Clinton Global Initiative Commitment aims to expand Fair Trade from Farm to Factory
Fair Trade USA announced this week at the Clinton Global Initiative
(CGI) Annual Meeting its commitment to improve working conditions and
enable sustainable livelihoods for factory workers, “Fair Trade Farm
To Factory: An Ethical Sourcing Model.” Over the next two years,
Fair Trade USA will certify 35 new factories, working with 30 new brand
partners to improve the lives of 40,000 factory workers, globally. As
the first home retailer to offer Fair Trade Certified™ products, West
Elm is a lead partner in Fair Trade USA’s commitment, pledging the
certification of more than 20 percent of its product assortment by 2017
and 40 percent by 2019. The pledge represents more than $1 million in
additional Fair Trade Premiums that will go back into the hands of
workers in the next 4 years alone.
Through the Fair Trade Factory program, Fair Trade USA provides
independent, third-party certification for manufacturing facilities to
ensure safe, healthy working conditions for workers and artisans. The
rigorous Fair Trade USA standards cover areas such as: monitored hours,
equal rights for men and women, overtime, grievance policies, and paid
leave. Fair Trade is also about worker empowerment, democratic
participation, and financial benefit for workers through the Fair Trade
Premium—an additional amount of money earned by workers for every Fair
Trade product sold. Premiums can be spent on social and
community-focused initiatives of the workers’ choice, such as health
care or financial education.
“Fair Trade USA is committed to applying our proven agricultural model
to the manufacturing industry, extending the progress and best practices
we have achieved with farmers to factory workers, who make up 14 percent
of the global workforce,” said Paul Rice, president and CEO of Fair
Trade USA. “West Elm and Patagonia were among the first brands to
respond to our call to the industry to demand new standards and prevent
incidents like the Bangladeshi fires and Pakistani building collapse
from ever happening again.”
West Elm is an early adopter of the Fair Trade USA Factory program, and
has already made significant investments in company infrastructure to
scale its Fair Trade offerings. The brand will feature over 400 Fair
Trade Certified products this holiday season, an approximately 180
percent increase over the holiday 2014 collection.
“West Elm and Fair Trade USA share a market-based approach to social and
environmental change,” said Jim Brett, president of West Elm. “At West
Elm, everything we do is designed to make an impact. As a company we
have a responsibility to provide ethical, transparent and sustainable
sourcing and have great hope that our fellow retailers will be inspired
to join us. Together, our industry can positively impact millions of
workers and communities.”
With the 2015 CGI commitment, Fair Trade USA and its partners will also
invest in systems to measure the impact of certification on workers’
lives. Impact indicators are verified on an annual basis through the
certification process and additional impact assessments are conducted
using real-time mobile technology to communicate directly with workers,
along with in-depth community-based studies five to 10 times per year.
This focus on measurement is a key part of the commitment and will help
validate the success of Fair Trade certification at the individual
worker and community level, informing future goals and supplemental
programing like financial services for workers receiving premiums.
About Fair Trade USA
Fair Trade USA is a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable
livelihoods for farmers, workers, and fishermen; protects fragile
ecosystems; and builds strong, transparent supply chains through
independent, third-party certification. Its trusted Fair Trade
Certified™ label signifies that rigorous standards have been met in the
production, trade and promotion of Fair Trade products from over 70
countries across the globe. Recognized as a leading social venture by
the Clinton Global Initiative, the Skoll Foundation and Ashoka, Fair
Trade USA also provides capacity-building programs at origin and
educates consumers about the power of their purchase. Visit www.FairTradeCertified.org for
more information.
About West Elm
West Elm helps customers express their personal style at home.
Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, the brand introduced its first catalog in
2002, and opened its first store in 2003 in DUMBO, the Brooklyn
neighborhood it still proudly calls home. Everything West Elm does is
designed to make an impact, from its commitment to Fair Trade Certified,
local and handcrafted products to its community-driven in-store events
and collaborations. Mixing clean lines, natural materials and
handcrafted collections from the US and around the world, West Elm
creates unique, affordable designs for modern living. The brand operates
79 retail stores in the United States, Australia, Canada and the UK,
ships internationally to customers around the world and operates stores
in the Middle East and the Philippines through unaffiliated franchisees.
West Elm is part of an active community on Facebook, Instagram,
Pinterest, Twitter and You Tube, and is a member of the Williams-Sonoma,
Inc. portfolio of brands.
About Clinton Global Initiative
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI), an initiative of Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton
Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative
solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings
have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize
laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs,
major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date CGI members
have made more than 2,300 commitments, which are already improving the
lives of more than 400 million people in over 180 countries. When fully
funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $73.5
billion.
CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative
solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University
(CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to
address pressing challenges in their community or around the world, and,
this year, CGI Latin America, which will bring together Latin American
leaders to identify, harness, and strengthen ways to improve the
livelihoods of people in Latin America and around the world. For more
information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org
and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal
and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.