With the revelation that yet another High Street store has problems with its supply chain, the question has to be asked whether there is a contradiction between fair trade and large business.
In a recent investigation by the Observer newspaper (link) there was a discovery that there was a failure by Monsoon to meet minimum standards. This included a failure to pay the minimum wage, child labour, excessive working hours and harsh or inhumane treatment of staff. This was from a fashion business that has been described as a “Leading Light” of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI).
This is not the first company that has signed up to the ETI that has been found in breach of the ethical code that it seeks to promote. In Samantha Maher’s commentary from Labour Behind the Label she observes that often “ethical” work done by retailers such as Monsoon can often amount to little more than window-dressing. With large retailers having considerable trading power it isn’t a surprise that many suppliers are prepared to cut corners in order to win business and that ultimately it is the powerless employees who are the ones to pay the price. As Maher observes, it is often the women and children that suffer because of the cost and risk-cutting and these people often remain completely invisible. (http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/)
Despite this we still refer to “ethical trade” for when businesses sign up to an “ethical” code of conduct.
Perhaps it’s time not to use the term “ethical trade” so glibly. Some may suggest a good place to start would be for the term “Unethical trade” or “Unethical trader" to be used as the norm in referring to the large fashion retailers. Businesses that then want to change this designation and be referred to as “ethical” could then be asked for a real commitment to do trade differently.
A good place to start would be to champion the fortunes and well-being of those that make the products with the same focus as the fortunes of the management, owners and shareholders. Instead of the financial bottom line being the measure of success, a triple bottom line could be measured which covered measuring the social impact of the supply chain and also the environmental impact. If more businesses moved towards a social enterprise model then perhaps then we could then begin to grasp the true nature of ethical trade.