Few Companies Fight Forced Labor

Few companies fight forced labor.  In fact, studies show there are less than 25% that are doing a commendable job combating slavery in their supply chains…

This article informs the reader that KnowTheChain by Humanity United, was the study that discovered only 25 in a 100 were willing to disclose the methods with which they deal with this issue in their supply chains.  The report says:  “Overall, the research finds a wide distribution in companies’ transparency on efforts to mitigate human trafficking and forced labor in their supply chains. We are doing this with the belief that leaders should be recognized, laggards should be incentivized to improve, and all companies should have insights into how their peers are addressing these challenges so they can strive to do better.”

The study reports that 17 of 20 have policies, but they don’t disclose the problems.  The policies are often not written in the native language of the workers or simply are not accessible to them. Furthermore only a few of the companies listed the names and addresses of their first-tier suppliers.  Only 3 in 20 actually facilitate interviews with the sub-contracted employees of their suppliers.

Of the companies studied, clothing and shoe business did better that food and beverage companies.  The study did not explain the performance of the individual companies studied.  Those companies listed included Gap Inc, Nike Inc, Nestle S.A., Unilever plc, Apple Inc, Hennes & Mauritz AB, and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. which were selected for the study based on the high risk of issue and capitalization.  It is important for consumers to understand the records of major corporations in order to make good decisions about their purchases.  Otherwise, they may be supporting forced labor without their knowledge.

To read the entire article, click on the link below.

View Article on Daily Mail