Ethical Fashion - Fair Wear Foundation (FWF)

Fair Wear Foundation

Good labour conditions as a mission

The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) is an international verification initiative dedicated to enhancing workers’ lives all over the world. The foundation works together with a growing number of companies that produce clothes and other sewn products and that take responsibility for their supply chain. FWF keeps track of the improvements made by the companies it works with. And through sharing expertise, social dialogue and strengthening industrial relations, FWF increases the effectiveness of the efforts made by companies. The main mission is to improve labour conditions in the garment industry.

Companies that produce and distribute products of which the main manufacturing process is sewing can join FWF and, depending on the direct influence they have with garment factories, become an FWF affiliate or FWF ambassador. Both affiliates and ambassadors of FWF work towards improving the labour conditions in factories and workshops where the ‘cut-make-trim’ stage takes place, all over the world. The basis of the collaboration between FWF and a member is the Code of Labour Practices. Members of FWF must comply with this Code of Labour Practices.

Verification

While company commitments to ethical practices are important, such claims usually only gain credibility if verified by a third party. This is where FWF comes in. FWF’s multi-stakeholder make-up means that it is independent and credible. People have a right to know under which circumstances their clothes are made.

FWF verifies whether companies comply with the Code of Labour Practices, through factory audits and a complaints procedure, through management system audits at the affiliates and through extensive stakeholder consultation in production countries. FWF shares its knowledge and (local) contacts with the member companies, providing them with access to information on local legislation, labour standards and culture.

In order to gain real insight into company performance, FWF’s verification system exists at three levels: FWF verifies at factory level and implements a complaints procedure in all countries where it is active to serve as a safety net. Finally, FWF also verifies at the company level to check whether companies implement the FWF Code of Labour Practices in their management systems effectively.

Social Dialogue

FWF’s ultimate goal is to render its own work obsolete. For improvement of labour conditions to be sustainable, good labour laws and enforcement, a well-functioning labour inspectorate, strong worker representation (labour NGOs, trade unions) and constructive local, national and international cooperation are essential. China, India and Turkey are currently the three main sourcing countries of affiliates. Bangladesh probably is the sourcing country with the most serious labour rights violations. In these four countries, FWF builds cooperative alliances with stakeholders through projects aimed at stimulating sound industrial relations.

Business associations, trade unions and NGOs in these production countries are explicitly invited to make their interests heard at the board level of FWF through representatives of business associations, trade unions and NGOs in the board.

Stakeholder Partnerships

Local stakeholders play a central role in the development and execution of a number of FWF’s core activities. FWF country studies summarise local labour law and regulation, statistics, and workplace practices. Country studies are the product of consultation with local stakeholders, whose perspectives are also included, providing real insights into the local context.

Another reflection of the importance FWF places on sound industrial relations is its active cooperation with European stakeholders. In every European country where it has affiliates, FWF gets in touch with stakeholder organisations to inform them about the work of FWF, and also to discuss whether interest to form a national stakeholder platform (NSP) exists.