No. If all of a brand’s factories were already faithfully complying with international labor standards, including the right to unionize, and were already paying workers a living wage, then improved services would be an appropriate focus. However, there is no major apparel or footwear brand that can make this claim. Labor rights violations remain commonplace in brand supply chains, sub-poverty wages are the norm, and unions are almost nonexistent. Until brands have ensured that their factories have stopped violating their employees’ basic rights, and started paying them decently, they should not be focusing on voluntary social initiatives.
These basic goals are readily achievable, but they require brands to do something none have been willing to contemplate – change the operation of their supply chains. Step one: Start paying factories prices that actually reflect the cost of producing under good working conditions. At present, brands publicly embrace corporate social responsibility, and then push their suppliers to accept prices so low that labor rights violations and sub-poverty wages are virtually guaranteed. These pricing practices are fundamentally incompatible with meaningful respect for the rights of workers. Yet they remain standard operating procedure in the industry.
Major brands have the power to protect the rule of law in their supply chains and ensure that workers make enough to lift their families from poverty. Timberland has been one of the better brands on social issues; however, like its competitors, the company has not significantly changed its supply chain practices. If Timberland truly wants to lead, the way forward is clear.