Agenda Item: FAIR LABOUR CONDITIONS FOR WORKERS
Sponsor: []
Draft Resolution: Primark Company should consider registering with Fair Trade in which case it will have a good opportunity of improving the working conditions of all labourers as well as enhancing the quality of products manufactured by the said workers.
Executive Summary:
This paper presents a proposal to the Board of Directors about the need for improvement of the labour conditions in the factories owned by the Company. Amid the public outrage that came as an aftermath of the collapse of the Clothing factory, it would be prudent to ensure that public confidence is restored in the Company. Essentially, initiatives like forming a workers welfare association and registering with Fair Trade are discussed in depth.
Background:
The fashion and design industry has in the recent past gained tremendous traction in the world market. For this reason, Primark Company being a renowned force in the industry ought to embrace exemplary corporate practices that can be admired by all. As at now, this is not the case because, there has been widespread lamentation across the board about the manner in which the Company treats persons who work in its factories. After one of Primark’s Factories collapsed in Bangladesh, a lot of questions have been asked about the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Company towards both the workers and the regions in which the Company invests. Aside from the physical safety of the workers, there are also concerns about the health of such employees because they are always exposed to toxic chemicals during the cloth manufacturing process and this is out rightly hazardous to their wellbeing. The stakeholders who are likely to be majorly affected by this problem are employees, some customers and the general management of the corporation.
Recommendation:
Given the prominence and popularity of the fashion industry, the Company should first ensure that its Fashion designers are ingenuous enough to be able to re-introduce eco-friendly materials and socially responsible methods of production. There is need of shifting from use of pesticides in Cotton production so as to ensure that the environment is preserved. Such practices like killing animals for fur also affect the ecosystem and are ultimately harmful to humanity. The Company should limit such practices and make innovations which ensure the least destruction of the ecosystem. Some factories are also involved in sweat labour especially in developing countries (Bartley & Child, 2010). Most importantly, the needs of the workers within the Company’s factories can only be attended to if there is a policy of forming Workers Welfare Associations which will be responsible for relaying the grievances of the workers to the management. Additionally, the Company can only be put on check if it registers with Fair Trade because in this case, the efficacy of all initiatives it makes will be analysed closely.
Implications of non-action and of the recommendation:
The action of registering with Fair Trade will have overarching effects on the lives of a number of stakeholders in the Company. Starting with Customers, the Company will gain magnanimous trust from many of its customers because of the transparency it will exhibit in this process (Hughes, 2005). On the other hand, if the Primark ignores the recommendation, it will ultimately fail to fulfil its mission of providing ethical and affordable clothing because most of its products would be achieved from an exploitative process. This would further mean that the institution will have failed in its Corporate Governance responsibilities and the CEO and Board of Directors may be held personally liable in future for not doing everything possible to avert any dangers to the public and workers. The Company may also be susceptible to various legal actions and lose a lot of money because of this inaction.
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