Exploitative supply chains
We need to pay closer attention to larger systems of production
The writer is a development anthropologist currently based in Fairfax, Virginia
While it is hard to deny the incremental progress made in terms of meeting basic human needs, and rise in overall living standards, we still do live in a very lopsided world. Alongside staggering abundance enjoyed by the few resides the sheer deprivation afflicting the lives of many. In order to understand what spurs this simultaneous creation of obscene amounts of wealth on the one hand, and abject poverty on the other, we need to go beyond the role of the individual. Instead, we need to pay closer attention to larger systems of production, which are either directly perpetuating inequalities, or at least are unable to effectively prevent the glaring disparities found between, and within, countries in the contemporary world.
Developed countries at least have many more resources, as well as better regulation, which helps ensure decent wages and a safe work environment for the majority of their workers. On the other hand, however, the phenomenon of globalisation and increasingly flexible supply chains has enabled producers in developed countries to increasingly off-shore and off-source production to parts of the world where workers’ rights are less of an encumbrance. Although workers in developed countries bemoan the loss of jobs at home, big businesses have been shifting production processes overseas lured by cheaper labour and even laxer environmental regulations. The underlying imperative to increase corporate profits, combines with the desperation of developing countries to lure foreign investments, causing alarming levels of exploitation.
The sweatshop phenomenon, with under-paid and many under-aged workers, toiling away in unsafe work environments, is not the worst outcome this above phenomenon. The situation can become even worse. The use of coercion to extract labour, which is another name for slavery in our modern world, is also a widespread problem. The Slavery Index for 2016 estimates that there are nearly 46 million men, women and children trapped in modern day slavery, with about half of them living in Asia. These victims are trapped not only in illicit work such as the sex trade, but they can readily be found in the informal sector, and in factories, or on construction sites, and within fisheries, which are all part of much larger production processes spearheaded by powerful business concerns.
Varied instances of hapless workers being forced to work for little or no pay, or under unacceptable or even downright inhuman conditions keep surfacing sporadically. Consider, for instance, recent reports of slave labour in Thailand being used to supply pet food for major multinational brands, or the exploitation of South Asian migrant workers hired by UK firms to build FIFIA World Cup stadiums in Qatar. Back in 2012, the death of poor Bangladeshi garment workers trapped in unsafe garment factories churning out clothes for major international brands briefly caught the global media’s attention.
Similarly, one recalls stories of dozens of Chinese workers at Foxconn, which manufactures electronic products for Apple, Sony and Nintendo, threatened to commit suicide by leaping from their factory roof in protest at their working conditions. There are countless more stories of people working under inhuman conditions in the agricultural sector producing coffee beans, cocoa beans for chocolate and growing cotton for big brand manufacturers.
Thus, numerous forced labor cases have some direct or indirect link with large big business concerns. While the private sector in general plays a vital role in helping stimulate economic growth and productivity, this does not mean that profit making firms should have a free reign in exploiting workers. It is infuriating when large multinational firms which pay lip-service to ensuring worker welfare, conveniently distance themselves, when disturbing instances of exploitation come to light, feigning ignorance, or claiming that they will now give their business to another sub-contractor.
Alongside civil society, the World Bank, the ILO, the WTO and legislators must all do their bit to ensure that retail and manufacturing firms are compelled to adopt specific measures to improve worker welfare in their supply chain. These firms can, for example, conduct investigative audits which illuminate the real conditions faced by workers throughout the continuum of the supply chain, with the same vigilance that they ensure product quality. Multinational firms, in particular, must also be required to train and hold accountable their corporate staff, as well as those of other suppliers, to ensure decent working conditions.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2016.
Developed countries at least have many more resources, as well as better regulation, which helps ensure decent wages and a safe work environment for the majority of their workers. On the other hand, however, the phenomenon of globalisation and increasingly flexible supply chains has enabled producers in developed countries to increasingly off-shore and off-source production to parts of the world where workers’ rights are less of an encumbrance. Although workers in developed countries bemoan the loss of jobs at home, big businesses have been shifting production processes overseas lured by cheaper labour and even laxer environmental regulations. The underlying imperative to increase corporate profits, combines with the desperation of developing countries to lure foreign investments, causing alarming levels of exploitation.
The sweatshop phenomenon, with under-paid and many under-aged workers, toiling away in unsafe work environments, is not the worst outcome this above phenomenon. The situation can become even worse. The use of coercion to extract labour, which is another name for slavery in our modern world, is also a widespread problem. The Slavery Index for 2016 estimates that there are nearly 46 million men, women and children trapped in modern day slavery, with about half of them living in Asia. These victims are trapped not only in illicit work such as the sex trade, but they can readily be found in the informal sector, and in factories, or on construction sites, and within fisheries, which are all part of much larger production processes spearheaded by powerful business concerns.
Varied instances of hapless workers being forced to work for little or no pay, or under unacceptable or even downright inhuman conditions keep surfacing sporadically. Consider, for instance, recent reports of slave labour in Thailand being used to supply pet food for major multinational brands, or the exploitation of South Asian migrant workers hired by UK firms to build FIFIA World Cup stadiums in Qatar. Back in 2012, the death of poor Bangladeshi garment workers trapped in unsafe garment factories churning out clothes for major international brands briefly caught the global media’s attention.
Similarly, one recalls stories of dozens of Chinese workers at Foxconn, which manufactures electronic products for Apple, Sony and Nintendo, threatened to commit suicide by leaping from their factory roof in protest at their working conditions. There are countless more stories of people working under inhuman conditions in the agricultural sector producing coffee beans, cocoa beans for chocolate and growing cotton for big brand manufacturers.
Thus, numerous forced labor cases have some direct or indirect link with large big business concerns. While the private sector in general plays a vital role in helping stimulate economic growth and productivity, this does not mean that profit making firms should have a free reign in exploiting workers. It is infuriating when large multinational firms which pay lip-service to ensuring worker welfare, conveniently distance themselves, when disturbing instances of exploitation come to light, feigning ignorance, or claiming that they will now give their business to another sub-contractor.
Alongside civil society, the World Bank, the ILO, the WTO and legislators must all do their bit to ensure that retail and manufacturing firms are compelled to adopt specific measures to improve worker welfare in their supply chain. These firms can, for example, conduct investigative audits which illuminate the real conditions faced by workers throughout the continuum of the supply chain, with the same vigilance that they ensure product quality. Multinational firms, in particular, must also be required to train and hold accountable their corporate staff, as well as those of other suppliers, to ensure decent working conditions.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2016.