To quote the article:

Bonnie Nixon, a Hewlett Packard supply chain boss who negotiated on behalf of employers, said the text "formalised our commitment to social dialogue".

Employers wanted to improve labour standards and make sure they were adopted throughout their supply chain, she said. But employees had to understand that labour standards had to be viable in the context of a firm's long-term competitiveness.

"If a company goes out of business because its uncompetitive, then everyone loses," she said.

Bonnie is looking at the wrong end of the string. The people who make it happen are being cut while executive reimbursement is the highest it has been in history. Outsourcing and visa abuse are being used as a weapon against skilled workers by multinationals and are keeping government quiet with sizable kickbacks err campaign contributions.