Modern-day slavery in supply chains | Dan Viederman | TEDxBerkeley

Summary

The speaker addresses the exploitation of workers globally, particularly through labor recruiters who charge exorbitant fees for securing jobs, often leading to debt bondage and forced labor. Many affected workers are migrants employed in low-wage, dangerous jobs in sectors like electronics and apparel. The speaker highlights the role of supply chains and corporate responsibility, noting efforts by companies and governments to combat this issue. They call for consumers and businesses to take action against these unethical practices to protect workers like 'Raj,' who is trapped in exploitative conditions despite having invested heavily for a job abroad.

Takeaways

• 🛑 Workers globally often pay high fees to recruiters to secure low-paying and unsafe jobs, leading to debt bondage.
• 💸 Labor recruitment agencies in various countries charge workers thousands of dollars for jobs, creating significant financial burdens.
• 📱 Many products like electronics and clothing involve supply chains that employ workers in exploitative conditions, often in debt to recruiters.
• 🔒 Migrant workers in countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, and the U.S. frequently face conditions of forced labor, including having their passports confiscated.
• 📉 Despite contracts, workers are often paid far less than promised, leaving them trapped in dangerous jobs with high debt.
• 🌍 Migrant workers from countries like Nepal, the Philippines, and Bangladesh are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in foreign supply chains.
• 🏢 Companies like Apple and HP have started implementing policies to eliminate recruitment fees and reimburse workers, with Apple returning $20 million in fees.
• ⚖️ The U.S. government is enforcing stricter labor practices through an executive order that bans companies from using forced labor in supply chains if they want to do business with the federal government.
• ⛑️ Initiatives from religious and global leaders, including the Pope, are being launched to combat modern-day slavery in global supply chains.
• 🛍️ Consumers can help by demanding transparency from brands, encouraging them to address the exploitation within their supply chains.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the speaker's discussion?

The speaker focuses on the intersection of corporate responsibility, supply chains, and modern-day slavery, specifically highlighting the exploitation of workers, particularly migrant laborers, in global supply chains.

How do labor recruiters exploit workers in the global economy?

Labor recruiters often charge workers, particularly migrants, exorbitant fees to secure jobs overseas. Workers borrow money at high interest rates to pay these fees, leading to debt bondage and trapping them in low-wage, insecure, and dangerous jobs.

Why do workers, especially migrants, pay large sums to recruiters for jobs?

Migrants pay large sums to recruiters because they see it as a lifeline out of poverty, hoping to earn enough to send money home and improve their family's financial situation. However, the reality often involves exploitation and harsh working conditions.

What role do major brands play in the exploitation of workers?

Major brands are indirectly involved because their factories, often located overseas, employ workers who have paid recruiters to get those jobs. Brands may be unaware of the exploitative practices within their supply chains, especially if they rely on third-party labor recruiters.

What are some of the serious labor violations found in countries like Malaysia and Taiwan?

Serious labor violations include unsafe working conditions (e.g., locked fire exits), extremely long working hours, systemic abuse and harassment, and the confiscation of workers' passports. These conditions often affect migrant workers from countries like Nepal, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

What did the speaker's organization discover in its investigation of the electronics sector in Malaysia?

The organization found that one-third of the workers in Malaysia’s electronics sector were in forced labor conditions, with many having their passports confiscated and paying excessive fees to secure their jobs.

Can you explain Raj's story and how it illustrates the issue of forced labor?

Raj, a college-educated Nepali man, paid $1,500 to a recruiter for a job in a Malaysian electronics factory. Once in Malaysia, his passport was taken, and he was forced to work long hours for low wages, barely earning enough to pay off his debt. He was trapped, unable to return home without incurring additional costs.

What are some of the key solutions proposed by the speaker to address forced labor in global supply chains?

The speaker proposes that businesses should ensure workers do not have to pay for jobs, meaning they should eliminate recruitment fees. Brands should work to implement ethical labor standards and verify that their supply chains are free from forced labor. The U.S. government’s 2012 executive order is also a crucial step in this direction.

