Mod-Style is a wholly owned commercial company that was acquired in 2000 by the Australian-based charity, the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL). Mod-Style is in the business of sourcing optical frames from Asia. The majority of Mod-Style's factories are located in China where only one federation of trade unions, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, is recognised.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence and Mod-Style “actively embrace corporate social responsibility” and have established business standards based on the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. To live up to their commitments, an Ethical Business Project was set up to investigate the business's supply chain and handle any ethical considerations associated with manufacturing in China, including any pertaining to union rights.
To enhance workers' rights in the absence of independent trade unions, BSL and Mod-Style have attempted to offer worker empowerment training and capacity building within supplier factories to ensure that, in the absence of adequate national trade union rights, workers' voices may still be heard and respected. However, no factory to date has agreed to this training. In response, the supply chain in China has been consolidated to assist in developing long-term, direct, stable relationships with factory owners and managers in an effort to create a business relationship that allows consideration of not only products, quality, price and delivery, but also fair and decent working and living conditions in compliance with China's Labour Law.
Website: By 
Maplecroft in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact
