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The new alliance will answer the growing threat to an increasingly vulnerable global supply chain in which workers’ and union rights are regularly abused. The global solidarity between the three global unions is an important step to create a sustainable, ethical and responsible supply chain.



UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings and IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina met in Copenhagen with the ITF Executive Board yesterday and hammered out a plan to increase pressure on companies all along the supply chain to deliver on labour rights.



Jennings said, “We have the most sophisticated supply chain in economic history yet it is vulnerable and fragile. A recent Georgia Institute of Technology study shows a glitch in a company’s supply chain can torpedo shareholder values by 25%. Vulnerability creates the potential for abuse. And we know the supply chain is riddled with worker abuses from the factory through transporters’ right to the shop floor. Often a pyramid of shady subcontracting arrangements camouflages responsibility for unfair work practices.”



He added, “I’m delighted that UNI, ITF and IndustriALL are to build a new strategic global supply chain alliance. This is an historic step that will lead to more cooperation across the supply chain. We will pull together the power of IndustriALL in manufacturing, ITF in transport and UNI in delivery and retail. Our combined forces will benefit the hundreds of thousands of workers in insecure jobs caught up in the web of sub-contractors created by sometimes unscrupulous or irresponsible multinationals. Walmart alone relies on 100,000 suppliers of goods and services. Where is the transparency there? The new UNI/ITF/IndustriALL alliance will seek to shine a light on Walmart and other companies who hide behind sub-contractors in their supply chains.”