FLA Special Projects

There is no single solution to ending sweatshop labor.  The FLA is continually seeking innovative ways to enhance respect for worker rights and improve workers' lives. Through its monitoring and compliance programs, the FLA identifies some of the more serious compliance failures that are not easy to fix through traditional corrective measures.  In response, the FLA designs and implements special projects that address these systemic noncompliance issues.  By striving to address root causes at an industry level rather than just targeting a signle factory, these projects produce innovative solutions to factory worker rights compliance and workplace condition issues.

Fair Labor Association Special Projects include:

Soccer Project

The Soccer Project was a response to the build-up to the 2006 World Cup tournament, when stakeholders criticized factory conditions in the soccer supply  This project sought to bring together multiple stakeholders to identify a number of critical issues in the industry and to try to improve workplace conditions, with a priority in two specfic areas: grievance procedures and hours of work.  The Socer Project is also a pilot project designed to test FLA's new 3.0 sustainable compliance method.  Through the pilot process, the FLA has brought together stakeholders from brands, suppliers and civil society groups to determine how compliance can be achieved from the ground up in a self-sustaining manner. To read more about the Soccer Project, click here.

Central America Project

The Central American Project evolved out of repeated monitoring findings among FLA and brand monitoring that blacklisting (discrimination in recruitment of workers who had been afffiliated with unions) was a prevalent practice in the region.  The project brings together not only brands and their indvidual suppliers, but also seeks to achieve industry-wide change by including local government, export processing zone (EPZ) officials, suppliers, non-FLA brands, and civil society organizations in addressing the issue.  

The project initially focused on El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and has since expanded to the Dominican Republic.  The guidelines of good practice (addressing discrimination in relation to hiring, termination, grievances and discipline) were produced from this project and have been used to train brands, suppliers, EPZ officials and government labor inspectors across the region and have been adapted to other-country context through FLA 3.0. To read more about the Central America Project, click here.

Syngenta Seeds

In this pilot project, FLA is working with Syngenta Seeks in India to apply FLA methods to the agricultural sector. The project seeks to develop and implement a monitoring system for Syngenta farms that will improve working conditions. To view the FLA's 2006 report on Syngenta, click here.  To learn more about the Syngenta Seeds Project, click here.

Agriculture Project Newsletters:
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008

Fashion Project

The Fashion Project was launched after carrying out research on ethical clothing, which showed gaps in monitoring of global supply chains. This project seeks to bring more transparency and accountability to socially responsible fashion labels. The aim of the FLA Fashion Chamber is to create a consultative platform for companies within the fashion sector to enable them to share and pool experiences, resources, and costs. To read more about the FLA Fashion Project, please click here.

PREPARE Project -- Promotion of Responsible Representation for Workers and Employers

The PREPARE project in Bangladesh has been developed to improve the efficacy of worker representation in factories by: 1) providing a platform for labor-management dialogue; 2) establishing a system of communication, consultation, and negotiation; 3) providing capacity training to worker representatives and factory management on their roles and responsibilities; and 4) promoting a sustainable training model that will ensure that all workers and supervisors in the factory receive regular training on local labor laws. 

The project, expected to run for 18 months, will employ qualified local trainers, who will work directly with individuals at all levels of the factory organization – owners, managers, supervisors, workers, and worker representatives. As a “top-down bottom-up” approach is used to ensure ownership at all levels of the company, the project’s success will be measured by the ability of participating factories to identify and resolve problems which have an effect on compliance. For more information about PREPARE, please click here.

To read the July 2008 monthly project newsletter, please click here.


JO-IN

The Joint Initiative seeks to increase collaboration among six workers’ rights advocacy organizations and explore ways they can work together, share knowledge, and ensure that all solutions are directed at improving the lives of workers and their families.

Special Projects Newsletters (archives)