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Who Pays For The Crisis?

This portal focuses on the key intersection between supply chain resilience, purchasing practices and worker rights.

Welcome to the Who Pays For The Crisis? portal. Here we present up-to-date information on the key intersection between supply chain resilience, purchasing practices and worker rights.

Why now?

Brand purchasing practices significantly influence labour rights outcomes – yet this connection is too often under-appreciated and under-examined. We have witnessed an alarming increase in disruptions to purchasing models - exacerbated by economic slowdowns, political instability, and the impacts of the climate emergency in sourcing countries. This has led to factory closures, reduced hours, and non-payment of wages, underscoring the urgent need for ethical purchasing models that prioritise human rights over profit margins. And as parts of the industry also see increased pressure on their business models, this moment provides an opportunity for the industry to centre sustainable growth and the rights of workers. Join us as we navigate the complexities of the apparel and footwear industry and advocate for practices that safeguard worker livelihoods and safe workplaces.

What?

Through a series of live newsfeeds, labour rights allegation tracking and deep-dive research into supply chain shocks in the apparel sector we will build evidence revealing who, in fact, is paying for these crises facing the sector. As the industry experiences increased pressure on and critique of its business model, we explore how this moment provides an opportunity for the industry to reform its purchasing models to centre sustainable growth and the rights of people and planet.

As part of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre Who Pays For The Crisis? portal, we will round up the key trends at the intersection of labour rights and purchasing practices that we’ve monitored every six months. We also provide an overview of the allegations linked to supply chain instability and purchasing practices, and provide an analysis of brands’ responses to our requests for further information.

Purchasing Practices Allegation Tracker

See which brands' purchasing practices have been linked to labour rights issues in factories around the world with our Who Pays For The Crisis? Tracker.

On the ground

Bangladesh: Quota reform protest and gas crisis

Following protests against the government’s employment quota system and a gas shortage, we reached out to 20 international apparel brands, requesting information on how companies are addressing these disruptions, how existing purchasing practices are being upheld, and what support is being provided to suppliers and, in turn, to affected workers.

Bangladesh: Non-payment of minimum wage

After the government increased the minimum wage in 2023, we reached out to Bangladesh's top apparel buyers to see how they were adjusting their prices to ensure workers were paid the new minimum wage, after mass protests erupted over suppliers' failure to pay workers what they were owed.

Turkey: 2023 earthquake

Following the earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and northern Syria in February 2023, we invited brands to share information regarding their purchasing practices and assistance provided to suppliers in Turkey that had been impacted.

Further Reading

Newsletter

Stay informed with our bi-annual newsletter, which distils the critical findings and insights from the portal into a detailed summary of key trends and events.

Allegations Tracker methodology

Read more on how we monitor and track labour rights issues linked to brand purchasing practices in garment and footwear factories around the world.

Trends and analysis: May 2024

Read more on the key trends we have monitored on the intersection of labour rights and purchasing practices, and our analysis of brands’ responses to our requests for further information.