The emergence of socially sustainable sourcing: a new form of labour regulation in the context of collective bargaining decline?

The decline of collective bargaining and the blurring of organisational boundaries between firms have adversely affected employment standards in the British labour market. In this context, this paper considers the potential for using socially sustainable sourcing to strengthen collective labour market protections for low-wage workers, particularly in situations where work and production is organised across organisational boundaries. It examines the different ways that firms, unions, civil society organisations and governments have used sustainable sourcing mechanisms to counter the negative impacts of outsourcing and supply chain pressures on labour standards. At a domestic level, compulsory forms of sustainable sourcing appear to be a more effective than voluntary forms for protecting labour standards, but the prospect of a compulsory model being adopted in Britain seems unlikely. Socially sustainable sourcing mechanisms are nevertheless likely to become increasingly important for protecting labour standards across organisational boundaries.