AAFA, FLA renew pact protecting migrant workers

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) re-launched and enhanced the AAFA/FLA Apparel & Footwear Industry Commitment to Responsible Recruitment.

The Commitment, which was founded in 2018, aims to bring the industry together around a dedication to the equitable treatment of foreign migrant workers throughout the global supply chain for textiles, apparel, footwear, and travel items.

Each signatory agrees to work with partners to establish circumstances in which employees do not pay for their jobs, maintain control over their travel documents, have freedom of movement, and are informed of the terms of their employment before employment. This commitment is part of the original Commitment to Responsible Recruitment.

Building on the previous five years, the Commitment to Responsible Recruiting has been strengthened. If such conditions were already imposed, signatories agree to establish conditions where employees are timely refunded for all fees and expenditures paid to get or keep their position.

The companies that sign the commitment also agree to work to put these practices into practice, to include the commitment in their social compliance standards within a year of signing, and to periodically report on the signatory’s efforts to embed and implement the commitment, such as through legal disclosures about sustainability and/or modern slavery.

The AAFA and FLA will keep reviewing the improved Commitment in order to spot any areas that could want improvement, in collaboration with their members and other signatories.

Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, said that all workers must be treated with dignity and respect, period. Unfortunately, migrant workers are especially susceptible to mistreatment, from being denied access to their passports and other travel credentials to being forced into indentured slavery or debt bondage. The members of the textile, apparel, footwear, and travel goods industries have committed to preventing migrant workers from ever being placed in such dreadful situations and to ensuring that they are paid properly and adequately for their labor.

Sharon Waxman, president and CEO of the Fair Labor Association, said that the new Commitment to Responsible Recruitment is essential to protecting migrant workers from recruiting debt that could result in forced labor. By uniting businesses from the garment and footwear sectors, they make sure that employers, not employees, are responsible for paying for recruitment. They are pleased to see so many businesses and their suppliers adopt these crucial actions and are certain that the Commitment’s new clauses will result in significant improvement for workers.