Electronics Watch

Electronics Watch works to protect the labor rights of workers in the global electronics industry. They do this by uniting the buying power of European government institutions. Together they aim to build a worldwide platform that monitors the policies of producers and suppliers in the industry. Local governments and universities are large-scale consumers of electronic products such as computers, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, printers, copiers, servers and so on. Together public buyers have considerable buying power. By joining forces they can create significant leverage to influence structural improvement in the industry. At present existing approaches to combat poverty and human rights abuses in the electronics industry are not effective. Despite the existing UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights, governments are failing in their duty to protect human rights. Corporate codes of conduct and social auditing policies and practices are not taken seriously and fail in transparency and effectiveness. In order to change the industry for the better, Electronics Watch is building a comprehensive, credible and independent system by which the electronics sector can be monitored and if necessary corrected. In order to get a clear picture of what is happening in the industry, Electronics Watch works closely together with employees and local community organizations, unions, and NGO's. By using the expertise of the local people, Electronics Watch is able to influence the behavior of the producers and suppliers in a very direct manner. In the second half of 2015, Electronics Watch will start their first big scale monitoring project with a group of 50 public sector buyers from across Europe. Southern NGOs and trade unions, as well as European public sector buyers and experts, will have an equal say in the governance of the new organization. The Partnership will receive European funding. The organizations implementing this project will be supported by governments, universities, research centers, and civil society organizations from Europe, the US, China, Mexico and other regions with a large scale electronics industry.