According to the worker campaign group Labour Behind the Label, Amazon has failed to respond to concerns that brands selling on its site engage in worker rights abuses.
The complaint alleges that Amazon has failed to put in place checks to ensure people are not harmed in the production of goods sold via the marketplace, contrary to its duties under international guidelines.
Earlier this year, Labour Behind the Label issued a report in which it detailed field research in Pakistan to look into the conditions behind three products sold by third party brands on Amazon.co.uk.
“The findings reveal exploitative working conditions in factories supplying Amazon sellers including forced overtime, illegal wage practices, denial of social protections, lack of employment documentation, and systemic opacity in production supply chains. These conditions are enabled and perpetuated by the current lack of robust due diligence requirements,” reads the report.
Campaigners are calling upon the e-tailer to do more to ensure its business is not harbouring and driving exploitation in global supply chains.
Labour Behind the Label policy lead Anna Bryher said: “Amazon is the world’s largest e-retailer, yet it continues to turn a blind eye to exploitation hiding in plain sight on its own platform... Amazon has the power, and the responsibility, to stop profiting from abuse. It must end the secrecy and act now.”
The campaign group wants Amazon to impose stronger requirements on third-party sellers, who account for the majority of the company’s sales. These must include mandatory supply chain transparency and due diligence to ensure human rights are respected in all factories producing goods sold on Amazon.
Campaigners argue that Amazon acts as a global gatekeeper for millions of products sold worldwide, and as such, Amazon has a duty to ensure its profits are not tied to exploitation or environmental harm.
Bryher added: “Amazon can pinpoint a parcel’s location within minutes, but it still can’t tell consumers whether the people who made those products were safe or fairly paid. That is a deliberate choice, not a technological limitation. With even basic checks, Amazon could prevent exploitation across millions of items sold on its platform. It’s time for Amazon to bring the same precision to protecting workers as it does to shipping packages.”
Amazon did not return request for comment when approached by Just Style.
