Strategic Advocacy
China Labor Watch
How we advocate for change
The dominating business practices in the global economy prioritize short-term profits over social concerns – this is evident in Chinese businesses that operate opaquely. As businesses favor profits over welfare, workers’ health, wellbeing, and rights to freedom and other fundamental human rights are undermined.
At China Labor Watch, we believe that consumer products are not made at the expense of human and community wellbeing. We actively approach this by stakeholder engagement and advocating on the behalf of workers and motivating actors – especially businesses – to act.
How we drive change
Systemic change involves multiple stakeholders. Guided by tangible research and worker experience, we engage with a host of partners and stakeholders to share knowledge and advocate for change in business labor practices.
- Media and public awareness: Based on research findings, CLW engages with local and international media outlets to share knowledge and mobilize the global public’s collective strength to promote change of actions.
- Multi-stakeholder liaison: We work with a range of partners to demand corporate accountability and change – government agencies, international organizations, NGOs, and labor unions to share knowledge, inform regulations and actions, and challenge illegal and immoral labor practices.
- Corporate accountability: We communicate and share knowledge with businesses to strengthen their internal governance, understand their supply chain, and ensure adherence to national and international standards.
- Prosecution: Strategically utilizing available international and national mechanisms, we hold companies accountable for the social costs associated with their labor practices and promote sustainable labor practices centering workers’ wellbeing.
Our approach to advocacy
At China Labor Watch, we take active steps to engage in practical, context-sensitive, and impact-driven advocacy.
Worker-centered Informed by our research, we take a victim-centered approach in advocating for awareness and change. We believe that everyone deserves fair and equitable labor, and workers’ experiences of labor malpractices cannot be accepted. | Impact-driven We carry the mission to broadcast the stories of the marginalized, magnify their voices, influence decision-making with workers’ welfare in mind, and drive practical improvement for their conditions. | Context-sensitive While we recognize that labor violation is a worldwide reality, we believe that how it manifests is context specific. Powered by in-house research, we drive our advocacy work taking into account local and community context. |