Holding corporations accountable. Protecting worker rights.

News from the WRC's Work around the Globe

New Investigation Shows Mattel’s Barbie Dream is Workers' Nightmare

Dispatches, a British documentary series that airs on Channel 4, reported that workers at Mattel's doll factory routinely burn their hands while molding hot plastic without protective gear. Mattel forces them to work hundreds of hours of overtime for wages amounting to three cents per Barbie. They use us “like animals”, said one worker.

Wrongly Imprisoned Worker Acquitted; ASICS, MUJI Fail to Press Supplier to Compensate Worker

In retaliation against workers for organizing a union, the factory had their leader jailed on baseless charges. Despite being acquitted of all charges, ASICS and MUJI fail to press their supplier to fully remedy the violation of human and labor rights.

Levi’s Calls Illegal Firing of 400 Workers a “Zero Tolerance” Violation ... Then Tolerates It

How we work

Enforceable standards

In global manufacturing, regulation usually means self-regulation, with brands inspecting their own suppliers under voluntary standards. The WRC promotes and enforces binding labor standards, the only kind that ever work in the real world.

Worker-Centered investigations

We interview workers away from their factories, without management’s knowledge, so workers can speak openly, with no fear of reprisal. This enables the WRC to uncover labor abuses that brands and their auditing organizations routinely ignore.

Full restitution for rights violations

The WRC compels brands and their suppliers around the world to remedy the abuses we’ve exposed: we’ve achieved tens of millions of dollars in back pay, reinstatement for thousands of unjustly fired workers, and transformative safety improvements.

Systemic change in supply chains

Achieving decent conditions in supply chains requires systemic reform: supplanting voluntary industry promises with enforceable agreements worldwide and obliging brands to end the price pressure on suppliers that impels abuses. We drive strategies to advance this agenda.

Sewer

Hugo Boss—Heartless to Heart and Mind Workers, Workers Who Sewed for Brand at Thai Factory Denied Severance

Hugo Boss continues to refuse to ensure that workers who made its branded clothes receive their legally owed severance at Heart and Mind, a garment factory that was located in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand and permanently closed on December 3, 2017. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing brands, achieving record sales of EUR 4.2 billion…

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Workers with signs in Khmer at Wing Star Shoes

Cambodian Worker Leader Imprisoned on Factory’s False Charges Acquitted—ASICS, MUJI Fail to Require Supplier to Compensate Worker It Wrongly Accused

Wing Star Shoes in Cambodia, which supplies the Japanese brands, ASICS and MUJI, had its worker, Chea Chan, who is a leader of a recently formed independent union at its factory, jailed for more than 180 days, prosecuted on obviously false and retaliatory criminal charges, and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment—all while ASICS and MUJI…

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Four Years Later, Workers at Nike Supplier Are Still Owed over $900,000

Hong Seng Knitting continues to refuse to provide back pay to more than 99 percent of the affected workers and continues to refuse to pay meaningful compensation to the Burmese migrant worker who was forced to flee the country after management reported him to the police…

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Photo of worker Tzib Caal

WRC Statement in Response to Murder of Anastacio Tzib Caal

The WRC was shocked and outraged by the assassination of Guatemalan garment worker leader, Anastacio Tzib Caal, on June 15. Mr. Tzib Caal was employed at the garment factory, Texpia II, which is owned by the multinational apparel manufacturer, SAE-A Trading, and produces for major brands such as Walmart, Target, Carhartt, and Academy Sports. Tzib…

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