Fair Labor Association News
Follett Higher Education Group Partners With the Fair Labor Association
Follett Higher Education Group, a business unit of Follett Corporation, expects the affiliation with FLA will help strengthen its ongoing efforts to ensure that products sold in their collegiate stores are manufactured under ethical working conditions.
In 1995, Follett became the first academic retailer to develop standards for fair labor practices in the manufacture of collegiate products. Follett partners with an independent agency to monitor factories that make products sold in their stores. In addition, the companies that supply college merchandise to Follett-operated stores are required to commit to Follett's Vendor Labor Code of Conduct.
"Through Follett's centralized buying practices, we have not only produced expanded product selections along with better quality and pricing for our bookstores, but we have gained greater control and influence over the sourcing of our products, including enforcement of our Code," said
In addition to requiring its suppliers to commit to the company's Code and monitoring practice, Follett will encourage major suppliers of clothing, footwear and logoed product to join the FLA. Today 95% of the company's clothing suppliers and more than 50% of its gift vendors are affiliated with the FLA.
"We are pleased to welcome Follett into the FLA and are encouraged by their commitment to fair labor practices," said Auret van Heerden, President and CEO of the Fair Labor Association. "The university retailer is an important stakeholder in our effort to ensure that products bearing the logos of FLA-affiliated universities are manufactured in conditions that uphold workers' rights. Follett's entry into the FLA will ensure that a larger and wider array of companies supplying university products are covered by the FLA program, and will bolster the efforts of Follett's suppliers and vendors already affiliated with the FLA. We look forward to Follett's active and committed engagement in the FLA."
Follett joins the Fair Labor Association as a Retailer and will undertake the obligations of the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct, inform all suppliers about the Code, and undertake the obligations of a Participating Company with regard to Code implementation.
Fair Labor Association Mission
The mission of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) is to combine the efforts of industry, civil society organizations, and colleges and universities to protect workers' rights and improve working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international labor standards. The FLA has created a practical monitoring, remediation and verification process to achieve the standards outlined in its Workplace Code of Conduct. The FLA verifies affiliated companies' internal compliance programs through unannounced independent external monitoring of a random sample of factories brought into the FLA program. Through public reporting, the FLA provides consumers and shareholders with credible information to make responsible buying decisions.
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