Holding corporations accountable. Protecting worker rights.

WRC News

Indonesian Women Workers Sign Groundbreaking Gender Justice Agreement

WRC’s Parallel Event, Cohosted with AFWA and GLJ, at the 69th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

This in-person session will discuss the new supply chain agreement to address gender-based violence and harassment at factories in Central Java, Indonesia.

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.

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.

From Fear to Power: How Indonesian Women Workers Won Binding Commitments for Change

After organizing against gender-based violence and harassment on the factory floor, courageous women workers in Central Java, Indonesia, have negotiated a groundbreaking agreement to implement a union-led gender justice program. Signed in July 2024, the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice represents a major victory for workers at two garment factories operated by the Korean…

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WRC Engagement with Major US Brands Wins Reinstatement, 2+ Years Back Pay for Haitian Workers Fired for Protesting Poverty Wages

The WRC’s engagement with top US retailers has secured reinstatement with full back pay for nine workers who were fired in 2022 and 2023 from a garment factory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for leading or joining protests against poverty wages. Haitian garment workers, who are among the lowest-paid workers in the world, struggle to survive amidst…

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workers leaving factory during safety drill.

Backsliding toward Disaster? The Power of Factory Owners over the RMG Sustainability Council Is Putting Workers’ Lives at Risk

Under the Bangladesh Accord, now the International Accord, garment factories in Bangladesh have made vast safety improvements since 2013, saving thousands of workers from injury or death. These gains are now under threat.

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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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