Workers’ Power through Transnational Industrial Relations Agreements? A Global Framework Agreement and the ACT Initiative in the Garment Sector

This article analyses the impact on workers' power of two Transnational Industrial Relations Agreements (TIRAs) in the garment industry. A company-based Global Framework Agreement (GFA) is contrasted with the Action, Collaboration, Transformation (ACT) Initiative, which includes more than one lead firm and more extensive commitments. By applying a Power Resource perspective, we explore how vertical and horizontal power relations shape the implementation of both agreements, and how the agreements in turn affect those power relations. The research focuses on the implementation of the GFA and ACT in Bangladesh and Cambodia, respectively, drawing on document analysis and interviews with key stakeholders. We conclude that the GFA allows workers to pressure employers to comply with basic labour standards but also helps lead firms to better contain labour struggles and monitor their supply chain. ACT, in its design, gives unions the power to negotiate structural issues and therefore increases workers' power to a greater extent. However, ACT has so far lacked successful implementation. While both institutional approaches have the potential to influence asymmetric power relations in the garment sector, they have not, so far, substantially changed them.