How are companies like Apple and HP responding to the issue of forced labor in their supply chains?

Apple and HP have implemented 'no fees' policies, ensuring that workers do not pay to secure jobs. Apple has gone further by reimbursing workers $20 million for fees they were improperly charged, setting an example for other companies.

What can consumers do to help address modern-day slavery in supply chains?

Consumers can pressure brands to be transparent about their labor practices and ensure they are not complicit in forced labor. By raising awareness and demanding accountability, consumers can help drive change in corporate policies and encourage ethical sourcing practices.

Outlines

00:00

💼 The Cost of Employment for Migrant Workers

The speaker opens by questioning how much it should cost to secure a job, contrasting the experience of many graduates with that of millions of workers globally. Migrants often pay thousands of dollars to recruiters in hopes of obtaining low-wage, insecure, and often dangerous jobs. These workers are trapped in a form of modern-day slavery, as they accumulate debt they cannot repay. This practice is tied to global supply chains, where consumers unknowingly benefit from exploited labor, especially in industries like electronics and apparel.

05:01

🌍 Global Exploitation of Migrant Workforces

This paragraph delves into the common thread of severe labor violations in countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, and the U.S. protectorate of Saipan. The exploitation often involves foreign workers such as Filipinos, Nepalis, and Bangladeshis. Recruiters deceive these workers with false promises and contracts, subjecting them to dangerous conditions, wage theft, and lack of freedom once they arrive. The paragraph emphasizes that the abuse is systemic, deeply embedded in global supply chains, especially in electronics manufacturing hubs like Malaysia.

10:03

🔍 Investigating Forced Labor in Malaysia’s Electronics Sector

The speaker outlines a 15-year investigation into Malaysia's electronics sector, uncovering widespread forced labor among migrant workers. A third of the 500 interviewed workers were found to be in conditions of forced labor. One example is Raj, a Nepali worker who paid exorbitant fees to recruiters, fell into debt, and ended up trapped in Malaysia. Despite long hours in a high-tech electronics facility, his wages barely allowed him to pay off his debt and send money home, leaving him stuck in a cycle of financial and physical entrapment.

🛑 Global Scale of Labor Exploitation and Debt Bondage

The paragraph presents a global view of labor exploitation, with workers from places like the Philippines, India, and Guatemala paying excessive recruitment fees to work in various industries worldwide. The problem spans from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, and even the U.S., where Guatemalans borrow large sums to secure low-paying jobs. The prevalence of passport confiscation and fraudulent recruitment practices traps these workers, reinforcing the global scale of modern-day slavery in various industries.

⚖️ Path to Solutions: Government and Corporate Responsibility

The speaker outlines solutions to end forced labor in global supply chains. While the complexity of the problem involves multiple players—recruiters, employers, and countries—some progress is being made. For instance, U.S. federal law now requires companies supplying the government to eliminate forced labor. Corporations like Apple have also taken steps by reimbursing workers who paid recruitment fees. The fight against modern slavery is gaining momentum, with support from major players like the U.S. government and religious leaders such as the Pope.

🛠️ What Can Businesses and Consumers Do?

The speaker closes by urging businesses to ensure no debt bondage occurs in their supply chains and calls for consumers to demand transparency from the brands they support. While businesses can directly prevent exploitation by choosing ethical partners, consumers can also play a role by pressuring companies to take responsibility. The story of Raj highlights the moral imperative to act, as he and many others remain trapped in exploitative labor conditions. The speaker emphasizes that change is possible but requires collective action.

Keywords

💡Debt Bondage

Debt bondage refers to the situation where workers are trapped in their jobs because of a debt they owe, often to labor recruiters or employers. In the script, it highlights how workers, such as those in Malaysia's electronics industry, borrow large sums at high-interest rates to secure jobs but cannot earn enough to repay the debt, trapping them in exploitative conditions.

