One Sweatshop is Too Many

Welcome to the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving labor conditions in factories worldwide by exposing and ending sweatshop conditions and building innovative and sustainable solutions to abusive labor conditions.

Ending sweatshop labor is an enormous challenge with no single solution, particularly when our global economy is expanding in new, and often unpredictable, ways. But we are making progress, by bringing to the table the combined voices and power of universities and colleges, companies and other parties from the manufacturing and marketing process, as well as many non-governmental organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of workers around the world. Since 1999, the FLA has helped improve the lives of thousands of workers by helping to create greater accountability and transparency of factories, manufacturers, and others involved in the manufacturing and supply process. In addition, we work to strengthen the capacity of local communities to advocate that governments meet their responsibilities to workers, and help workers themselves have a greater voice in determining and negotiating their needs.

The Strength of Global Alliance

At the core of the FLA mission is a process of monitoring factory compliance, reporting that record publicly, and working to ensure that any problems discovered are corrected. The advantage of FLA and its unique and far-reaching membership is the power of leverage. When a company or brand agrees to affiliate with the FLA, they must comply with and enforce the FLA’s Workplace Code of Conduct in those factories within the agreement with the FLA.

But the FLA is about much more than simply monitoring factories for violations. That is why the FLA is focused on building a newly enhanced system that promotes sustainable gains that help to increase the due diligence of factories in achieving higher standards and in making these factories more accessible for change. Our new FLA 3.0 system places even greater emphasis on determining the reasons for this noncompliance. It is helping to teach and support factories to build internal systems that ensure that workers’ voices are heard, prevent the same violations from occurring again, and establish a system for resolving future conflicts in way that ensures fair labor practices.

We encourage you to read through our Web site and get a better understanding of how the FLA is working to achieve these goals. Review our monitoring process. Read and contribute to our blog. And get involved in one of the most challenging issues of today.