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Essay / Advancing labor rights in global supply chains: the Marianas case study
IntroductionThe globalization of production has resulted in a complex network of international supply chains, characterized by geographic fragmentation and legal. Companies looking to reduce production costs often outsource manufacturing, especially labor-intensive tasks, to suppliers based in countries with less stringent labor standards. While this has led to increased efficiency and lower consumer prices, it has also perpetuated labor exploitation, including forced labor, child labor, and violations of freedom of association. In response, a growing number of stakeholders, including NGOs, unions and consumers, have demanded that global supply chains respect labor rights. This essay will examine the Marianas case study, which illustrates a successful intervention to improve working conditions in garment factories located in Saipan, a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayInterventionIn the 1980s and 1990s, the garment industry on Saipan grew rapidly due to tax incentives, low wages and favorable trade relations with the United States. States. The majority of workers were migrants from China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. In the late 1990s, there were reports of widespread labor abuses, including forced labor, human trafficking, and unsafe working conditions. In response, NGOs such as the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), unions such as UNITE HERE, and consumer groups such as the National Consumer League (NCL) have launched a campaign to improve working conditions in Saipan's textile industry. The campaign focused on two main targets: retailers who sourced clothing from Saipan and companies who owned Saipan factories. In 1999, after years of public pressure, Gap Inc., one of the largest buyers of Saipan-made clothing, entered into a historic agreement with the ILRF. Under the agreement, Gap commits to ensuring that its Saipan suppliers comply with U.S. labor and employment laws, including minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, freedom of association and safe working conditions. Gap also agreed to pay $20 million into a fund to compensate workers for their past violations. Following Gap's lead, other retailers such as Levi Strauss and Liz Claiborne have signed similar deals to improve conditions in their supply chains. Although Gap's commitment to labor rights in Saipan was a crucial step toward improving conditions in garment factories, the root cause of the problem – the companies that owned Saipan's factories – remained without answer. This is why ILRF and UNITE HERE have launched a campaign to hold factory owners accountable. They targeted the owners' source of capital: the financial institutions that provided loans to the factories. The campaign focused on the Japanese bank Mizuho, which was the largest lender to Saipan's garment factories. The campaign included public protests, stakeholder engagement and divestment initiatives. The campaign proved successful. In.