Directed Inquiry Unit: Morality in Purchasing
Photo by Zack Lee. CC BY ND
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1. Follow the links to the site http://slaveryfootprint.org/ and complete the survey. Create a NoodleTools Project, and then create a citation for this website. Make a note card connected to the citation and answer the following questions:
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2. Research your company's labour practices through site specific searches. See the note below (in green) explaining how to conduct a site specific search using Google's web browser. Create a citation for each website you find and use the Annotation box to answer the noted questions.
A. Start at the company website. Answer the following:
1. What does the company say about themselves with regard to their labour practices and fair trade?
2. Does the company identify the source (location) of the raw materials used to create their products?
3. Does the company speak about standards they follow with respect to the labour involved in extracting the
raw materials?
4. Where is the product manufactured?
5. Is there an explanation of labour standards with respect to the manufacturing process?
1. What does the company say about themselves with regard to their labour practices and fair trade?
2. Does the company identify the source (location) of the raw materials used to create their products?
3. Does the company speak about standards they follow with respect to the labour involved in extracting the
raw materials?
4. Where is the product manufactured?
5. Is there an explanation of labour standards with respect to the manufacturing process?
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Note: You can search the company's website using Google's search engine by conducting a site specific search. For example, the web address for Mountain Equipment Company is www.mec.ca. If I want to search MEC's site to learn about their policies with respect to labour, I type the following into the Google search box: labour practices site:mec.ca. Example -->
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B. Conduct a .org search (site:.org) looking for NGO's evaluations of the company's labour practices
C. Conduct a government (.gov or .gc.ca) or UN (un.org) site search to see what they say.
D. Do all three of these sites agree with each other? If there is a difference, what is the difference? And,
why would these sites disagree with each other?
C. Conduct a government (.gov or .gc.ca) or UN (un.org) site search to see what they say.
D. Do all three of these sites agree with each other? If there is a difference, what is the difference? And,
why would these sites disagree with each other?
3. Now conduct a site specific search of the Globe and Mail and the New York Times to see what newspapers are saying about your company's labour practices (site:.theglobeandmail.com/site:.nytimes.com).
4. Finally, use the Global Issues in Context database to learn more about the issue and company you are researching.
Additional Resources
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International Documents Supporting Human Rights
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Government Organizations Assessing Labour Practices
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Companies that Own the Brands:
Behind the Brands / Oxfam / 2017
Many consumer brands are interconnected, owned by industry suppliers and even countries. Below are categories that show parent companies and their many subsidiaries.
Food and Beverage
Fashion Houses
The selection below of fashion houses show how vastly different subsidiaries are. LVMH, for example, owns lines from clothing to food and beverage to resorts.
Cars
Listed here are each major car brand and its parent corporation, including some retired brands whose products are still readily available as used cars.
Jewelry
Parent companies that own jewelers are below, but also linked are mining companies and even countries.
Food and Beverage
- The “Big Ten” (see infographic above): Associated British Foods (ABF), Coca-Cola, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg, Mars, Mondelez International (previously Kraft Foods), Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever
- Who owns the brands you love and how do they score? An interactive and informational quiz
Fashion Houses
The selection below of fashion houses show how vastly different subsidiaries are. LVMH, for example, owns lines from clothing to food and beverage to resorts.
- LVMH owns 75 different houses in 6 sectors. Here are some examples: Fashion, Jewelry, Food and Beverage, Resorts, Yacht Builders, Magazines, Cosmetics (e.g. Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Celine, Givenchy, Dior, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Bvlgari, TAG Heuer, Zenith, Sephora, DFS, Moet & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot, Hennessy)
- Kering houses (e.g. Gucci, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta)
- Gap Inc. (e.g. Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta)
Cars
Listed here are each major car brand and its parent corporation, including some retired brands whose products are still readily available as used cars.
- Who owns which car brands (Consumer Reports, 2022)
- 14 Car companies control 54 combined brands (2019)
Jewelry
Parent companies that own jewelers are below, but also linked are mining companies and even countries.
- Signet Jewelers (e.g. Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, Peoples). Look under "Banners" at the top for a full list of jewelers.
- Richemont (e.g. Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels)
- DeBeers, 85% of which is owned by Anglo American, one of the world's largest mining companies. The remaining 15% is owned by the government of Botswana.
Other Resources:
- Anti Slavery: What we do (includes specific reference to cotton, trafficking, forced and bonded labour, etc)
- Center for Biological Diversity (The Revelator): The Surprising Link Between Climate Change and Human Trafficking
- Stop Child Labour: About child labour, including textiles, shoes/leather, gold, natural stone, seeds, coffee
- Shine Global: "The Harvest" (migrant labour)
- White Gold: Investigates cotton farming in Uzbekistan
- The Washington Post: "China compels Uighurs to work in shoe factory that supplies Nike"
- Foreign Policy Association. Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, 2020
- Human Rights Watch. Hidden Cost of Jewelry, 2018. Website explores human rights in supply chains and the responsibility of jewelry companies.
- Know the Chain. Investigates forced labour risks in electronic supply chains and how to eradicate forced labour in electronics, 2018
- Ethical Consumer. Based on the research of 40,000 companies, brands and products, website provides shopping guides and ethical ratings system
Further Reading:
- UNICEF: Child Labour: Check topics on left side. Provides data and an interactive downloadable dataset.
- Our World in Data: Child Labour. Provides history, current global views, and data on child labour.
- United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 2022
- Child labour related to carpet industry:
- "Young Activist's Death Hits Pakistani Carpet Sales"
- "10,000 children estimated to work in Nepal's carpet industry"
- GoodWeave: Advocates for social change dedicated to ending child labour, forced labour, and bonded labour in global supply chains.
- Clothing:
- Labour Behind the Label evaluates a number of clothing manufacturers -- The Gap, Levi Strauss, Hugo Boss, H&M, and Under Armour, to name a few for its labour practices: Tailored Wages UK 2019. Also, see the "Reports" and “Useful Resources” pages for item specific reports (cotton, shoes, etc).
- Green America: Sweatshop Free Clothing (Provides a list of links to more resources at the bottom of the page). Also see their Toxic Textiles 2019 report.
- Which brands are putting people before the planet? Search:
- 2022 Ethical Fashion Guide
- 2022 Ethical Fashion Report Provides grades (brand index) for multiple brands, and explains what is needed.
- 2022 Ethical Fashion Report Appendix