Civil Society Organization Membership
FLA’s Civil Society Organization Caucus helps shape programs and policies that amplify workers’ voices and hold companies accountable.
One of the most important components of the Fair Labor Association (FLA)’s multistakeholder model is the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Caucus, which ensures a strong worker voice in FLA’s strategy, program development, and decision making.
This collaborative approach is achieved through a diverse caucus that leads an ongoing consultation process with the CSO community worldwide, emphasizing the points of view of labor unions and labor rights, human rights, consumer, faith based, and other public interest organizations that focus on or implement specific initiatives promoting workers’ rights.
The CSO Caucus work includes:
- Providing guidance and input on FLA strategy, programs, governance, and other decisions.
- Supporting FLA staff in building broad engagement with the CSO community.
- Reviewing policies, work plans, and other aspects of FLA work that emerge from stakeholder recommendations.
- Increasing the effectiveness of FLA programs in improving the lives of workers.
Being part of the FLA’s multistakeholder initiative allows us to engage directly with companies, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to drive meaningful improvements in working conditions. The FLA’s collaborative approach ensures accountability and fosters sustainable change across global supply chains.
Benefits
Joining the FLA community as a CSO leads to impactful collaboration centered on improving the lives of workers globally. CSO members benefit from:
- Shaping global labor rights initiatives: CSO members influence FLA’s strategic direction and priorities, ensuring that civil society voices are integrated into its standards, programmatic work, and key decisions.
- Access to member-only communications, resources, tools, events, and webinars: FLA develops timely resources to help our members stay at the forefront of labor rights issues with exclusive access to the latest research, implementation tools, benchmarking data, and learning opportunities tailored to member needs.
- Opportunities to join committees, working groups, and run for board seats: CSOs play an active leadership role within FLA by contributing subject-matter expertise, driving programmatic improvements, and representing civil society perspectives at the highest levels of governance.
- Participation in FLA’s board convenings and events: CSOs can leverage FLA’s platform to amplify their organization’s missions and impact in shaping industry-wide standards for workers’ rights and responsible sourcing.
- Engagement with the FLA board and other members from the CSO, Business, and University Caucuses: Build strategic alliances and foster collaboration across sectors through regular engagement with peers, companies, and academic institutions committed to fair labor practices.
- Gain early insight into policy developments, labor trends, and stakeholder expectations: Stay informed and prepared to respond to evolving regulatory landscapes and consumer demands through early access to FLA briefings and thought leadership.
FLA’s multi-stakeholder structure is its key strength, with civil society, production country trade unions and universities working together to protect labour rights and to hold companies accountable for working conditions in the supply chain.
FLA’s capacity building work enhances the ability of brand companies and suppliers to address workers’ rights concerns in production facilities. For civil society members, the direct access to brand companies is helpful to raise issues related to working conditions and to move towards remediation.
Criteria
The CSO Caucus welcomes representatives from across the civil society community worldwide, including those from labor or trade unions and labor rights, human rights, consumer, faith based, and other public interest organizations that focus on or implement specific initiatives promoting workers’ rights.
How to Join
An interested representative may reach out to Andrea Ackerman (aackerman@fairlabor.org), FLA’s CSO Engagement Director, to set up an introductory conversation on caucus membership.
Once ready to apply, we will ask for an email that includes:
- a statement of interest detailing the organization or person’s work on labor rights and issues they would like to engage with FLA and the caucus around (this can be a few sentences to a few paragraphs);
- basic information, if available, such as:
official name of the organization or affiliation;
location of headquarters;
geographic scope of work;
number of affiliates or members represented (i.e. if a union/if applicable);
or website.
The information will be shared with the CSO board members, who will decide whether to accept the organization or individual’s request to become a caucus member.