Labour standards and corporate social responsibility: the case of Turkish apparel industry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since the late 1960s, multinational companies have shifted labour-intensive production, such as textiles and apparel, from developed to developing countries, resulting in very low wages and deplorable working conditions in these regions. This instigated discussions on the implementation of labour standards at the global level. These discussions took place within international institutions such as the ILO, OECD, and the UN until the 1980s. After that, non-governmental organizations began to be concerned with the appalling conditions of workers in global factories by promoting self-developed corporate social responsibility codes. Despite the very rich literature that exists about the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder corporate social responsibility codes, the literature on this subject is quite limited in Turkey. This study aims to examine the extent to which the corporate social responsibility codes of multi-stakeholder initiatives operating in Turkey, in the supplier firms producing for global brands in the apparel industry, have improved the effectiveness of labour standards. Based on interviews with multi-stakeholder initiatives and document analysis on the subject, the study shows that these codes that suppliers to global brands in the Turkish apparel industry must comply with, are largely cosmetic images and are ineffective in improving labour standards.