OUR REPORTS
Learning from Lululemon: If Canada wants to get serious about forced labour, disclosure laws won’t do
A recent investigation into Lululemon casts doubt on the ability of Canada’s new Modern Slavery Act to tackle labour abuse. The act also doesn’t hold companies accountable when forced labour is found.The new law falls short of what is required to make large corporations exercise due diligence to prevent labour abuse from occurring within their supply chains.
Mandatory Human Rights
Due Diligence:
Risks and Opportunities
for Workers and Unions
Mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) legislation is now a strategic objective for many activists and organisations concerned with the protection and promotion of workers’ rights in the global
economy. It is widely presumed that embedding the concept in national, regional and international law
will open up new avenues through which workers and trade unions can challenge corporate practices
and secure meaningful remedies for rights violations.
Lululemon’s Conundrum: Good Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives and the Persistence of Forced Labour
Despite being recognized as an industry leader when it comes to disclosing information about their supply chains, policies, and actions taken to address forced labour, in 2020 Lululemon was accused of using cotton produced with forced labour from the Uyghur people who reside in the
Xinjiang region in China. In addition to shedding light on Lululemon’s conundrum, the Report presents a baseline study of Lululemon’s initiatives before the Canadian
government introduces a modern slavery law imposing disclosure requirements on large Canadian companies.
GFLC submission to Employment and Social Development Canada Consultation on Labour Exploitation in Supply Chains
This April 8, 2022 submission to the Employment and Social Development Canada consultations on labour exploration in supply chains offers a set of recommendations for designing mandatory human rights due diligence legislation that provides voice and remedies for workers whose labour rights have been violated.
Caught in the Carceral Web: Anti-Trafficking Laws and Policies and their Impact on Migrant Sex Workers
This evidence-based research report, which draws on interviews with migrant sex workers and their advocates, maps the tangled web of Canadian anti-trafficking laws and policies, and investigates their impact on migrant sex workers.
