British Catholic aid agency praises IBM decision on suppliers' code

Published: 2004-04-20

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- A British Catholic aid agency praised a decision by computer giant IBM to introduce a code of conduct for suppliers. CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, said the new IBM code took crucial steps toward ensuring decent labor standards in the company's supply chain, including IBM's commitment to monitor suppliers' working conditions. Katherine Astill, policy analyst for CAFOD, said IBM's policy change is "a great achievement for CAFOD's campaigners, who have sent thousands of messages to IBM." She said, "The IBM code is roughly as good as the codes of other industry leaders, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. It is definitely a move in the right direction." In January CAFOD, the official agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, issued a report that criticized computer companies -- among them IBM -- for exploiting computer factory workers in the developing world.

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