Mitigating Abusive Labor Conditions: Comtemporary Strategies and Lessons Learned;Occasional paper series

摘要

Growing concern in the United States has given life to a number of diverse and experimental approaches to mitigate abusive labor conditions, often referred to as sweatshops, in the apparel industry both in the United States and overseas. The U.S. State Department, through its Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, has led this effort through both policy guidance and targeted funding. Additional initiatives have been implemented by USAID, the Department of Labor, and the Office of U.S. Trade Representative, to name a few. These and other programs may also be funded and managed by apparel companies themselves, by civil society groups such as unions and advocacy organizations, or by government agencies in other countries. This paper describes a sample of the existing anti-sweatshop programs, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each, and provides a set of recommendations for future directions in combating sweatshops.