New Delhi, India, June 22, 2005

Developmental Objective: Ensure and sustain healthy and productive working conditions for garment workers in India through capacity building of local suppliers.  

Introduction:  

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is a non-profit organization combining the efforts of industry, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), colleges and universities to promote adherence to international labor standards and improve working conditions worldwide.

The FLA was established as an independent monitoring system under the Clinton Administration that holds its participating companies accountable for the conditions under which their products are produced. To advance fair, decent and humane working conditions, the FLA enforces an industry-wide Workplace Code of Conduct, which is based on the core labor standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The approach to promoting code compliance in global supply chains has advanced considerably in recent years. The emphasis in the 1990’s was on monitoring (some would say policing) suppliers. The focus has slowly shifted to remediation and now to the sustainability of compliance. The FLA program has been a leader and an innovator in this regard and we continue to strive for improvement. The levels of trust and cooperation that we have been able to achieve have made it possible for us to move beyond the debates about the social responsibility of corporations and to concentrate on improving the lives of workers.

Today several Multi-Stakeholder initiatives exist in the apparel and footwear sector, growing in their membership each day. These multi- stakeholder groups largely have Corporations, NGO, Unions and / or Universities as members. None however have local suppliers as their direct members. In June 2004, the FLA organized a meeting in New Delhi, India which primarily invited suppliers and company compliance staff to talk about the challenges faced by them on the ground. That consultation arrived at a number of conclusions, including:

1. There is a lack of awareness about the FLA among the local stakeholders in the field.
2. Compliance auditing is not an effective method for developing a factory’s capacity to comply. Many suppliers do not have the confidence in (and question the motives of) the monitors visiting their factories.
3. Even a well done compliance audit rarely tells the FLA more than we already knew, either from other audits or from knowledgeable local sources. There is a real danger of duplication and diminishing returns.
4. The remediation put in place in response to the Compliance monitoring is not sustainable. Until the remedial strategies develop greater capacity inside the business, based on the needs of workers and managers, compliance will always remain a challenge.
5. There are limited opportunities for local stakeholders to pool resources to achieve improved working conditions and compliance.
6. Some suppliers take the easy route to compliance by acquiring certificates from commercial auditing firms, thereby trying to claim the same level of compliance as a supplier who genuinely strives for workplace improvement.
7. Finally, many participants in the meeting showed an interest in joining the FLA as participating suppliers.

The FLA has devoted considerable thought to how suppliers could become a stronger voice in the social responsibility debate and came up with the idea of holding a “Suppliers Consultation” to be held in June 2005 in New Delhi. Since there are many questions and concerns to deal with in a short period of time the FLA has designed the Consultation with the following objectives in mind:

Objectives:

1. To provide greater understanding to local stakeholders of the Fair Labor Association and its objectives. (Suppliers, Company Staff, Confederation of Indian Industries, Exporter’s Association, FICCI, AIOE, International Labor Organization, NGO’s, Monitors and Other organizations with similar developmental objectives.)

• Goals and Objectives
• Findings
• A Participating Company’s perspective about the FLA

2. To provide an understanding of the FLA’s new monitoring methodology (which places a greater emphasis on remedial efforts and internal management capacities) and to obtain feedback from local suppliers.

• dubbed FLA "3.0"

3. To explore the possibility of local suppliers joining the FLA as Participating Suppliers.

• Incentives and Disincentives for joining the FLA
• Criteria for joining the FLA
• Monitoring Services Agreement Clauses