3071-The political economy of new slavery

Ivan Manokha 225
As regards the first strategy, a multiplicity of NGOs were established to
monitor corporations’ human rights records and mobilize public opinion.
Examples include CorpWatch, NikeWatch, Multinational Monitor,
Labour Behind the Label, Clean Clothes Campaign, Campaign for Labour
Rights, and others. These organizations engaged in protests against
corporations exposing malpractices and human rights abuses. They were
actively supported by students. For example in 1997, student protests
against Nike were conducted at a number of American universities.
The Economist reports in this regard:
in the past few years, Shell, BP, Rio Tinto Zinc, Disney, Reebok, Nike
and Starbucks Coffee, among others, have been rocked by the public
criticism of human-rights groups and labour unions. Levi Strauss,
Macy’s, Liz Claiborne, Eddie Bauer and PepsiCo have pulled out of
Myanmar after being lambasted for doing business there. Oil giants
Texaco and Amoco soon followed.
The Economist, 1998
These protests have led to the development of codes specifying good
business practice by corporations where commitment to corporate social
responsibility is usually pledged.
Codes of conduct, which set out the standards a multinational expects
of its factories and contractors, have evolved from vague promises
into detailed rules. The troubles of Nike, a firm making sports goods
that fell foul of the activists in 1997, speeded up this transformation,
as other multinationals scrambled to avoid similar boycotts. The best
codes now tend to be monitored by outside auditors. Companies
realize that merely making promises risks adding hypocrisy to the list
of charges against them.
The Economist, 1999
The ILO reports that today practically all corporations have a code of
conduct (ILO, 1998).
Many corporations have gone further than just acknowledging the
importance of labour standards and have engaged in various projects
aimed at human rights advocacy, either on their own or in partnership
with international organizations and NGOs. One example of such activities
has been the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) developed by a number
of corporations along with NGOs and trade union organizations. Ethical