Philip Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, which helped draft the proposals, said, "The clock is ticking for companies to show they care about their Bangladeshi supplier workforce.
"It is a disaster," says Matthias Groote, an SPD member of the European parliament for Lower Saxony, who says he is most worried about VW's workforce and dependent suppliers.
Reuters reported that Foxconn will cut its massive workforce as the Apple supplier faces declining revenue growth and rising wages in China.
A spokesperson from Hugo Boss states that it "obligates its suppliers to comply with the applicable minimum wage legislation" and that "wage negotiations are the exclusive domain of the supplier, its workforce and other parties within their countries, some of which are accorded roles by national legislation," though it is "open to every form of constructive dialogue".
It is hard to be a saint in any business, but we have a strong reputation for fairness, because the people who own co-operatives and mutuals are the workforce, the customers, the suppliers or the local community.
Identifying the human impacts at every stage – supplier, contractor, contractors' workforce and outworkers etc along the supply chain – and understanding their real employment practices in the norms of that culture is resource intensive.
The guidance will cover controls on ICT contracts; advertising, marketing and communications; strategic supplier management; HR and workforce; and property.
CGN looks forward to providing UK consumers with safe, reliable and sustainable energy and maximising opportunities for UK suppliers and the UK workforce".
With little room for cost-cutting in the heavily unionised, 86,000-strong workforce, she has tightened the screw on suppliers.
Last year, amid calls in parliament for the flag-carrier to be dissolved, Mr Musallam began aggressively cutting costs: the fleet contracted from 38 to 27 aircraft; the workforce shrunk from 3,800 to 2,750; and 2,000 supplier contracts were renegotiated.
