Human Rights, Supply Chains, and the Future of Fair Labor

Both people and the planet are essential in contextualizing sustainability efforts. A huge part of the human dimension, or social sustainability, is efforts to support and empower the livelihoods of people at work around the world. In the business landscape, this sort of social impact can be seen in action through advancing labor and human rights strategies for the people who power supply chains. 

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) has been at the forefront of this work, including fair compensation, since 1999. From October 21 to 23, 2024, Colonel William G. and Ann C. Svetlich Professor of Operations Research and Management Ravi Anupindi and MBA/MS graduate student Mackenzie Mock participated in FLA’s celebratory board meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, to mark its 25th anniversary and explore the future of fair labor. Here, Anupindi and Mock discuss their interest in human rights and insight from this meeting.

Where did your interest in human rights within supply chain operations originate?

Anupindi: Global supply chain management has been my main academic area. While I had been aware of human rights issues in global supply chains, I had never engaged closely with the topic until one day in 2011, a colleague in my department asked whether I would like to serve on an advisory committee to the University of Michigan President’s Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights (PACLSHR). I accepted the role, which started my journey into more closely engaging in this space. In 2013, I was asked by the president’s office to chair the committee, a role that I have served in since then. The main mandate of PACLSHR is to ensure that university licensees uphold labor standards and human rights in production of Michigan licensed goods. The president’s office, in addition, supports research and education activities on labor standards and human rights more generally.

Mock: My interest in human rights in the apparel industry came from advocacy work with Fashion Revolution prior to my MBA/MS at Michigan. It was there that I learned more about the Rana Plaza disaster, a devastating factory collapse that occurred in 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that killed or injured more than 3,500 people. Garment workers employed at the complex’s clothing factories, mainly women and girls, were on the receiving end of horrific factory conditions, unethical pay practices, and a disregard for human rights due diligence within the apparel supply chain—ultimately ending in the building collapsing. The romantic picture of the creative, supportive conditions that people make our clothes in, propelled by popular media and large retail brands, was brought to a halt. Many, including me, knew this was a pivotal moment to join in on a cause larger than myself and advocate for the livelihoods of the people who make our clothes.

How did you get involved with the Fair Labor Association (FLA)?

Anupindi: The University of Michigan is a member of FLA. In the early days of my membership with PACLSHR, I used to attend some FLA meetings to understand what the organization did. Later, when I became chair of PACLSHR, I started attending more regularly. Then when a board position representing the University Caucus opened up due to retirement, I was asked by the University Caucus if I would consider joining the board, and I accepted. I have been on the FLA board since 2019 and have been actively involved since then. I served on the FLA Agricultural Working Group and now represent the University Caucus on the FLA Agricultural Committee (AGCO). I also serve on the FLA’s audit committee.

Mock: The Fair Labor Association keeps companies accountable to their commitments on labor rights. The nonprofit collaborative of universities, civil society organizations and businesses helps to forge a future for the advancement of fair working conditions in manufacturing and agricultural sectors. I had the privilege of serving on their Student Committee from 2022 to 2023, where I met like-minded human-rights curious students, subject-matter experts and FLA staff, additionally contributing to its annual Student Committee Journal. I was compelled to learn more, and was selected to join the organization that summer as a manufacturing fair compensation intern. I worked on both the apparel manufacturing and agricultural topic areas, focusing on living wage benchmark research, responsible purchasing practice analysis and first-of-its-kind living wage visualizations in the agricultural sector.

What was your experience like at FLA’s 25th board meeting celebration?

Anupindi: It was great to see FLA celebrate this milestone. I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a field visit to see the hazelnut value chain from farm to processing. Being on AGCO for several years, I had been aware of the migrant labor issues in Türkiye, for harvesting multiple commodities across different value chains, through FLA’s project called Harvesting the Future. Türkiyeis the world’s largest producer of hazelnuts. The field visit was a great opportunity to see and learn from some of the people in the field, including initiatives by the global and local actors who are doing their best to provide better educational opportunities to children of the migrant laborers. I also enjoyed the discussions at the board meetings on a rich set of topics. And of course, Istanbul is a beautiful location. 

Mock: I was deeply humbled and honored to be invited by FLA to contribute a student perspective in the panel “The Future of Fair Labor.” Moderated by Dorothee Baumann-Pauly, the panel included me, Ömer Oktay, Sue Butterworth and Gopinath Parakuni. We highlighted the challenges to workers posed by climate change, including heat stress, migration and displacement, among many other topics. It was a wonderful experience to get to share my viewpoints on a fair labor future and learn from these leaders across the apparel and agriculture industries. I loved the chance to reconnect with former colleagues and continue learning from other panels, a highlight being “Deep Dive: Gender Responsive Supply Chains.” I also enjoyed touring a vertically integrated sock factory as a field visit.

How is the University of Michigan involved with FLA? 

Anupindi: The University of Michigan has been a member of FLA since its inception. The university strongly believes in FLA’s multi-stakeholder approach to ensure a more just workplace in global supply chains and improve working conditions and the lives of the workers. The university upholds these through its licensing operations. Beyond licensing, the university is working towards a deeper relationship through scholarship and student engagement to further the mission of FLA.

What opportunities do students have to get engaged in human rights at Michigan?

Anupindi: There are numerous opportunities for students at the University of Michigan to engage in topics related to labor standards and human rights, and more broadly in human rights. These exist through coursework offered in the Ross School of Business, Ford School of Public Policy, School of Environment and Sustainability, the Law School and numerous departments within the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In addition, there are many internship and fellowship opportunities through these schools, as well as through the Donia Human Rights Center. In 2019 the PACLSHR created two summer internship opportunities for Michigan students at FLA, which is jointly funded by PACLSHR and the DHRC. The PACLSHR also routinely sponsors student research opportunities during the semester on topics related to labor standards and human rights. Students also have an opportunity to serve on PACLSHR; a typical term is two years. Finally, U-M students also have an opportunity to join the FLA Student Committee, which offers a professional development and learning opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students interested in human rights, labor conditions and social responsibility in global supply chains.

Mock: At the Ross School of Business, courses such as Ravi Anupindi’s “Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management” and Andrew Hoffman’s “Strategies for Sustainable Development” weave in cases directly related to human rights within various industries, including apparel. At the School for Environment and Sustainability, courses on sustainable development and Indigenous rights discuss important interrelated concepts, including human livelihoods’ relationships to land and society.