OECD Side Session: Confronting the Fashion Industry’s Accountability Problem

A discussion on how the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines can drive accountability in national laws and in fashion supply chains – especially from brands and investors to marginalized workers

Last year, Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) and its partner unions launched a groundbreaking attempt to hold global fashion brands accountable for labor rights violations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through litigation, they argued that fashion brands should be considered as “joint employers”, along with their suppliers, under national laws in Asia, for the massive wage theft and the resulting poverty and destitution of millions of Asian garment workers.

Even in this growing struggle for legal accountability for workers’ rights in Asian garment production countries, the OECD guidelines remain a powerful tool.

In this panel, garment labor leaders and movement lawyers discussed how the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the crisis in the fashion industry: from increased wage theft, caste and gender-based violence to rising levels of informality.

They examined how the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines could drive accountability in national laws and in fashion supply chains – especially from brands and investors to marginalized workers. The panel also explored investors and fashion companies’ responsibilities toward garment workers moving forward from COVID-19.

Speakers

Jeeva M | General Secretary, Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) – India

Swastika Arulingam | Deputy General Secretary, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU) – Sri Lanka

Andi Muttaqien | Deputy Director, Lembaga Studi & Advokasi Masyarakat (ELSAM) – Indonesia

Discussants

Ashley Saxby | South-East Asia Coordinator, Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) – Thailand

Sahiba Gill | Staff Attorney, Global Labour Justice – International Labour Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) – USA

Ashim Roy | Member of the AFWA International Secretariat – India