Fair Trade USA's Multi-Stakeholder Group Reveals Results of Two-Year Apparel Pilot

“[Workers] had more pride in their work and felt more respected at this factory than at previous jobs,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, Fair Trade Campaigns director at Green America. “They stressed the importance of being paid on time, and relief that their payments went via direct deposit into their personal bank accounts—something especially important for the women, as their cash wages were often taken by their husbands in the past.”

The full report outlines recommendations from the MSG, and includes Fair Trade USA’s approach to promoting continuous improvement and economic development, premium management, higher wages, worker representation and consumer transparency. All recommendations are intended to address the complexity of the apparel supply chain while providing the greatest benefit to farmers and workers. For example, the MSG recommends two distinct certifications, with corresponding labels for Fair Trade Certified Cotton and Fair Trade Certified Sewing. The goal of this is to increase impact for subsistence cotton farmers AND factory workers, and to communicate clearly to consumers. Second, they also identified the need for a more inclusive and flexible approach to the certification of artisan-made apparel and textiles. These and all other recommendations made by the MSG will be adopted in the Fair Trade apparel program moving forward.

The report also addresses key issues and challenges faced during the pilot period. One challenge was an economic climate not conducive to new sourcing commitments that may have a higher price tag for brands, even if they deliver impact to workers. As a result, brands were slow to participate in the pilot and to adopt Fair Trade in a significant way, making it difficult to assess impact on a large scale.

“Consumers want sustainably sourced apparel,” said Heather Franzese, who managed the pilot at Fair Trade USA. “A recent Harvard study showed a 14 percent sales lift on clothing labeled ‘socially conscious’ in Banana Republic outlet stores. People want to know more than ‘Made in Bangladesh.’ They want to know that the woman at the sewing machine can afford to send her kids to school. The question is which leading brands will be the first to step up and provide that assurance?”