Codes are promoted as one strategy among many. The promotion of codes should not divert attention away from other strategies for improving workers' rights. There was also agreement that all codes should include workers' fundamental rights, including the right to organize, and that workers needed to be involved in the monitoring process. Yet if codes are to be effective it was seen as essential that they are applied to workers who are not factory based, since these workers are growing in number and are the most exploited. First and foremost, the vast majority of workers are not aware of the existence of codes for the factories in which they work.
Most people have no idea what they are.
For example, we asked workers at sports shoe factories in Southern China this summer about codes of conduct at their factories. Though the workers were producing for companies that advertise their code to consumers, very few workers knew about the code of conduct. Some actually thought we were asking about the factory rules which list fines given for various infractions. Codes of conduct are seen as one means of improving working conditions. AMRC also points to the limitation of codes of conduct in touching the growing number of Asian workers in the informal sector.