Electronics
The industry of electronics has been linked to abuses against labour rights and decent work standards, particularly within supply chains such as excessive working hours and inadequate salaries.
Relevant advances globally in procurement of electronics
2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. 2020
The report, produced by the U.S Department of Labor, is based on a research of a list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor.
The List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor begins with the full 2020 TVPRA List and an analysis of what the sectors and countries/areas on the List tell about child labor and forced labor in the world today. The report then presents the 2020 additions to the List and discuss not only key findings, but also the source materials that are critical to bring these issues into the open. Next, it looks in depth at 2020’s removal from the List, discussing the factors that contributed to the reduction of child labor in this case. The report also points to notable efforts that governments, the private sector, workers’ organizations, civil society, and multilateral organizations are undertaking to eradicate these problems. It mainly recognises the use of both child labor and forced labor for bricks and cotton.
A report developed by ILO detailing case studies that show challenges of workers in global supply chains struggling to achieve Decent Work due to lack of social and economic upgrading. The section on electronics, Study 4, gives an outline of the outsourced industry to Asia and the challenges workers face particularly in lower tiers of the global supply chain, from forced labour in Malaysia to exploitation of interns in China. The report describes how social upgrading does not often follow economic upgrading, especially in countries not adhering to ILO labour standards, and therefore calls on multiple governance mechanisms, for example simultaneous public and private measures, to put pressure on companies to change this.
This Case Study developed by Electronics Watch provides background information on how the Swedish County Councils use their purchasing power to improve corporate respect for human rights and details the steps that Stockholm County Council took to ensure one of its IT contractors was taking adequate steps to investigate and address labour rights violations in its supply chain.
Purchasers Guide for Addressing Labour and Human Rights Impacts in IT Procurements. 2016
This guide developed by Green Electronics Council enlightens procurement practitioners in their IT purchase from companies that are improving the social responsibility of their supply chains. It provides questions, supporting documentation examples and other resources to better understand IT sector’s capacity to address labour and human rights impacts; introduce labour and human rights related performance criteria in technical specifications, supplier selection and procurement award criteria as well as in contract performance clauses. Moreover, it guides on monitoring and evaluating results of procurement and provides purchasers with supplier labour and human rights performance data to confirm that purchasers are meeting their international sourcing and sustainable procurement goals.
This risk assessment can be used to promote dialogue on steps that contractors, brand suppliers, and contracting authorities (affiliates) can take to avoid practices that may cause or contribute to breaches of labour rights and safety standards. It looks at forced labour, discrimination against women workers, excessive and illegal working hours, underpayment of social security obligations, health and safety hazards, abusive termination of employment, and violations of collective bargaining rights.
Servants of servers. Rights violations and forced labour in the supply chain of ICT equipment in European universities. October 2015
Danwatch has investigated the supply chain of servers bought by European universities and found that whilst young European students enjoy a break in their studies during the summer, tens of thousands of Chinese students are sent by their schools - many of them forced, on irrelevant internships to the assembly lines of electronic factories to produce servers and other ICT equipment for the world’s biggest brands. Interns work 10-12 hours a day, six days a week for 3-5 months producing equipment that later will end in universities across Europe.
This policy paper developed by the University of Greenwich focuses on the potential for public procurement contracts to be used to improve working conditions in the global electronics supply chain. It provides an in-depth analysis of the past and newly adopted EU Directives on procurement, discusses different approaches to influence supply chain conditions through public procurement, and makes suggestions on how these approaches can be realized in practice.
Winds of Change. 2014
This report developed by Electronics Watch provides an insight of labour issues in the ICT industry, focusing on occupational health and safety issues and freedom of association, compounded by cases from South Korea and China. There are many ways to address these issues – informing and organising among workers, governments of production countries implementing their labour laws, etc. Social responsible public procurement is a new, untried way for institutional consumers on the buying end of the supply chain to exercise influence by using their purchasing power.
Regional Risk Assessment Electronics Industry, China Contributing organisations: Economic Rights Institute, Globalization Monitor, and Labour Education Service Network. 2016
This risk assessment can be used to promote dialogue on steps that contractors, brand suppliers, and contracting authorities (affiliates) can take to avoid practices that may cause or contribute to breaches of labour rights and safety standards. It looks at forced labour, discrimination against women workers, excessive and illegal working hours, underpayment of social security obligations, health and safety hazards, abusive termination of employment, and violations of collective bargaining rights.
The ICT sector in the spotlight: Leverage of Public Procurement Decisions on Working Conditions in the Supply Chain. 2014
This report developed by Electronics Watch examines the complex production system of the ICT sector, maps extensively its key stakeholders and producer countries, and analyses the leverage of public buyers to change the abusive labour conditions in the industry.
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IT workers still pay the price for cheap computers. 2013
Four factories in the provinces Guangdong and Jiangsu were investigated on their working conditions. The findings of the investigation are harsh: Forced overtime, strenuous shifts during peak periods, few days off each month, wages lower than a living wage, and militant management.
Some Developments from the Private Sector that can be useful for Public Buyers
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Information and Communications Technology Benchmark: No one should have to pay for a job: Responsible Recruitment in ICT Supply Chains. 2020
KnowTheChain The global electronics sector is comprised of powerful corporations—the 49 largest information communications and technology (ICT) companies have a combined market capitalization of US$5 trillion. In 2020, following benchmarks in 2016 and 2018, KnowTheChain evaluated these companies on their efforts to address forced labor and human trafficking in their supply chains.
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Information and Communications Technology Benchmark Findings Report. 2020
KnowTheChain. Assessment of the 49 largest global information and communication technology companies on efforts to address forced labor risks in their supply chains.
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Information and Communications Technology Benchmark Findings Report. 2018
KnowTheChain. Assessment of the efforts of 40 large global ICT companies addressing forced labor risks in their supply chains.
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Eradicating forced labor in electronics: What do company statements under the UK Modern Slavery Act tell us? 2018
KnowTheChain. Three years after the passage of the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act, KnowTheChain reviewed how more than 100 global companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector are responding to the law.