💡Labor Recruiters

Labor recruiters are agencies or individuals who arrange jobs for workers, often in foreign countries. In the video, recruiters are shown exploiting vulnerable workers by charging exorbitant fees, making false promises, and switching contract terms once the worker arrives, which leads to situations like debt bondage and exploitation.

💡Forced Labor

Forced labor refers to situations where individuals are compelled to work against their will, often under threats or coercion. The video highlights that one-third of workers in Malaysia's electronics sector are in conditions of forced labor, with their passports confiscated and no freedom to leave their jobs.

💡Supply Chain

A supply chain refers to the system of organizations, people, activities, and resources involved in moving a product from supplier to customer. The video discusses how companies, especially in the electronics and apparel industries, may unknowingly support forced labor or exploitation within their supply chains and must take responsibility for ensuring ethical practices.

💡Recruitment Fees

Recruitment fees are the costs workers pay to secure employment, often charged by labor recruiters. In the video, workers like Raj are forced to pay significant fees upfront, leading them into debt and vulnerability to exploitation. Ethical practices demand that workers should not have to pay such fees to get a job.

💡Social Assessments

Social assessments are evaluations conducted to ensure ethical labor practices in factories and workplaces. In the video, the organization conducts social assessments in factories by reviewing working conditions, payroll records, and safety standards to determine if labor exploitation is taking place, as part of corporate social responsibility initiatives.

💡Corporate Responsibility

Corporate responsibility refers to the obligation of companies to act ethically, ensuring that their business practices do not harm workers or communities. The video emphasizes how businesses need to ensure that their supply chains are free from forced labor and exploitation, as part of their responsibility to prevent modern-day slavery.

💡Modern-Day Slavery

Modern-day slavery encompasses practices like forced labor, debt bondage, and human trafficking, where individuals are exploited and deprived of their freedom. The video focuses on how migrant workers, like those in Malaysia’s electronics industry, are effectively slaves due to high recruitment fees, confiscated passports, and low wages that keep them in a cycle of exploitation.

💡Code of Conduct

A code of conduct is a set of ethical standards and rules that companies establish to govern their operations and interactions with suppliers. In the video, companies began implementing codes of conduct in the 1990s to ensure that their suppliers do not engage in child labor, forced labor, or unsafe working conditions.

💡Migrant Workers

Migrant workers are individuals who move to another country for employment, often in search of better wages or opportunities. In the video, migrant workers from countries like Nepal, the Philippines, and Bangladesh are discussed as being particularly vulnerable to exploitation, as they take on debts to secure jobs overseas and face abusive labor conditions.

Highlights

Many people around the world pay thousands of dollars to labor recruiters, hoping for overseas job opportunities, but they often face exploitation and debt bondage.

Global supply chains, including electronics and apparel, employ workers who are forced into debt just to secure their jobs, connecting this issue to everyday consumer goods.

Debt bondage in labor recruitment often leads to conditions of modern-day slavery, where workers can't escape because they are tied to high-interest loans.

The speaker's organization, a nonprofit based in Massachusetts, works globally to investigate labor conditions in supply chains and help companies understand these issues.

Companies have implemented ethical standards in their contracts with suppliers, but violations such as unsafe working conditions, forced labor, and wage theft are still widespread.

In some countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, and Jordan, the labor force consists primarily of foreign workers who face extreme exploitation and unsafe working conditions.

The speaker notes that many workers face bait-and-switch tactics from recruiters, where they are promised good wages but arrive to worse conditions than agreed.

In Malaysia’s electronics sector, a study found that one-third of the workers were in forced labor conditions, including passport confiscation and underpayment.

Raj, a college-educated Nepali worker, was exploited after paying a recruiter for a job in Malaysia, where his passport was taken, and he was trapped in debt.

90% of workers in Malaysia’s electronics sector had their passports taken, and 85% had paid excessive recruitment fees, showing the scale of the problem.

