Supply Chains

Nothing moves without a transport worker. From food and medical supplies to clothing and computers, transport workers are essential to keeping global supply chains running.

However, all too often transport workers – and the value they add to the global economy – are invisible. Even as globalisation has increased international trade, labour standards have been eroded as businesses seek the cheapest possible way to compete to move goods. Meanwhile, e-commerce giants are using digital technology to reshape the way we shop, often at the expense of workers involved in distribution and delivery.

The ITF recognises that, for workers to wield real power in the 21st Century, we need to organise along supply chains. We do this in four ways:

• Organising the warehousing sector, the key industrial hubs in global supply chains
• Campaigning in logistics companies to ensure strong labour standards across different transport sectors
• Targeting economic employers, who hold power to improve supply chain standards
• Lobbying for regulation and enforcement mechanisms which enable governments, multilateral institutions and workers themselves to take more action to protect workers’ rights