In 1999, leaders from apparel and footwear brands, universities, the labor movement, and human rights organizations came together to fight for a better future for workers, forming the Fair Labor Association. Twenty-five years later, FLA continues to work toward a future where responsible business means that fair working conditions are the standard, not the exception. Our unique model of collaboration builds expertise and drives innovation to improve business policies and practices that benefit workers around the world, with our experts featured at global events like COP28, the Economist Impact Summit, and more.
Throughout 2024, FLA and our members not only celebrated the progress that has been made since 1999 but also shared our inspirational vision of the future of fair labor. Our work transforming supply chains to address challenging issues like living wage, responsible recruitment, forced labor, and child labor continues, but we also are beginning to explore how to respond to new risks for workers, such as climate change and rapid changes in the world of business and human rights, ranging from new mandatory due diligence regimes to advances in artificial intelligence. Our first step was the launch of a new innovation strategy, led by Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Richa Mittal, to drive the development of scientific, scalable, and replicable solutions to labor rights challenges.
We hope you’ll read our annual public report to learn more about today’s efforts to create tomorrow’s Fair Labor Future. Highlights include:
- Welcoming eight new members, including Brooks Running, L’Oréal, Timtas, Catawba College, Kennesaw State University, Pima Community College, Pakistan Textile Garments, and Leather Workers’ Federation, and Threading Change;
- Celebrating two Fair Labor Accreditations;
- Launching a new Fair Labor Accreditation badge to recognize companies that meet the highest standards in labor rights;
- Conducting 44 factory assessments, including interviews with 1,876 workers across 16 countries;
- Conducting 7 farm assessments, including interviews with 816 farmers and 753 workers across 10 countries;
- Piloting Milestone 5 Post-Accreditation Reports for manufacturing companies;
- Expanding Harvesting the Future initiative to Cotton in India and Jasmine in Egypt;
- Partnering with global coalitions like United Nations Global Compact’s Forward Faster initiative to make tangible progress on labor rights;
- Continuing to advocate on behalf of workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Taiwan; and more.