Garment sector social audits inadequate to defend workers rights : HRW
Staff Reporter :
The social audits and certifications that brands and retailers use are totally inadequate to monitor and respond to threats to workers trying to organise independent unions, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
HRW came up with the conclusion after analyzing standard social audit reports of garment factories in Bangladesh.
Most audit reports either barely addressed the issue of freedom of association, or in some cases, recycled stock language as part of auditor findings on freedom of association from other factories’ audit reports, HRW said.
Previous Human Rights Watch research has shown that standard social audits present greater risks for labor abuses being under detected or undetected, especially for issues like discrimination and harassment, forced labour, child labour, and freedom of association.
HRW mentioned that the seriousness of these shortcomings assumes more importance in the aftermath of the June 2023 killing of Shahidul Islam in Bangladesh.
Islam, an independent labour union leader, was killed as he was leaving a factory operated by Prince Jacquard Sweater Ltd. after trying to mediate on behalf of garment workers over nonpayment of wages and Eid bonus.
The factory had undergone audits under two commonly used social audit systems.
“Islam’s killing is a chilling reminder of the dangers facing independent labour union leaders,” said Aruna Kashyap, associate corporate accountability director at Human Rights Watch.
“Brands and suppliers should not rely on social audits and certifications as they are woefully inadequate, particularly in preventing violence and harassment of workers seeking to form or join independent labour unions,” she said.
Human Rights Watch released an analysis of 40 social audit reports of garment factories in Bangladesh provided by a European clothing brand in 2018.
Brands and retailers globally should revamp how they monitor workers’ rights to freedom of association in factories from which they source.
Following the Islam killing, the authorities have registered a criminal complaint and are investigating the case.
Bangladesh authorities should ensure that an independent and thorough investigation is conducted to hold accountable all those involved in directing, planning, and executing the attack, HRW said.
“Yellow unions” are set up or controlled by employers and violate workers’ right to freedom of association under international labour rights law.
They have been used to thwart workers’ efforts to organize independent unions, an increasing problem in Bangladesh, it said.
The failure of the Bangladesh authorities and garment manufacturers to curb abuses in the rights of independent labour unions to operate, connected to the growth of “yellow unions,” has contributed to the violence and harassment of independent labour unions and workers, it said.
Relying on social audits or certifications is not the proper way to address issues around freedom of association and collective bargaining, HRW said.
“Brands, audit firms, and audit and certification schemes tout audits and certifications as independent and credible,” Kashyap said.
“But where they are flawed or opaque in ways that put in doubt their independence and the credibility of information they generate, they cannot be used as tools for human rights due diligence.”
A 2020 US Senate Foreign Relations Committee report on Bangladesh noted concerns about growing yellow unionism in Bangladesh, and that the practice “has resulted in authorities rejecting the registration application of independent union leaders because another union already exists – the ”yellow” one.”
The Solidarity Center, an international worker rights organization, told Human Rights Watch that according to union registration data it analysed, garment factory-level unions affiliated with six independent union federations had an average union registration success rate of about 43 per cent from 2020 through 2022, compared to what the Bangladesh government states is the overall average union registration success rate of about 88 per cent.
