Like many other manufacturers, electronics companies outsource production to low-wage countries to cut costs. In 2004, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) put a human face on labor rights issues in the electronics industry, through interviews with electronics workers in Mexico, Thailand and China. Its report, "Clean Up Your Computer," documented instances of unsafe factories, compulsory overtime, wages below the legal minimum and degrading treatment.

The CAFOD report was a wakeup call for many U.S. computer makers. It spurred Dell to develop a code of conduct on labor rights issues. Dell and Hewlett Packard had heard about As You Sow's work with other companies on supply chain issues and sought input from us on ways to strengthen supply chain monitoring. This included a face-to-face conversation with Dell CEO Michael Dell in Austin, Texas in 2004.

Hewlett Packard reached out to competitors and suppliers to develop a common code of conduct for the electronics supply chain. The Electronics Industry Code of Conduct is a welcome step in developing an industry approach to responsible practices in electronics supply chains. The code was launched in October 2004 by HP, Dell and IBM along with manufacturers such as Flextronics, Jabil Circuit, Sanmina, and Solectron. Later, major software and component suppliers like Microsoft, Intel and Cisco Systems signed on. It is unusual for competitors in an industry sector to work together to develop a common code. The implementing body for the code is the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), which has more than 40 members. The group has developed a common implementation approaches to enforce the code, including a common survey tool, auditing tools and a common auditing approach that sometimes involves joint audits by competitors who use the same supplier.

However, there is still much work to be done for EICC to be truly successful. No outside stakeholders were involved in the design of the code. Some areas of code language need to be strengthened. As You Sow has been invited to participate in selected EICC member meetings and has called for strengthening of code language, more substantive interaction with stakeholders and greater transparency on compliance progress. EICC now publishes an annual report discussing ongoing initiatives. Major questions remain about how many members are actually auditing their supply chains, expending resources to find and fix code violations and actively promoting a just, safe supplier workplace. We look forward to working with EICC to strengthen its code, increase transparency and develop pilot projects to address systemic compliance issues.

As You Sow is a member of the Good Electronics, a network of international stakeholders engaging electronics companies on supply chain labor rights compliance. More information is available here. The group's 2009 report entitled "Reset: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Electronics Supply Chain" provides a good summation of challenges facing the electronics sector on labor rights compliance and recommendations for action.