Workers’ Rights in the Global Supply Chain

In this episode, School of International Service research professor Judy Gearhart joins Big World to discuss international labor organizing and the fight for workers' rights within the global supply chain.

Gearhart, a senior researcher at the Accountability Research Center and host of The Labor Link Podcast, begins the conversation by describing challenges and abuse that workers currently face in the global supply chain, highlighting forced labor in the seafood industry as a case study (3:24). What makes migrant workers particularly vulnerable (6:54)? How has global supply chain governance evolved, and what impact did the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have on corporate responsibility (8:56)? Gearhart explores these questions while addressing the staggering $236 billion in annual profits illegally generated through forced labor (13:27). She also shares powerful stories of resilience from organizers in Thailand and Bangladesh (14:59) and explains how transnational solidarity networks connect local worker movements to international reform campaigns (18:54).

To conclude, Gearhart discusses the impact of US funding cuts to USAID and international labor programs and emphasizes the necessity of supporting collective worker agency to address the root causes of abuse (23:20).