What Matters towards Sustainable Social Compliance? A Case Study on the Apparel Suppliers of Bangladesh

Attaining sustainable social compliance in the apparel sector comes with its own sets of challenges that require identifying the root causes of those challenges as a pre-condition to working out an effective solution. This study adopted an investigative approach to explore and analyse the role of key stakeholders in the apparel sector of Bangladesh and explores their influences on its social compliance regulations. The study used a content analysis of secondary data to identify and investigate the role played by the state (government), employers’ association, trade union, local and global NGOs/activists, ILO and government of the countries to export.Findings revealed some inherent weaknesses in employment relations that questioned attaining sustainable social compliance in this sector’s employment practices. In this labour-surplus country, the state played a rather weak and passive role in industry regulation. Besides, a strong employer’s association and a weak trade union role further worsen the situation. Some significant changes in law contributing to better workplace safety and workers’ rights that are part of social compliance took place only when some major industrial incidents happened, and the sector faced threats like trade sanctions or loose market entry from the governments of its major export market. Besides pressure from International NGOs, global and local labour activists also played a significant role here. The study concludes that there is a need to have a multi-level response to attain sustainable social compliance in such sectors, combining local and global sources of influence to make a positive difference.