Ethical Trading Initiative executive director Peter McAllister argues that the coronavirus pandemic shows it is in retailers’ self-interest to ensure high standards throughout their supply chains.

In the space of just over a month, much of the world as we know it has changed. The speed of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on global supply chains on which international brands and retailers rely is unprecedented.

The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated more powerfully than ever the interconnectedness of countries, trade and communities.

A health emergency that first emerged in a region in China very quickly impacted workers on a flower farm in Kenya, garment production in Bangladesh and the high streets of many countries around the world.

Few businesses remain unaffected in some way or another, and few had contingency plans for such a global phenomenon.

In the UK and other rich countries, we are rightly concerned about the future for many businesses and employment for friends and family. That is multiplied many times over for those who normally toil under difficult conditions to produce everything from food, to clothes, to electronics, and at the end of often complex supply chains.

For many, there is no unemployment cover, social insurance and limited if any chance to access finance. The alternative to work is poverty and destitution.

“There is certainly an opportunity to learn lessons and ensure a better environment for workers worldwide that supports inclusive global trade”

Given how interconnected we are, every stakeholder is presented with an opportunity to play their part to work together to minimise the impact globally and to ensure we change for the better.

In too many countries, costs of production are low, at least in part because of a lack of social protection schemes available for workers. We have seen the impact of this before after industrial accidents or during periods of retrenchment, but this crisis has exposed on a global level why such protection is so important.

That is why we are calling on international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), global brands and manufacturers, trade unions, social partners, industry bodies and commodity groups to work with governments to establish and maintain strong social protection for workers.

This crisis demonstrates that this is in the self-interest of business over the long term to ensure strong minimum standards and robust conditions for trade.

To avoid what has in too many places been a race to the bottom, standards must be consistent with those outlined by ILO and, as a bare minimum, must include sickness benefits, unemployment, employment injury and medical insurance.

Such protection should form part of a thriving and inclusive global economy, be funded by tax and trade, and the costs built into the prices that consumers pay.

Collective responsibility

We know that different sectors are being affected in various ways; fashion has suffered a significant fall, while some in the food sector are being stretched and need to find additional labour to ensure harvesting.

We ask all brands, retailers and their suppliers to maintain frequent and transparent dialogue with all supply chain partners and look for collaborative solutions, to ensure responsible sourcing conditions where people are safe at work, protected and supported.

We firmly believe that social dialogue at national or workplace level ensures workers, through their unions or independently elected representatives, are involved in the decision making that shapes both their industries and workplace environment while supporting business continuity.

Where the state is weak and where national support programmes for workers do not exist, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide clear guidance that business has a responsibility to engage collectively with governments to ensure the conditions for responsible business.

Only time will tell what will emerge from this pandemic but there is certainly an opportunity to learn lessons and ensure a better environment for workers worldwide that supports inclusive global trade.

As many have said, we are in this together and we all have a stake in working towards a better future for global supply chains.