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Using a code of conduct to protect labor rights in the garment industry

The Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign, a consortium of European trade unions and human rights and development organizations, drafted a code of conduct regarding labor rights specifically related to the garment industry that it is promoting to the business community.

Certifying companies based on an internationally recognizable standard to improve labor conditions

Social Accountability International (SAI) has developed a set of voluntary corporate social responsibility standards called SA 8000.  SA 8000 includes a code of conduct for labor conditions, based on established international standards, and a verification system to ensure compliance.  In order for a company to receive SA 8000 certification, it must pass monitoring inspections by SAI-c

Independent monitoring to verify and oversee effective compliance with codes of conduct

The Independent Monitoring Group in El Salvador (IMGES) was able to organize independent local human rights groups to monitor working conditions and labor rights violations in one of The Gap’s maquiladora factories.  Members of IMGES include the Human Rights Institute of the University of Central America, Tutela Legal (Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador), and the Labour Studies Centre (CENTRA).

Using independent monitoring to promote existing labor laws

COVERCO enforces corporate codes of conduct for working conditions in Guatemalan maquilas (factories) and in the agricultural export industry through intensive, long-term independent monitoring.

The Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct (COVERCO) is a nascent independent monitoring agency formed in 1997 by members of civil society groups, including professionals in law, education, business and other fields. COVERCO currently has arrangements to monitor three maquilas, one that produces items exclusively for Liz Claiborne, Inc. (LCI), one that produces for Gap Inc., and one that combines contracts for Gap Inc. and LCI.

Monitoring police conduct through personal observation

Copwatch sends teams of volunteers into the community to monitor police activities and report on incidents of misconduct. The organization was founded in Berkeley, California, with the goal of ‘reducing police harassment and brutality’ and ‘upholding Berkeley’s tradition of tolerance and diversity.’

Testing for discrimination

Adapting the method used by US organizations on housing discrimination, the Legal Defense Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities (NEKI) uses a method of testing to collect evidence when there is an allegation of discrimination in order to challenge it in court. The Hungarian court recognized testing as a valid technique for documenting discrimination for the first time in a case in 2000 where an individual was denied service in a public accommodation on the ground of the customer’s ethnic origin.

Monitoring checkpoints to document abuses and demonstrate solidarity

Machsom Watch monitors several Israeli checkpoints every morning and afternoon during the periods of highest traffic to protest the checkpoints and to protect the rights of individual Palestinians who must pass through them. All of the volunteers for Machsom Watch (machsom means checkpoint in Hebrew) are Israeli women.  The organization began in January 2001 with 3 women, and has since grown to 300 volunteers.  

Monitors view the checkpoints as a violations of human rights, restricting the right to free movement and hence the rights to education, medical treatment, and the right to work for Palestinians. The monitors perform three primary functions at the checkpoints: They prevent abuses at the checkpoints, they document abuses that they witness and they show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Distributing air quality testing equipment to community members to promote environmental justice

Since 1995, many communities across the United States have begun or joined “Bucket Brigades,” programs that instruct communities near industrial polluters how to build and use simple air monitoring devices, or “buckets.”  In the absence of strong environmental laws, standards, or environmental enforcement bodies, buckets give communities the means to independently monitor the air quality of their neighborhoods and provide them with the evidence to affect environmental and industrial policy change.

Labeling products to assure consumers child labor was not used

Rugmark is a private, voluntary certification program founded in 1994 to provide market-driven incentives for Indian carpet manufactures to produce without child labor. The Rugmark label, which pictures a smiling face on a carpet, identifies and promotes hand-knotted carpets made without child labor. While it started in India, Rugmark Foundation now operates as an international trademark and certification program. The program includes a licensing system, random inspections and carpet tracking. Rugmark’s founders include Indian and international NGOs, the Indo-German Export Promotion Program and UNICEF.