Mike McDonnell, a CSR/ESG Consultant to the RBA/RLI and a founding member of the Responsible Business Alliance’s Responsible Labor Initiative, joins host Gwen Hassan to discuss the impact of fast fashion on workers, forced labor, and the responsibility of companies to ensure that they don’t use vendors and suppliers who engage in unethical and harmful practices.
Many workers who end up in the grips of human trafficking often flee hardship and poverty. This makes them targets for exploitation by agencies and facilities. Mike explains that some workers have to pay fees to be hired, and because of these fees, they are put under tremendous pressure by the employers. The workers feel indebted to the ones exploiting them, allowing their superiors to maintain a sense of control over them. Companies may also be receiving free hiring services and benefits through human trafficking, sometimes without their knowledge.
The workers pay fees in two ways: above board by charging limits or extracting cash in rougher aspects. These fees are ongoing so that workers can keep their heads down and out of the line of fire. There are digital programs put in place to audit this. Surveys are given to workers with questions on whether anyone has asked them for money. One of the positives about this type of technology is that companies can monitor real-time when these situations arise.
It’s not enough to not harm a company. It’s not enough to say that you’re following your code of ethics. You have to show it in your actions and break it down to its elements. Rethink your tools, assess your suppliers and their business practices, and these can become your rail factors on whether or not to engage in business with them. If they present too much risk, or you cannot prove that they aren’t engaging in unethical behavior, you will have to rethink your outsourcing.
Resources
Mike McDonnell on LinkedIn
Responsible Labor Initiative