Recruiters across multiple countries are involved in a complex system that traps workers in debt, making it difficult for them to escape or pay back their loans.

The U.S. government is actively trying to combat this issue, with a 2012 executive order requiring companies selling goods to the federal government to ensure no debt bondage in their supply chains.

Some companies, like Apple and HP, have implemented no-fees policies and have even reimbursed workers for unethical recruitment fees, setting an example for others.

This is not only a business problem but a moral issue that affects everyone, including consumers who indirectly benefit from these exploitative supply chains.

The speaker encourages consumers to engage with brands and push for transparency, as this pressure can help combat modern-day slavery in supply chains.

Transcripts

I want to start with a

question how much should it cost to get

a

job that's the right answer we'll get

there eventually

so you're all graduates you're all going

to be graduates at some point of a AUST

higher institution uh of higher

institution of Higher Learning and you

can imagine a situation where at some

point you'll you'll be given or offered

a a job a position and you'll be happy

to accept it and chances are no one will

ask you for thousands of dollars upfront

much less tens of thousands of dollars

upfront so that you can secure this job

but of course for millions of people

around the world the reality is

otherwise the reality is that they pay

thousands of dollars to labor recruiters

sort of like Global staffing agencies

they want a much more informal basis

they borrow that money at uh High rates

of interest and they pay the agencies

and hopes that they can get a Lifeline

out of poverty in the form of a job

generally overseas of course these

aren't good jobs these are jobs at the

very low end of the global economy they

are jobs that are poorly paid they are

often dangerous they are insecure and

they are temporary and so workers

migrants people around the world are

paying more than they can afford to get

jobs these jobs are not simply sort of

really far away and in places that we

don't touch they're very close to us in

in some key ways uh if you buy as I

imagine you mostly do cell phones or

computers or other consumer electronics

if you buy clothes from time to time you

have likely bought from Brands whose

factories employee workers who have paid

to get those jobs so it is connected to

all of us and ultimately when this goes

really wrong it's a form of debt bondage

these workers are carrying debt with

them they are not making enough to pay

back their loans and they are they

cannot leave their work so I'm going to

talk at the intersection of sort of

corporate responsibility Supply chains

and modern day

slavery my organization is a nonprofit

We are based in Massachusetts and

operate globally and we work with

companies largely to help them

understand what's going on in their

supply chains in the factories from whom

they are buying things this started back

in the 1990s mostly with apparel

companies at that point so clothing

companies that were aware of the fact as

they

transported as they transferred

production offshore into countries like

China or into Latin America there was a

lot going on in their factories that

they didn't know about they didn't know

what the working conditions were were so

they put in place what they call codes

of conduct or essentially sets of

Standards ethical standards that would

become part of the contract that

companies have with their suppliers

these ethical standards were such things

as don't employ children make sure

there's no forced labor on site pay

people effectively and fairly provide

safe working conditions so a company

would say to a factory in China say I

need 10,000 shirts of a particular color

please deliver it by this date and by

the way don't exploit people along the

way they would then hire us to go in and

find out whether that was actually

happening we would go to factories and

do things that we call social

assessments we would go to the factories

with our local teams and talk to workers

and ask them what their experiences

really were and we would look at payroll

records and we would look at health and

safety records and we would walk around

the facil

to see what the health and safety

actually looked like and we would talk

to factory management the idea being

that if we could gather this information

we could then report it back to the

brand to the apparel company in those

days who would then work with the

factory and the government and the trade

unions and the workers to improve

conditions it's all very nice and

logical as you can imagine back in those

days much as today there was lots to

report lots of violations to report and

we as an organization as we did this

around the world began to notice a

strange correlation some very

unexpectedly severe violations in an

unexpected set of or subset of

