non profit organization industry verification of workplace practices founded 1999 headquarters amsterdam the netherlands key people erica van doorn director ieke van den burg chair of the board products sewn products workplace verification standards development website fairwear.org fair wear foundation fwf is a european multi stakeholder initiative working to improve workplace conditions in the garment and textile industry . governed by labor unions ngos and business associations fwf verifies that its member companies implement the fwf code of labour practices in their supply chains . established in 1999 fwf in 2010 has over fifty member companies from all over europe and is active in production countries like china india bangladesh and turkey . 1 contents 1 governance and multistakeholderism 2 code of labour practices 3 supply chain responsibility 4 focus 4.1 garment and textile industry 4.2 geographic reach 5 multi level verification 5.1 factory audits 5.2 complaints process 5.3 verification of company management systems 6 transparency 7 cooperation 8 industrial relations social dialogue 9 fwf wage ladder 10 member companies 11 funding sources 12 history 13 see also 14 references 15 external links governance and multistakeholderism edit to safeguard its independence as a verification initiative fwf has a tripartite governance structure . 2 their governing body is a board which in addition to an independent chairperson consists of representatives from four categories 1 business association for garment suppliers 2 business association for garment retailers 3 trade unions and 4 ngos . each category has equal voting rights . 3 the board is informed by a multi stakeholder committee of experts as well as stakeholder partners in each country where fwf is active . fwf also has stakeholder platforms in european countries i.e. switzerland germany and belgium that commit to the fwf charter . 4 what s interesting about fwf is the comprehensiveness of its approach . each aspect of the fwf systems supports the others . for example fwf s ongoing multi stakeholder collaboration in both producer and consumer countries has really improved fwf s verification processes . ellen dekkers general secretary fnv bondgenoten 5 code of labour practices edit the fwf code of labour practices contains eight labour standards that are based on the conventions of the international labour organization ilo and the universal declaration on human rights . 6 the fair wear code is known for its strong provisions on freedom of association hours of work and a living wage . 7 employment is freely chosen there is no discrimination in employment no exploitation of child labour freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining payment of a living wage no excessive working hours safe and healthy working conditions legally binding employment relationship supply chain responsibility edit fair wear foundation works on the basis of the principle of supply chain responsibility i.e. each actor in the supply chain of a certain product is co responsible for the conditions in which the product is made . a brand selling clothes in europe is in part responsible for both the labour conditions at its suppliers and for example on the plantations and also for the environmental impact of that product . in recent years the notion of supply chain responsibility has become increasingly accepted by individual companies as well as the fashion world in general . 8 focus edit garment and textile industry edit fwf restricts its focus to those phases of production where sewing is the main manufacturing process . it is there that fwf believes it can have the greatest impact for workers . this is among the most intensive phases of the production process . it is the phase where very many labour problems are found and where effective remedies can positively impact the lives of millions of workers . 5 geographic reach edit as of 2012 fwf has some verification related activity in the following countries bangladesh bulgaria china india lithuania macedonia moldova poland portugal romania thailand tunisia turkey and vietnam . 9 multi level verification edit factory audits edit fwf prefers to assemble teams of individuals from different organizations and with different specialisations for this purpose . these teams are drawn from its local partner networks organisations and or individuals that it has established in various countries . 3 fwf s factory auditing serves two main purposes . for factories it is a process leading to workplace improvements and not some policing exercise . for companies factory verification visits also serve as an indication of an affiliated companies performance in upholding its fwf commitments . 5 complaints process edit the foundation has a worker and third party complaints mechanism to address problems in a member company s supply chain . 7 fwf s complaints procedure serves as a safety net . fwf places complaints handlers in countries where fwf is active . this ensures that workers making products for fwf affiliates can safely and fairly seek redress for violations of the fwf code . 10 verification of company management systems edit when a company joins fwf it commits to implement the fwf code of labour practices in its supply chain . while this includes efforts to work directly with factories to improve conditions there it also means developing internal management systems to better support good workplace conditions . each year fwf visits affiliated companies to verify these systems and their effectiveness . 10 transparency edit for full accountability in supply chains transparency is necessary at three key levels the workplace the company and the organization . 5 fwf makes aggregate data available on fwf verification audits public . fwf conducts brand performance checks reviewing each affiliated company s management systems and performance in fulfilling fwf requirements . reports are available online . fwf commits to keep local stakeholders aware of developments at fwf that pertain to them makes country strategy documents and other research public and publishes an annual report . 11 fwf publishes reports on third party complaints . 