Press Release: Fashion activists file formal complaint against Amazon over labour rights concerns

For immediate release: Tuesday 25th November

London – Ahead of Black Friday, fair fashion activists have filed a complaint against Amazon at the UK OECD National Contact Point [1] alleging serious labour exploitation in the supply chains linked to its sales.

Despite overwhelming evidence presented by the NGO Labour Behind the Label, Amazon have failed to respond to concerns that brands selling on its site engage in worker rights abuses. The complaint [2] 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 their duties under international guidelines. Given that the Amazon marketplace is the most popular online location for fashion retail in the UK [3] and hugely influential in the global market, campaigners say that the company must do more to ensure its business is not harbouring and driving exploitation in global supply chains.

Anna Bryher, Policy Lead for Labour Behind the Label 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. This Black Friday, millions of fashion items will be sold with no assurance that the people who made them weren’t trapped in modern slavery. Amazon has the power, and the responsibility, to stop profiting from abuse. It must end the secrecy and act now.”

Labour Behind the Label is calling on 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 act 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.”

Labour Behind the Label’s 2025 report, Unboxing Marketplace Fashion, was released earlier this year and traces working conditions in Pakistan behind 3 products sold by UK sellers on Amazon. It is available to download [4].

ENDS

Notes to editors: 

[1] The UK National Contact Point is hosted by the Department for Business and Trade and promotes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Its role is to raise awareness of these voluntary guidelines for responsible business conduct and operate a complaints mechanism for when businesses breach these principles. This provides a route for individuals and groups to seek redress for alleged corporate misconduct over human rights and the environment linked to business practice. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-national-contact-point

[2] The full text of the complaint is available for download here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NSjv9uXi6Qgo9ktghAmTr_8NqGnTUs13?usp=sharing

[3] Reference, Mintel, UK Fashion Online Market Report, which finds that Amazon is the most popular retailer in the UK overall for shopping online for new fashion items https://store.mintel.com/report/uk-fashion-online-market-report

[4] Unboxing Marketplace Fashion: Worker rights in the supply chains behind online fashion consumption is available for download at https://labourbehindthelabel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Unboxing-Marketplace-Fashion-Report.pdf 

Labour Behind the Label campaigns for garment workers’ rights worldwide. We support garment worker’ efforts to improve their working conditions and change the fashion industry for the better. We raise awareness, conduct research, and promote international solidarity between workers and consumers. We are a UK member of the Clean Clothes Campaign. www.labourbehindthelabel.org