Worker Rights

To that end, we advocate for inclusion of worker rights provisions and enforcement measures in all bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements. We also leverage our trade relationships and the power of our brand to encourage the governments in the countries from which we source to strengthen and enforce their own labor laws, including policies that directly affect working conditions and worker rights. For example, along with other apparel companies, we sent letters and engaged with the governments of Bangladesh, Cambodia and Mexico to help workers overcome legal and political obstacles to freedom of association and other civil liberties.

To advance worker rights, we participate in multi-stakeholder initiatives such as these:

• Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) Forum, which includes representatives of brands/retailers, trade unions, NGOs and international institutions committed to working collaboratively to address worker rights and apparel industry competitiveness. We participate in the MFA Forum’s in-country projects in Bangladesh, Lesotho and the Americas (Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua).
• Better Factories Cambodia, an International Labor Organization (ILO) program that addresses capacity building, monitoring and remediation, and worker rights education in Cambodian apparel factories.
• Better Work, a partnership between the ILO and International Finance Corporation (IFC) that works to improve labor standards and competitiveness in the apparel industries in countries such as Haiti, Indonesia, Lesotho and Vietnam.
• United Nations Global Compact, an initiative that organizes global, multi-stakeholder dialogues on corporate citizenship issues.