countries so in Malaysia and Taiwan and

sipan Jordan maius

Madagascar we found really serious labor

violations that surprised us because

Malaysia and Taiwan after all are

relatively middle-income countries and

cpan was a us protectorate so it's not

the usual suspects for labor

violations the serious violations

included really unsafe conditions locked

fire exit doors for example so workers

couldn't get out equipment that was

hazardous to

use extremely long working hours like

hundreds of hours a week literally a 100

hours a week for months at a time with

no days

off systemic abuse and harassment of

women workers in particular violence and

suppression of Trade union rights so a

serious set of violations in countries

that were a little bit

unexpected as maybe you can foresee the

commonality in those countries is that

the workforce is a foreign Workforce

it's not Malaysians in Malaysia or

Taiwanese doing the bulk of the work in

the AAR factories of Taiwan in Taiwan

it's Filipinos and Vietnamese and Tha

and

Indonesians and in Malaysia it was

Nepali and burmes and

bangladeshis and in cpan the US

protector it was Chinese workers who had

taken the journey overseas in of making

enough money to send back home and

transform their own lives from one of

poverty to one of relative Prosperity

but of course things had gone wrong

along the way they were subject to this

very classic bait and switch the

recruiters to whom they had paid

thousands of

dollars promised them a certain amount

of income had even the signed contract

that said they would get a certain

income and when they landed the switch

happened they were not being given that

amount of money they had no freedom and

they were suffering as a

result so fast forward to the last few

years we've been now working on this

issue for about 15 years and we did a

more detailed investigation in the

supply chains for the electronics sector

in Malaysia why because Malaysia is very

important in the global electronics

Industry Electronics is very important

to the Malaysian economy the workforce

as I mentioned is largely foreign so we

had indicators of

risk we interviewed 500 workers to do a

sort of statistically valid sample from

all sectors of the Malaysian electronic

sector and what we found surprised even

US 1 third of the workers that we

interviewed were in a condition of

forced labor onethird of the workers in

electronics facilities in Malaysia were

effectively

slaves I can share the story of a man

that we met and interviewed as an

illustration of what this problem

actually was so we met this guy who we

call Raj in in the reporting that we've

done Raj was a college educated

Nepali very smart spoke perfect English

he came from a middle-income family the

family had a Rice Mill that was their

source of income it collapsed and so

they had to find some other source of

income they invested a lot of money

trying to resurrect the mill they got

deep in debt they had no real sense of

where their income was going to come

from it's a wellestablished sort of

pipeline for nealies who might go

overseas and in doing so provide income

for their family Raj is the best

educated member of the family was chosen

and he and his brother went to go visit

a recruiter in kmw a guy who said to

them give me

$1,500 and I can get you a job in a cell

phone plant in Malaysia $300 down now

$1,200

later Raj thought this was extremely

expensive he tried to negotiate with the

recruiter the recruiter basically said

take it or leave it there's long

pipeline long line of people behind you

who would like to take this job so do

you want it or not they gave him $300

down Raj and his brother did and then

they had to go find the rest of the

money they ended up borrowing $1,200 at

36% annual

interest Raj and his brother co-signed

the loan and the loan as you can imagine

needed some

collateral it was secured by their

family land they took the 1,200 bucks

they gave it to the recruiter the

recruiter said great 3 weeks later Raj

was on a plane to Malaysia in shifting

from Nepal to Malaysia he was actually

shifting employers he was no longer

working with the Catman de recruiter he

was now going to be working with a

recruiter in Malaysia so he was facing a

different sort of institutional

structure in which he was operating but

he got there and upon Landing the new

recruiter took his passport

away Raj is working six days a week 12

hours a day in a in the clean room of a

Malaysian Electronics facility a

sophisticated facility not your typical

sort of sweat shop he's making $250 a

month base wage $300 a month if he gets

overtime he tries to take half of it

$150 a month and put it to pay back his

debt and there are months when he can do

that and also send money home but there

are months when he doesn't get enough

overtime or his family needs an

emergency infusion of cash and he can't

pay back the loan he has to choose he

himself told us he's living on about $90

