ETI Letter
Response to Guardian Article ‘They sweat, you shop’
14 December 2006
ETI is not a shield that companies can hide behind (‘They Sweat, You Shop’ G2 14 December). We encourage our members to make public the commitments they make and what they are doing to meet them - this raises consumer expectations and we need more of it. All company members provide detailed progress reports each year and these are assessed by our trade union and NGO members. Poor performing members or those unwilling to keep necessary commitments are given improvement plans. The ultimate sanction is their exclusion from membership.
Poor conditions in global supply chains make it easy to criticise voluntary initiatives and we are the first to say that more corporate commitment and effort is needed. But independent research shows ETI member companies are making some impact. Last year, members’ activities touched over 20,000 workplaces, employing three million workers worldwide.This is significant by any yardstick.
Dan Rees
Director
-ends-
Download this Press Letter [PDF, 12kb]
Media enquiries:
Julia Hawkins ETI Media Relations Manager, 0207 404
1643;
Email: press@eti.org.uk.
See also:
Press release: ‘Joined up’ approach needed in Bangladesh (8 Dec 2006)
The ETI code of labour practice: Do workers really benefit? - IDS report (Sept 2006)
ETI Library: Key documents: ETI Base Code
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