Asia Monitor Resource Center http://www.amrc.org.hk/home.htm
Focuses on labor issues in Asia. Provides information on specific
campaigns and concerns through its online labor updates.
Behind the Label http://www.behindthelabel.org
Multimedia news magazine and on-line community covering the
stories and people of the global clothing industry. Contains
good general information on sweatshops and the contract supplier
system, especially in the “behind the industry”
section and the “op/ed” section.
Clean Clothes Campaign http://www.cleanclothes.org
The Clean Clothes Campaign focuses attention on reforming
the labor abuses in the garment industry. They regularly publish
a newsletter pertaining to specific campaigns, policy updates
and international sweatshop findings.
Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org
Global Exchange has ordering information on gifts made under
humane working conditions, urgent actions for public participation
and tours that focus on providing a true interaction with
indigenous cultures worldwide.
Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee http://www.cic.org.hk
Contains reports on specific contract supplier concerns in
China, especially as they relate to the toy industry.
Impactt Limited http://www.impacttlimited.com
A consulting firm based in London that works with companies
to improve their social performance. Has a five-year report
that focuses on labor issues in the supply chain and has brief
reports on the key issues to address in 10 Asian countries.
Contains case studies of companies, including a description
of a current project in China addressing the excessive overtime.
The John F. Henning Center for International Labor
Relations http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/~iir/henningcenter/projects/codes.html
Contains a lengthy list of links to other sites with information
on factory monitoring including the Ethical Trading Initiative,
Fair Labor Association, International Labor Organization,
National Labor Committee, Social Accountability International
and the Worker Rights Consortium.
Maquila Solidarity Network http://www.maquilasolidarity.org
Contains information on the contract supplier system, providing
an overview of the role it plays in the manufacturing and
distribution of goods (especially garments).The resource page
contains specific information on vendor standards/codes of
conduct, Code Initiatives in the North, Debates Around Codes,
Model Codes and Framework Agreements.
Political Economy Research Institute http://www.umass.edu/peri/.
Under “New Research”, scroll to “The New
Face of Unequal Exchange: Low-Wage Manufacturing, Commodity
Chains, and Global Inequality,” by James Heintz
Sweatshop Watch http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/swatch
Focusing on the garment industry, Sweatshop Watch seeks to
eliminate the inhumane working conditions that characterize
sweatshops. Their primary focus is on low wage California
workers though their scope expands to other national and international
regions.
The Transformation of the North American Apparel
Industry (research paper) http://www.yale.edu/ccr/gere.pdf
See section II of this essay (“The Apparel Commodity
Chain”) for detailed background information on the contract
supplier system and how it fits into the larger market economy.
Women Working Worldwide http://www.women-ww.org
Look for Women Working Worldwide Briefing Papers, including
“The Rights of Workers in the Garment Industry Subcontracting
Chains,” and “Phasing Out the Multi Fibre Arrangement:
What will it mean for Workers?”
