How the Ethical Fashion Movement Changed Policy

The Ban the Box campaign has led to legislation like New York's Fair Chance Act, which prevents employers from asking questions about conviction history during the application process and makes it unlawful to rescind an offer because of a previous offense. Ban the Box policies are now being implemented in cities and states across the country and have improved job prospects in places such as Washington, D.C., where the number of applicants with conviction records being hired grew by a third after the policy was put in place.

The Landless Workers Movement in Brazil is fighting for land access for rural workers and is breaking up unequal land monopolies by squatting on privately-owned vacant land. This practice attracts the attention of the federal government, which assesses whether it can buy the land and provide it to the movement to live and farm on.

Siragugal Bricks is a community-owned brick kiln operated by rescued bonded laborers, aiming to rehabilitate and empower them to explore business endeavors and find more sustainable, safer sources of income. Since April 2022, 100 families have worked for Siragugal and local government organizations have helped obtain funding and supplies to facilitate Siragugal’s operations, such as power supplies, a work shed and a borehole for water.

Organizations like Milk and Dignity are filling in the worker safety gaps left behind in federal regulations by working with farms to implement worker-driven protections.

With help from national labor union Workers United, employees at Starbucks stores across the country are launching union campaigns in an effort to secure safer conditions and better pay. In all, 171 stores in 30 states have won union elections so far, and Workers United has filed to unionize at 302 stores in all.

In service industries that traditionally pay and treat workers poorly, worker-owned cooperatives serve as a humane alternative. Worker-owners at eight co-ops in four states describe the difference their jobs make in their working conditions and their lives. They also tell how larger collectives and cooperatives pool resources to help smaller co-ops with the funding and expertise they need, especially when confronted by a disruptive event like the pandemic.

A first-of-its-kind worker-led program in Vermont is helping dairy migrant workers to "hold farmers, corporations, and suppliers in the dairy industry accountable for the rights of workers in their supply-chains through a legally-binding agreement." Although not all dairy farm operations have joined in the program as participants, it has been enacted on 64 farms and helped bolster wages and housing situations for migrant farmers.

The government of Victoria, Australia partnered with businesses across the state to workshop ways cultural, gender, and other biases could be eliminated in workforce interview processes. By creating anonymous CVs, using non-gendered language, and training employees on unconscious biases, this "Recruit Smarter" plan saw increased employment consideration for women, minorities, and people with disabilities.

When Juan Reid had a hard time finding a job after his release from prison, he finally founded a worker cooperative called Tightshift Laboring Cooperative. He wanted to create sustainable employment opportunities for himself and others coming out of prison. This is part of a larger trend of worker cooperatives in the Washington, D.C. area. The DC Employee Ownership Initiative and Coop DC are two groups helping businesses like Tightshift and others.

Iceland may be "the best country in the world for gender equality" but women get paid 30 percent less than men. Trade unions and businesses united to fix the problem. They reevaluated people's salaries through a point system, regardless of their gender. Now, the government has decided all companies in Iceland will have to implement the system, or pay a fine.