Supply chain conditions
Fair Labor Association (FLA)
The FLA is a non-profit organisation made up of private corporations, non-governmental organisations and universities. It sets workplace standards and appoints accredited inspectors to monitor how well affiliated companies meet these standards. The FLA publishes an annual report with each company’s results. The FLA accredited the Reebok and adidas compliance programmes in 2004 and 2005.
In 2007, the adidas Group, including the adidas and Reebok brands, became one FLA participating group. This means the FLA evaluates the SEA programme as an integrated entity operating under one single management team, with a single, but enhanced, set of social compliance policies and practices.
As part of the Group’s 2007 obligations, our suppliers received 15 independent, external monitoring and verification visits from FLA monitors, and these tracking reports can be found on the FLA's website. The adidas Group was also an active participant in FLA activities, including sustainability assessment (FLA 3.0), annual reporting and best practice training for suppliers.
The next FLA evaluation and programme re-accreditation for the adidas Group is scheduled for 2008.
Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC)
The FFC is a US-based non-profit corporation founded in 2004 and funded by member contributions and a grant from the US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Reebok was a founding member and has been instrumental in the development of the organisation, which houses a global database of factory information and social compliance audit reports. The database enables member companies to manage and share non-competitive information about workplace conditions to help promote factory improvement. Following the integration of adidas and Reebok in 2006, the FFC has become the Group’s primary factory compliance tracking system and a platform for collaborative efforts with other brands and retailers.
Read more at www.fairfactories.org
Round Table on Codes of Conduct, Germany
We regularly participate in a Round Table on Codes of Conduct, which is facilitated by the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation. The Round Table provides a forum for the representatives of the private sector, trade unions, non-governmental organisations and government to meet and present on the very latest CSR developments and best practice approaches.
Project involvement
The adidas Group was a key driver in designing a project to improve working conditions and competitiveness in subcontractor factories in Romania. The project, managed by a sub-working group of the Round Table, provided management-worker dialogue training.
The project began in February 2005 and ran through until October 2006. Through effective training, the project enhanced communication and negotiation skills between the workforce and the management of the participating factories. This in turn, fostered improvements in industrial relationships and social dialogue. In 2007, the Round Table considered how to transfer the project methodology to other industry branches and countries.
Read more at www.coc-runder-tisch.de
Education Development Center (EDC)
EDC is a US-headquartered not-for-profit group that provides education and development services. EDC’s Asian office has worked closely with SEA on researching migrant labour and community issues in the region.