Millions of men, women and children work in inhumane conditions as part of global supply chains. They are paid less than a living wage and mistreated at work, where fatal factory accidents are all too common. Companies from the Global North exacerbate working conditions through their pricing and deadline demands. Certification processes and voluntary standards have proven to be ineffective in terms of bringing about improvements. ECCHR therefore uses a range of legal tools to ensure that transnational contractors, buyers and retailers are held responsible for the exploitation of workers.
Cluster
Exploitation & Global Supply Chains
Cases (14)
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Guatemala – Supermärkte – Supply chains
Is Edeka deceiving consumers with its sustainability seal?
Despite environmental damage and human rights violations in palm oil cultivation in Guatemala, the German retail chain Edeka is advertising margarine and vegetable fat with the seal of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Foodwatch and ECCHR are therefore accusing Edeka of deceiving consumers and are calling on the retail chain to remove the sustainability seal from its products.
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China – Supply chains – Forced labor
German economic engine roars thanks to forced labor: Complaint filed against VW, BMW and Mercedes Benz
VW, BMW and Mercedes Benz use raw materials and components for the production of their cars, which are mined and produced under forced labor of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. ECCHR has now filed a complaint against the three companies with the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA).
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Germany – Supply chains – Rana Plaza
Ten years after Rana Plaza: Workers Submit Complaint
10 Years after the devastating collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory, in which more than 1,100 people died, numerous companies have yet to sign either the Bangladesh Accord (the accord on building and fire safety in Bangladesh) or its successor, the International Accord. The accord is considered to be the only functional mechanism for the improvement of workplace safety worldwide. Based on the German Supply Chain Act, which came into force in January 2023, employees filed the first complaint with the German Federal Office of Economic Affairs and Export Control in April 2024.
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Europe – Supply chains – Human rights and environment
Now more than ever: The EU needs a strong supply chain law
First France, then the Netherlands and Germany – more and more European countries are introducing supply chain laws because they have come to recognize that oil spills, theft of natural resources and forced labor do not arise from nowhere. They are the result of the ruthless practices of companies along their global value chains.
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China – Forced labor – Uyghurs
Human rights violations off the rack: European brands allegedly rely on forced labor
Alarming reports about torture, re-education camps, and forced labor in the Xinjiang region in China have increased in frequency since 2017. According to Amnesty International, the Chinese government systematically persecutes the Muslim Uyghur minority in the country’s northwestern province. Tens of thousands are allegedly forced to harvest cotton and sew clothes – which are also sold on the European market.
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Europe – Supply chains – Human rights due diligence
International law should promote human rights before profit
Businesses’ conduct, whether by action or omission, can cause, contribute to or be linked with a variety of human rights abuses in their own operations or their business relationships, including global value chains. ECCHR views it as essential that companies be legally obliged to adequately address human rights risks – and for them to be held accountable for possible damages.
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Brazil – Dam failure – TÜV SÜD
The safety business: TÜV SÜD’s role in the Brumadinho dam failure in Brazil
In January 2019, a dam burst at an iron ore mine near the small Brazilian town of Brumadinho, killing 272 people. Toxic sludge contaminated large sections of the Paraopeba River, poisoning the drinking water of thousands of people. Only four months earlier, the Brazilian subsidiary of German certifier TÜV SÜD confirmed the dam’s safety, despite known safety risks.
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Qatar – Labor exploitation – Corporate responsibility
Forced labor in global supply chains
In a comprehensive study, ECCHR has examined whether European companies through their transnational operations cause or contribute to forced labor or other labor abuses along their supply chains and whether they can be held to account. The result of this work is reflected in the report “Accountability for forced labor in a globalized economy.”
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India – Pharmaceutical industry – Clinical trials
India: Clinical trials with minors
In 2009, the States of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat launched a research project for the vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV). In 2010, the Government of India suspended the program as several violations of ethical standards were reported.
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Pakistan – Textile industry – RINA
After the Ali Enterprises factory fire: Proceedings against Italian auditor RINA
Italian audit company RINA certified a Ali Enterprises, Pakistan, building shortly before a fire broke out in the factory. The certificate failed to guarantee high standards of security. ECCHR and an international coalition of human rights organizations filed an OECD complaint against RINA in September 2018.
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Bangladesh – Textile industry – Rana Plaza
More for show than safety: Certificates in the textile industry
A few months before the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Dhaka, TÜV Rheinland audited the production facilities at textile producer Phantom Apparel Ltd as part of a social audit. ECCHR argues that TÜV Rheinland ignored professional auditing standards.
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Bangladesh – Textile industry – Lidl
Complaint re fair working conditions in Bangladesh: Lidl forced to back down
On the initiative of ECCHR the Hamburg Consumer Protection Agency filed an unfair competition complaint against the German discount retailer Lidl for claims made in the company's advertisements about fair working conditions in their supplier chain.
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Uzbekistan – Textile industry – Forced labor
The cases against European cotton traders
Uzbekistan is considered one of today's most repressive regimes in the world. ECCHR has been engaged in various proceedings to demand that the political and economical interests of Western actors do not further undermine human rights in Uzbekistan.
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Pakistan – Textile industry – KiK
KiK: Paying the price for clothing produced in South Asia
Transnational corporations responsibilities also extend to the working conditions in their subsidiary and supplier companies abroad. This position is supported by survivors and relatives of victims of the fatal fire at the Ali Enterprises textile factory in Karachi. Together with ECCHR, they filed a legal action for compensation against KiK.