a month including money that he uses to

call home and he spends honestly about

$20 a month to call home to keep in

touch with his

family we met Raj we interviewed him

about 14 months into his three-year

contract and he told us he'd had enough

he didn't want to be there anymore but

there was no way for him to escape to

get home he'd have to pay $400 to the

recruiter to break his contract he'd

have to buy a plane ticket for $300 he

would have to get his passport back and

if he did go home with this additional

$700 of debt how could he pay back the

loan there's no job waiting for him he

was

trapped his experience illustrates the

problem it's not unique when we

interviewed workers in Malaysia fully

90% of them were in conditions where

they had had their passport taken 90%

85% of them had paid excessive

fees this happens in Taiwan and the

apparel sector we have philippinos who

borrowed $3,500 to get jobs in the

apparel sector it happens in the Middle

East where due to Visa fraud perpetrated

by labor recruiters Indians 20% of the

Indians we interviewed had spent time in

jail as a result of Visa fraud and in

the United States we have evidence of

Guatemalans borrowing $6,000 to get jobs

in the US on farms and in plant

nurseries that pay $150 a week so the

problem is

widespread 15 years in we have some

elements of a solution in place we know

where the problem is we know why it

happens and frankly we know what to do

with it do about it what need needs to

happen is that businesses need to decide

they will not allow anybody to buy a job

in their operations or in their supply

chain this is a complicated problem you

saw the two recruiters Raj dealt with

the two countries with visas that he had

to he had to get the the brand and the

factories it's a complicated problem no

single institution can solve it but we

have a lot of allies who are joining

this fight right now and the most

powerful one probably is the federal

government of the United States in 2012

President Obama signed an executive

order

that requires any business seeking to

sell goods or services to the federal

government to demonstrate that they have

no debt bonded slavery in their supply

chain the federal government is the

single biggest buyer of goods and

services in the world so this is an

incredibly powerful Market signal in the

electronic sector we're working with a

number of companies to implement no fees

policies apple and HP have been among

the leaders and there are others as well

Apple has gone farther than anybody else

they've actually reimbursed fees to

workers who had been charged Char them

unethically to the tune of $20 million

so $20 million is now back in the hands

of poor

workers this isn't just a business

problem it's a moral problem and it's

one as I think I've demonstrated that

affects all of us uh I was privileged to

be part of a meeting at the Vatican in

December where the pope and the

Archbishop of Canterbury brought

together religious leaders from all

faiths and signed something called The

Joint declaration joint religious

declaration against modern-day slavery

which is aiming to focus particularly on

getting businesses to agree to eliminate

slavery and their supply chains so we

know what the problem is we know where

it happens the idea of the solution is

very simple workers shouldn't pay to get

jobs if we can ensure that workers don't

pay to get jobs companies benefit

because they don't have slavery in their

supply

chains if workers don't pay to get jobs

they themselves Prosper they can send

money home to pay for their kids

education they can build their family's

businesses back up they can pay for

healthare needs they can eat

better I'd like to say as is typical in

speeches like that that there's a very

easy solution for us all to sort of grab

on and carry forward that's not

necessarily true in this case if you if

you yourself own a business or run a

business there is a solution make sure

that the partners you work with don't

employ people who are in debt bondage

that's true whether you're on a supply

chain of a big company or you're hiring

a landscaper or a cleaning crew but if

you're just a consumer what can you do

it's a little more complicated you have

to take some initiative you have to go

to the brands that you like and

encourage them to come out of the

shadows and start to deal with this

issue this is a systemic issue it's not

one that's Affiliated only with one

brand or another one company or another

or one country or another it happens

across the global economy companies need

to be drawn out and if you as consumers

tell them that you're interested in

hearing what they have to say about this

particular problem it will encourage

them to be more open and more

transparent ultimately Raj expects us to

do that as far as we know he's still

toiling in this Factory in

Malaysia he's still serving Us in his

indirect way and the least we can do is

everything that we can do to help set

him free thank you