Thread by @asia_floorwage

Why are audits are ineffective tools for detecting reporting & correcting environmental & labor violations in #fashion supply chains? A thread/1

Most brands design audit programs that only inspect Tier 1 suppliers, where the final assembly of products takes place. This means, subcontracted units or other tiers in garment production (dyeing, spinning,etc), where working conditions are worse - are not included in audits./2

Many #fashion brands, themselves design audit programs. This means they determine how audits are conducted when they should be conducted, which factories must be part of it, or even which agencies must to involved in it.3

Audits are hardly done in consultation with trade unions or other local representatives of workers. Many audits are pre-announced, enabling suppliers to falsify records or get rid of exploited workers, including child labor./4

In pre-announced audits, workers are threatened by factory management, that if they speak about poor working conditions to auditors, they will lose their jobs or face pay cuts./5

Also, worker surveys during audits are conducted within factory premises, sometimes even conducted in front of factory management - making it impossible for workers to speak openly about issues they face./6

The #RanaPlaza garment factory, which was twice audited by @Primark collapsed and killed 1000+ workers in 2013. Yet, even in 2022, brands are still relying on audits to claim their factories are safe for workers & the environment./7

We need to challenge this & demand that brands move to sign enforceable and binding agreements with local labor partners, particularly trade unions, to ensure that workers rights are actually protected & respected in supply chains. The Accord, the Wage Forward campaigns are egs/8

A good brief to read in this context in the research done by @SPERIshefuni : speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/upl… / 9
@GLeBaron