Major brands failing to tackle worker exploitation, study shows

Major clothing and footwear brands are failing to tackle the
exploitation of vulnerable workers in their supply chains, according to a
new report by Know The Chain. The benchmark test – which measured 43 global
companies’ efforts to address forced labour – gave the apparel and footwear
sector an overall average score of 37 out of 100.

Adidas (92/100) came top of the list with the best average score,
followed closely by Lululemon (89/100) and Gap Inc. (75/100). At the other
end of the scale, luxury brands Prada (5/100), Salvatore Ferragamo
(13/100), and LVMH (14/100), and footwear
brands Skechers (7/100) and Foot Locker (12/100) all fared poorly.

The report also found that 18 companies scored zero out of 100 on
recruitment, which measured a company’s approach to reducing the risk of
worker exploitation by recruitment agencies.

While the 2018 benchmark showed improvement from Know The Chain’s
previous 2016 benchmark, the majority of companies still scored poorly with
more than two-thirds of companies scoring below 50/100.

Major brands not doing enough to prevent worker exploitation

According to Know The Chain, while the apparel and footwear sector is
increasingly reliant on migrant labor, industry-wide progress is still
lacking on key issues such as responsible recruitment – one of the areas
with the most direct impact on vulnerable workers’ lives.

The company also highlighted the fact that, despite ever-growing public
scrutiny, companies are still underpaying workers, and some are cutting
them off from their homes or families. “Compounding the issue, workers are
often charged exorbitant recruitment fees that they can never repay,
further trapping them in debt bondage and forced labor,” Know the Chain
said in the report.

Kilian Moote, Know The Chain project director, added: “No one should
have to pay for their job,”We need to see stronger action from apparel and
footwear brands to ensure vulnerable workers are recruited ethically and
that their voices and grievances are heard across all their supply
chains.

“A single pair of shoes made from rubber, leather, metal, and cotton may
have passed through dozens of hands that belong to victims of forced
labor.

“All apparel and footwear brands are at risk of forced labor and it’s
concerning to see the industry is still not doing enough to protect
vulnerable workers around the world.”