12 cooperation edit fwf cooperates with a range of stakeholders and other organisations in order to develop sustainable systems for good workplace conditions . fwf plays an active role in convening the jo in platform which assembles the heads of leading code initiatives internationally i.e. clean clothes campaign ethical trading initiative fair labor association social accountability international and worker rights consortium . the goal is to harmonise workplace codes globally and to collaborate for improved implementation on challenging issues like living wage and hours work . 13 fwf has also developed working partnerships with flo international now called fairtrade international 14 united nations women 15 the european outdoor group and other organizations . fwf looks to such collaborative projects to pilot new approaches and or to have a greater more sustainable impact on workplace standards implementation . industrial relations social dialogue edit fwf realises good labour conditions by stimulating sound industrial relations worldwide and wherever possible harmonising policies and methods from fwf s mission vision fwf s ultimate goal is to render its own work obsolete . for improvement of labour conditions to be sustainable good labour laws and enforcement a well functioning labour inspectorate strong worker representation labour ngos trade unions and constructive local national and international cooperation are essential . 16 fwf wage ladder edit in november 2011 fwf publicly launched the fwf wage ladder an innovative new online tool which helps brands factories and labour groups make real progress towards living wages for garment and other workers . based on a concept first developed by rutledge tufts as part of the jo in project the fwf wage ladder allows the wages paid at any factory to be compared against a set of relevant local wage benchmarks which have been created by ngos labour groups business associations and government agencies . the wage ladder generates a visual layout that shows where the wages paid across a factory s various departments are at in comparison to these benchmarks . this provides a basis for negotiating improvements between factories brands and worker representatives . fwf has made the tool publicly accessible in the interest of supporting better wages across the garment industry and beyond . 17 member companies edit eligible companies are those that operate in the european market including producers distributors wholesalers and retailers . garment and textile manufacturers can also join fwf as long as they operate in a producing country where fwf is active . as of 2012 fwf has approximately 75 member companies with over 100 clothing brands . 18 the work of fwf touches over 500 000 workers in the supply chains of member companies . during amsterdam fashion week in january 2012 fwf laid 6 kilometers of red ribbon between 80 shops in amsterdam as part of its red ribbon campaign to raise consumer awareness about the companies that are working to improve workplace conditions through their membership in fwf . 19 funding sources edit financial support for the fwf comes from special social funds which were established as a result of sectoral collective bargaining in two sectors the garment sector and the retail sector . between 2000 and 2008 fwf s funding was divided fairly evenly 17 22 % across the following sources member companies government ngos trade unions and business associations . 5 fwf has also received some support from the european union 3 and funders such as un women . 20 history edit after nearly 5 years of multi stakeholder negotiations fair wear foundation was founded in 1999 . just as in other countries garment production in the netherlands had by then been displaced to low wage countries . after some years of campaigning against poor labour conditions in low wage countries the union fnv and the ccc contacted the employers organisations and proposed a joint initiative to improve labour condition in the garment sector . the founders designed the code of labour practices for the garment industry . they based the code on the international standards included in international labour organization conventions with guidance from the model codes of the international clean clothes campaign and the icftu the international umbrella organisation of trade unions of which the fnv is a member . in the period 1999 2002 the foundation carried out pilot projects on the implementation of the code of labour practices with four dutch companies . these experiences led to the determination of a standard procedure . building up membership among companies was the next step . the first group of 11 members was announced to the public in march 2003 . this group comprised partly fashion producers and partly producers of industrial workwear . 21 between 2003 and 2012 the company membership has grown nearly 700 % . 18 see also edit international labour organization labour law labor rights sweatshop references edit fair wear foundation 2010 . fwf about . see for example mvo platform the dutch network for civil society organisations and trade unions that are working together to promote corporate social responsibility a b c clean clothes campaign 2007 fair wear foundation 2010 a b c d e fair wear foundation . fair wear formula . amsterdam netherlands 2010 . fair wear foundation 2010 . fwf charter pdf . a b maquila solidarity network see for example ecofashion world one of the many platforms for fashion companies concerned with csr fair wear foundation a b fair wear foundation 2010 fair wear foundation fair wear foundation joint initiative for corporate accountability and worker rights fair wear foundation 2011 un trust fund announces successful grantees ... to prevent violence against women fair wear foundation 2010 just style.com 2011 a b fair wear foundation 2012 fair wear foundation un women joint initiative for corporate accountability and worker rights external links edit fair wear foundation fwf fair wear formula animated film on youtube modint employers organization for garment suppliers cbw mitex employers organization for the garment retail trade fnv bondgenoten trade union cnv trade union bread for all switzerland clean clothes campaign v t e social and environmental accountability ethics and principles aarhus convention