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Promoting Decent Work in Global Retail Supply Chains: Food and Apparel

Supply chains refer, step by step, to the activities following from conception to final use to bring a product to market. Supply chains play a vital role in the commerce sector in bringing the products wanted by customers to retailers’ shelves. The commerce sector fuels an important part of the world economy and is highly globalized.

The value created during the stages of a global supply chain (GSC) is not shared with all participating firms, and high-value elements tend to be those earlier (R&D, design) and later (logistics, marketing, sales) in the chain. Economic upgrading (moving to higher value-added work) is an aspiration for many companies, and countries, located at lower-value parts of the chain. Social upgrading (the gradual process leading to decent work in GSCs) can be concomitant with economic upgrading; It can also occur independently.

The report portrays the theoretical background of supply chains and economic and social upgrading. As example it also analyses the supply chains of the apparel industry and the challenges of moving it towards decent work. It presents some approaches and initiatives, such as the principle of social dialogue, the Bangladesh Accord, global framework agreements and tripartite international initiatives and formulates recommendations for social and economic upgrading as such.

Published in:
Comparative Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges for Social and Economic Upgrading
Sectoral Studies on Decent Work in Global Supply Chains
Page 7 – 48, Study 1
Scope: 42 pagesReference: free of charge for download by ilo.org
ISBN 978-92-2-131116-4 (print), ISBN 978-92-2-131117-1 (web pdf)