June 27, 2013

MSN works with Southern partners to strengthen their capacity to document worker rights abuses and effectively engage with and pressure companies and government to respect worker rights.

Some 2012 highlights:

• Together with PASE in Nicaragua and EMIH in Honduras, MSN published a study which examines whether national competitiveness strategies can include Decent Work. The research created opportunities for both PASE and EMIH to engage with their respective governments and industry associations on possible alternatives to the low-road competitiveness strategy that is so prevalent in the garment export industry.
• MSN produced a critical assessment of the Fair Labor Association’s (FLA’s) investigative report and recommendations for corrective action concerning worker rights violations at Chinese factories producing electronics products for Apple. MSN provided support to one of Apple’s strongest critics, the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), in their ongoing campaign to hold Apple accountable for labour rights abuses at those factories.
• Throughout 2012, MSN continued to facilitate dialogue between Levi Strauss and our partner group in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Colectivo Raiz, concerning labour rights violations in Levi’s supplier factories in that city. The process has led to a first round of training for senior management personnel on freedom of association. MSN and Colectivo Raiz are pushing for further rounds of training for workers and line supervisors. Corrections to how pay calculations are made are still an outstanding issue as well.

Next 2012 Highlights: Facilitating South-South Exchange

 

• Click here to see Annual Reports from previous years.