Daily CSR
Daily CSR

Daily CSR
Daily news about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability

Fair Trade Apparel Makes Headlines In Patagonia



10/27/2016

Fair Trade symbol on Patagonia’s cloths, benefits the workers.


Dailycsr.com – 27 October 2016 – The symbol of “Fair Trade” Certification, assuring some part of money spent on either “a bag of coffee or bar of chocolate” directly reaches the producer may be familiar to many and remains within their community, may be familiar to many.
 
Patagonia has partnered with “Fair Trade USA” to manufacture clothes that will “provide the same benefit” to the producers.
 
It is a “simple” programme wherein for every single “Fair Trade Certified™” being sewn attracts a premium payment from Patagonia. The money thus collected goes to “an account” that is controlled by the workers. Although the programme is not a “top-down” one, but it is “run in each case by a democratically elected Fair Trade worker committee”.
 
The said committee takes the decision as to the flow of funds being used, it could be for “social, economic and environmental community projects” or a “cash bonus”. In the former case, the fund could be used for “private health care”, child-care centres, while in the latter case the workers directly get “closer to a living wage”.
 
 
 
References:
ethicalperformance.com