Asia - LSGSC project

Labour Standards in Global Supply Chains project: A Programme of Action for Asia and the Garment Sector

The development objective of the Labour Standards in Global Supply Chains (LSGSC) project was to improve the lives of workers and increase decent work opportunities in global supply chains (GSCs) in the garment sector, starting with the project’s beneficiary countries: Cambodia, Indonesia and Pakistan. The project’s programme of action included interventions at factory-level and country-level as well as global and Asia regional components.

The ILO’s Labour Standards in Global Supply Chains (LSGSC) project sought to address a range of these challenges, particularly those related to minimum wage-setting, collective bargaining, and compliance with labour standards. The immediate objectives of the LSGSC project during its third and final phase were that:

  • systems for participatory and evidence-based minimum wage-fixing, wages policy, and collective bargaining will have been improved in the project’s target countries (Cambodia , Indonesia  and Pakistan);
  • systems for assuring labour standards compliance at the factory-level will have improved in the target countries;
  • the institutional capacity of tripartite partners to respond to labour standards challenges in the garment sector global supply chains will have improved.

LSGSC project was initiated as part of a Joint Declaration of Intent for a renewed partnership between the German Federal Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ) and the ILO signed in May 2014. The declaration identified labour standards in Global Supply Chains (GSCs) as a priority for cooperation. LSGSC project completed operations on 31 March 2019.

The project

Target countries

Highlights

  • In Cambodia, the Independent Final Evaluation described the project’s results as a “success story of effective support for minimum wage-setting mechanisms reform with notable outcomes in terms of improving the wage-negotiation process as well as in terms of raising actual wages while maintaining the garment industry’s competitiveness”.
  • In Indonesia, LSGSC provided inputs to inform potential wage policy reform and thereby created demand for follow-up support.
  • In Pakistan, project research and capacity building contributed to improving provincial legal frameworks and constituent capacity on minimum wages in Sindh province, through an ‘inclusive approach’ that targeted lower tiers of garment sector global supply chains that culminated in extending minimum wage coverage and other legal protections to informal sector workers.
  • By strengthening systems for collective bargaining at the country-level, LSGSC made significant contributions to negotiations towards a potential first-of-its-kind sector-level (multi-employer) Collective Bargaining Agreement in the garment sector in Cambodia, and promoted effective and evidence-based collective bargaining in the garment sector at both the enterprise and national-level in Indonesia, and at the provincial-level in Pakistan.
  • At the regional-level, LSGSC facilitated regional cross-sharing of information and experiences regarding wages policy and collective bargaining in the garment sector in Asia through an integrated combination of new regional comparative research and regional events organized in close collaboration with GIZ.
  • By directly supporting and collaborating with Better Work, LSGSC contributed to improving systems for assuring labour standards compliance at the factory-level in Indonesia and Cambodia, thereby contributing to measurable improvements in labour standards compliance rates in Better Work factories.
  • At a global level, by developing new knowledge products and capacity building programmes, the project contributed to improving the institutional capacity of tripartite partners to respond to labour standards challenges in global garment sector supply chains. Globally, LSGSC knowledge products on topics including the impact of purchasing practices on working conditions in garment sector global supply chains were accessed more than 17,000 times during the lifespan of the project. LSGSC contributed to massive open online courses (MOOC) on topics related to decent work in global supply chains that have been accessed by more than 14,000 trade union representatives and other global supply chains stakeholders.

Asia-Pacific Garment and Footwear Sector Research Notes