Public and private actors combine to change conditions in the garment industry

What is it about?

The article describes the genesis and early years of a path-breaking experiment that combined a trade agreement with labor rights conditions, actions by US and Cambodian governments and active roles by buyers, factory managers and workers' organizations to bend the development of the Cambodian garment industry toward a better-paying and more equitable development model.

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Why is it important?

We live in an interconnected world where global forces affect wages and working conditions while rapid knowledge sharing affects firms' reputations and profitability. Under these conditions, the search for an effective and workable model to improve conditions in global supply chains is underway. The approach in the Cambodian garment sector involved new actors, new tools and new strategies, including radical transparency, to point the way forward and provide building blocks for others.