As part of ALDI’s global commitment to human rights, we work closely with businesses throughout our supply chains to strengthen ethical and fair labour conditions. ALDI is pleased to announce that we are partnering with Issara Institute to provide support to both workers and businesses in our supply chain. We will be working together to provide access to grievance mechanisms and remediation actions in ALDI’s Thai food supply chains. The partnership will strengthen current processes and empower workers to speak up if they have concerns about their working environment.

The pilot project will support ALDI’s implementation of its International Sustainability Strategy in the area of human rights. By providing workers in selected high-priority supply chains access to a grievance mechanism, ALDI is upholding human rights for workers and actively contributing to better working conditions.

Issara Institute is an independent non-profit organisation based in Southeast Asia and the United States tackling issues of human trafficking and forced labour through worker voice, partnership, and innovation. Issara has extensive experience in supporting both workers and business with grievance remediation and systems strengthening. Issara partners with global businesses through their Strategic Partners program to improve access to grievance mechanisms and remediation, and identify and address needed improvements in policy and practice.

Issara Institute's worker voice channels include a 24-hour multi-lingual helpline, social media messaging such as Facebook (which has over 200,000 followers across three languages), “Line” and “Viber”, and the “Golden Dreams” smartphone application.  “Golden Dreams” – in Burmese and Khmer - provides key information and peer-to-peer sharing on employment and recruitment conditions, policy and news updates, and a new recruitment marketplace to connect job seekers to real open jobs in Thailand.