The Worker-driven Social Responsibility Toolkit: Practical Lessons from the Ground is now available. A collaboration between Just Ground, the WSR Network and Partners for Dignity and Rights, the toolkit is a practical guide for worker-led organizations seeking to establish a Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) program of their own. It draws on the experience of the organizations that have already done it, from tomato fields in Florida and dairy farms in Vermont to garment factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The toolkit is available in English and Spanish.
WSR is recognized as an effective alternative to top-down corporate social responsibility initiatives and social audits that have failed to protect workers. Under the WSR model, workers define the standards for their workplaces, act as frontline monitors of their own rights, and secure legally binding agreements that put the purchasing power of corporate buyers at the top of supply chains behind enforcement. But for organizations considering the model, the practical question remains: how do you actually build one? That question is what the toolkit sets out to answer.
Grounded in Worker Voices
The heart of the toolkit is the knowledge of the people who have built WSR programs. It is based on interviews with current and former staff of WSR Network member organizations and allies, including the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Fair Food Standards Council, Migrant Justice, Milk with Dignity Standards Council, Home Based Women Workers Federation, International Accord Foundation, Clean Clothes Campaign and Worker Rights Consortium.
How to Get the Toolkit
The toolkit is available to download from Partners for Dignity & Rights and will be sent by email. The Spanish version is available here.
What’s Inside
The toolkit covers:
Essential principles of WSR
Building a worker-led movement
Launching and sustaining
Negotiating a binding WSR agreement
Implementing a program
The sections include hands-on activities, popular education exercises, reflection questions, and curated lists of resources from allied organizations.