WELCOME TO THE ARCHIVE (1994-2014) OF THE MAQUILA SOLIDARITY NETWORK. For current information on our ongoing work on the living wage, women's labour rights, freedom of association, corporate accountability and Bangladesh fire and safety, please visit our new website, launched in October, 2015: www.maquilasolidarity.org
All companies have a responsibility to ensure that the rights of the workers who manufacture, ship, distribute and sell their products are fully respected.
A corporate code of conduct is a document outlining the basic rights and minimum standards a corporation pledges to respect in its relations with workers, communities and the environment.
Company monitoring, external verification, and multi-stakeholder initiatives. Read about programs to ensure compliance with codes of conduct, and how they are changing.
At what point does the lowest price have too high a cost? Learn how company purchasing practices can lead to worker rights abuses.
How much do we really know about where and how those clothes are made? How well do companies inform their customers, investors and workers about worker rights in the company's supply chain?
Some companies are developing "sweat-free" or "Fair Trade" product lines which, they say, do not involve worker exploitation. But is "Fair Trade" a good fit for the apparel industry?
The rise of giant, multi-product discount chains is making it difficult to sustain labour rights compliance in a highly competitive environment. Because Wal-Mart and other retailers regularly push their suppliers to reduce prices, the thousands of suppliers who need to tap into those markets are forced to find ways to cut costs year after year. In that environment, compliance with basic labour rights falls by the wayside as suppliers scramble to find the cheapest production possible.
With the demise of the import quota system at the beginning of 2005, companies began restructuring global supply chains with little regard for the workers, communities and countries that are affected. When the economic crisis hit in the latter half of 2008, the industry began a whole new wave of downsizing and restructuring. While a few companies are willing to discuss how to minimize the negative impacts of restructuring and consolidation, the vast majority refuse to even consider justifying their decisions to those they leave behind.
To find information on individual companies on our website, you can browse maquilasolidarity.org by company name.
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