Our What She Makes campaign calls on Canadian fashion brands to ensure the women who make our clothes are paid a living wage. This backgrounder describes why supply chain transparency is an important step in the runway to paying living wages and improving labour practices in the fashion industry.
The brand tracker includes four milestones:
- Making a commitment: As a first step, brands should make a public commitment to pay a living wage in their supply chain within four years and publish it on their website.
- Being transparent: Brands should be transparent, disclose their full supply chain and publish the following information on their website: full name of factories and processing facilities, site addresses, parent companies, types of products made and number of workers.
- Publishing plans: Brands should develop and publish a step-by-step strategy outlining how and when it will achieve its commitment to pay workers a living wage and meet all requirements with clear milestones and targets.
- Paying a living wage: Within four years of making a commitment, brands should be paying a living wage in their supply chains. This requires collaboration, consultation, and public reporting on their progress.
Companies will score green, amber, or red depending on the actions they have taken concerning each milestone. We assess brands’ scores by considering a set of indicators outlined under each milestone. A green score on the brand tracker shows that the brand has fulfilled all elements outlined within a milestone. Amber shows that the brand has taken some action and red illustrates that the company has not taken any action.
Download the guide below to learn more about milestone two, being transparent.
