Transparency about supply chains in the garment and footwear industry is a rapidly growing trend. The complex network of global suppliers that apparel and footwear companies use to produce their goods is much less opaque than only a few years ago. Knowing factory details enables workers, labor organizations, human rights groups, and others to swiftly alert apparel company representatives to labor abuses in those factories, giving companies an opportunity to intervene—sooner rather than later— to stop and rectify abuses. It also facilitates brand collaboration and collective action to stop, prevent, mitigate, and to provide a remedy for labor abuses.

In 2016, nine human rights and labor rights organizations, together with global unions, formed a coalition to improve transparency in garment and footwear supply chains. The coalition reached out to more than 70 companies with own-brand label products, urging them to align their supply chain disclosure practices with the “Transparency Pledge” standard and advance industry good practice. The Transparency Pledge asked companies to publish on their websites a list of the names, addresses, and other details of at least the factories involved in assembling, embellishing, and finishing their goods (called tier-1 factories).

Report by the Human Rights Watch