owned KukDong sportswear factory succeeded in replacing a management and government dominated trade union with a democratic union of the workers\u27 choice. Compliance officials from Nike and Reebok, two of the largest buyers, joined forces with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) enforcing their codes of conduct to achieve this result

Theorization as institutional work: The dynamics of roles and practices

This study unpacks the construct of theorization – the process by which organizational ideas become delocalized and abstracted into theoretical models to support their diffusion across time and space. We adopt an institutional work lens to analyze the key components of theorization in contexts where institutional work is in transition from creating institutions to maintaining them. We build on a longitudinal inductive study of theorization by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a private regulatory initiative which created and then enforced a code of conduct for working conditions in apparel factories. Our study reveals that when institutional work shifts from creating to maintaining an institutional arrangement of corporate social responsibility, there is a key change in how the FLA theorizes roles and practices related to this arrangement. We observe that theorization on key practices largely remain intact, whereas the roles of different actors are theorized in a dramatically different manner. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the work involved in the aftermath of radical change by demonstrating the relative plasticity of roles over the rigidity of practices

Stability and Security in Employment and Decent Work

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.FLA_2012_Rpt_Stability_Security_Decent_Work.pdf: 1885 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Syngenta Consultation on Social Monitoring of the Agricultural Sector in India

Summary of conference events and discussion between Syngenta and the Fair Labor Association concerning strategies for eliminating child labor and raising labor standards in vegetable seed production in India. Includes recommendations and possible plans of action

Migrant Workers in Malaysia- Issues, Concerns and Points for Action

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.FLA_Migrant_Workers.pdf: 10158 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Interim Report: Third Party Complaint Regarding Gildan Dortex, Dominican Republic

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide.  Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.FLA_Interim_Report_Gildan_Dortex.pdf: 318 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

FLA Board of Directors Adopts Resolution on the Elimination of Apparel Quotas

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide.  Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.FLA_MFA_Resolution.pdf: 10 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Statement by FLA Board of Directors on Status of Russell Corporation

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide.  Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.FLA_Board_Statement_Status_of_Russell.pdf: 17 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020