Using Law to Support Social Movement-Led Collective Bargaining Structures in Supply Chains

Abstract

This article critically examines two specific examples of collective bargaining structures created by social movement actors to regulate working conditions across supply chains — the Fair Food Program and the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety. These programs can be characterised as nascent forms of supply chain collective bargaining, which involves representatives of workers negotiating with entities further upstream that have the power to influence labour conditions through their commercial practices. The key distinguishing feature of the Fair Food Program and the Bangladesh Accord, especially in comparison with previous private regulatory efforts, is that the agreements are legally enforceable against the lead firms. The available evidence suggests that they have resulted in significant improvements in the industries they regulate. Given the potential of supply chain collective bargaining structures to improve the working conditions of supply chain workers, this article considers how state law might extend and encourage these initiatives at both the national and transnational levels.

Keywords: Supply chains, workers, collective bargaining, Bangladesh, farm workers