Ethical Trading Initiative

Background

The Ethical Trading Initiative describes itself as 'a ground-breaking initiative which brings together a wide range of organisations from all parts of society. Together, we aim to improve the lives of poor working people around the world. Specifically, we are an alliance of companies, NGOs and trade union organisations working to promote and improve the implementation of corporate codes of practice which cover supply chain working conditions'.

History

The Ethical Trading Initiative was set up in 1998 in response to increasing pressure from trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and consumers to ensure decent working conditions for the people who produce the goods for companies selling food and clothing to UK consumers.

According to its website, the ETI was established 'to bring the combined knowledge and influence of relevant NGOs and the international trade union movement to work alongside these companies in identifying and promoting good practice in code implementation'.

Funding and finances

According to it's website, The ETI is 'funded by a combination of membership fees (currently [in 2009] comprising approximately 60% of our funding base) and a grant from the Department for International Development (40% of funding). Our members also contribute in-kind to ETI’s work (eg, staff time, travel expenses, meeting facilities)'.

In 2002, Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, sanctioned a three year grant from the government by awarding ETI £1.315m

People

Director

• Dan Rees appointed in March 2002.

Board

According to its website, the ETI's 'Board has nine voting members or directors, comprised of three representatives from each of the three main categories of members, ie, companies, trade union organisations, and NGOs. Each of the three constituencies also has one alternate director, who may attend Board meetings as a voting member if any of the other three representatives in their constituency is unavailable'.

In April 2008, ETI's Board consisted of:

Chair:

• Alan Roberts - Group Business Standards Director for Littlewoods Retail Limited. Roberts has been on ETI's Board since 1998 and became Chair in 2002. Littlewoods is owned by Associated British Foods which also owns Primark. Primark has come under repeated criticism for the exploitation of workers producing its clothes. For example, War on Want's 2008 report, 'Fashion Victims II: How UK clothing retailers are keeping workers in poverty', 'exposes the appalling conditions faced by workers producing clothes for Primark, Tesco and Asda. The report comes two years on from War on Want’s original Fashion Victims report, published in December 2006, which found that garment workers struggle to survive on extremely low pay, suffering poor working conditions, arduous hours and a complete lack of trade union representation in the factories'. The report continues by stating that despite promises from companies to improve the lives of their workers, 'workers are now in an even worse position than they were before.'

Vice Chair:

• Tony Young

Corporate representatives:

• Pam Batty - Next
• Lakshmi Bhatia - Gap Inc. (alternate)
• Javier Chercoles Blazquez - Inditex
• Rob Brown - Boots UK
• Steve Homer - Flamingo Holdings (Co-opted Food Group)

Trade union representatives:

• James Howard - International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• Neil Kearney - International Textiles, Garments and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF)
• Teresa Mackay - Unite
• Simon Steyne - Trades Union Congress (TUC)

NGO representatives:

• Maggie Burns - Women Working Worldwide
• Usha Kar - Africa Now
• Peter Williams - National Homeworkers Group (NGH)
• (Vacancy)

Department for International Development (DFID) observer:

• Geraldine Murphy

Contact details, Resources, Notes

Contact

• Address:
• Phone:
• Fax:
• Website: