All people deserve work with dignity. In 2023, we worked tirelessly to make that vision true for more workers around the world. Each Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) program is tailored to the priorities of the worker organizations leading in their industry and workplaces. Yet across every program, it means that more people can take a stand for basic human rights at work and hold corporations accountable for the consequences of their purchasing practices.
As a Network, we bring worker organizations together to share learnings, support campaigns, and create more places where workers can win binding agreements – and, ultimately, human rights and dignity for all.
Worker-driven Social Responsibility Programs Protect More Workers than Ever
This year marked several momentous developments for garment workers. As the global community marked ten years since the tragic collapse of Rana Plaza, we also marked ten years since what is now the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry took effect. The Accord members successfully negotiated a renewal agreement that includes strong provisions for growth of the program to new countries and potential future expansions of the scope of the worker complaints mechanism. This growth comes in the first year of implementation of the Pakistan Accord, which now has 90 brands participating.
Lesotho Agreement Marks “A Fundamental Transformation” for Workers
The Agreements to Prevent and Combat Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Lesotho released their first progress report this year. Despite launching just as the pandemic hit the global garment industry hard, workers described “a fundamental transformation” and growing trust in their ability to report and address gender-based violence in the workplace. The development of the Lesotho Agreement underscores the adaptability of the WSR model and the infrastructure and support that exist for its expansion. It is more clear than ever that the biggest obstacle that exists for the expansion of the model is brands’ unwillingness to sign binding agreements and commit to meaningful action, not a failure of the WSR model.
Worker-driven Social Responsibility is Spreading
The proof is in the programs. This year saw interest grow in adapting the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model across the food industry. In the UK, work is underway to launch a pilot of a Fair Fish Program, spearheaded by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), looking to learnings from the Fair Food Program. The Fair Food Program is also piloting expansion in the cut flower industry, bringing the WSR model to Chile, Mexico, and South Africa with support from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Affairs (ILAB).
Challenges are Mounting Around the Globe
Human rights are under attack around the globe. 2023 has seen a number of grim milestones as trade unionists and other human rights defenders have been murdered for their work. In June, Shahidul Islam of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF) was beaten to death after trying to recoup wages owed to workers. There has been no justice for his murder. Trade unionists and worker advocates in Bangladesh remain under threat as they organize Meanwhile, the brands that continue to profit from these conditions fail to take meaningful action.
Momentum Builds for a Worker-driven Just Transition
2023 was the hottest year on record and around the globe, the climate crisis marked new and troubling milestones. The Fair Food Program marked another growing season under their updated standards that ensure water, shade, and rest for farmworkers–essential protections for these essential workers in a warming world.
Meanwhile, countries that are at the heart of global garment manufacturing are the same countries that are most impacted by the rising climate crisis. As the crises of low wages and rising waters collide, momentum is building for a worker-led just transition that will hold brands accountable through binding agreements, not just more marketing.
Worker Organizations are Bringing Communities Together in Action for Human Rights
When communities follow workers’ leadership, real change happens. This year saw communities turn out for workers’ demands around the globe, shedding light on the need for binding agreements and real corporate accountability. In Florida, hundreds marched for five days, joining the Coalition of Immokalee Workers calling on Kroger, Publix, and Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program. In Minnesota, working people across the Twin Cities issued a rallying cry, “Nothing Gets Build Without These Hands,” calling for Building Dignity and Respect, an expansion of the WSR model for the construction industry. Across New England, communities joined dairy farmworkers with Migrant Justice in calling on Hannaford for Milk with Dignity. And the Yes Men infiltrated both a fashion show and an exclusive tech event to call attention to the billions of dollars owed to garment workers.
Across the U.S., students on campuses spent the year organizing, leveraging their universities’ agreements with big apparel brands in support of garment worker demands. And that organizing worked. After intense student campaigning on Adidas, unjustly fired workers at Trax Apparel in Cambodia won back pay and rehire offers.
Tide is Turning: WSR Programs Align with Fundamental Principles of Human Rights
As this year wound down, European negotiators announced an agreement on mandatory human rights due diligence legislation. This underscores the growing recognition that corporate responsibility cannot be left to voluntary commitments and feel-good marketing. Worker-driven Social Responsibility programs are aligned with this future – as this analysis of the Milk with Dignity program’s alignment with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights shows. And this analysis is gaining legal traction: 2023 saw lawsuits brought against International Accord holdouts, making the case that Amazon, Ikea, and others are failing to uphold their human rights responsibilities.
We look forward to building on this momentum in the year to come. With your support, we can win more binding agreements to protect human rights for more workers around the globe.