The ‘Apparel and Footwear Industry Commitment to Responsible Recruitment’ was established by the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Fair Labour Association (FLA) to unite the sector around a clear and unwavering commitment to the fair treatment of foreign migrant workers in the global textiles, apparel, footwear, and travel goods supply chain.
Each signatory agrees to collaborate with its partners to establish conditions in which no worker is required to pay for employment, where employees have complete freedom of movement and control over their travel documents, and where employees are informed of the essential terms of their employment before beginning employment.
Using the lessons learned over the previous five years, the strengthened Commitment to Responsible Recruiting is based. If such requirements were already in place, signatories now agree to establish conditions where workers get a prompt reimbursement of all fees and expenditures paid to gain or continue their employment.
The companies that sign the pledge also agree to work to fully and successfully put these practises into practise, to include the pledge in their social compliance standards within a year of signing, and to periodically report on the signatory’s efforts to embed the pledge and put it into practise, such as through sustainability and/or modern slavery legal disclosures. AAFA and FLA will keep reviewing the upgraded Commitment to find areas for future improvement along with their members and Commitment signatories.
“All workers must be treated with dignity and respect, period,” said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. “Regrettably, migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to being abused, from having their passports and other travel documents withheld to being put in debt bondage or indentured servitude situations. By signing this Commitment, members of the textile, apparel, footwear, and travel goods industry are working to ensure that migrant workers are never put in these terrible situations and are fully and fairly compensated.”
Sharon Waxman, president and CEO of the Fair Labour Association, added: “The new Commitment to Responsible Recruitment is vital to protecting migrant workers from recruitment debt that could lead to forced labour. By bringing together companies across the apparel and footwear industry, we help ensure that the employer pays for recruitment, not the workers. We are glad to see so many companies and their suppliers take these important steps and believe that the new provisions of the Commitment will drive real change for workers.”
The launch took place this week on the sidelines of the Second Summit for Democracy as a reminder that the protection of labour rights is a key component of protecting democracy.
