Freedom of association and collective bargaining are internationally recognized human rights according to the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights urge companies to “know and show” that they respect human rights by adopting “a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights.”(1)Our Company has adopted a Supplier & Partner Code of Conduct to require that suppliers and partners “respect employees’ rights to organize and bargain collectively, as well as raise concerns without fear of retaliation.” While the Company’s Supplier & Partner Code of Conduct is commendable, we are concerned that the Company’s corporate reputation and brand names could be harmed if the Company’s due diligence process to ensure its suppliers’ compliance with the Supplier & Partner Code of Conduct fails to prevent workers’ rights violations.For example, the New York Times has alleged that our Company’s contract manufacturing supplier Hearthside Food Solutions (“Hearthside”) violated child labor laws.(2) Hearthside has also faced allegations of violating its workers’ rights to freedom of association and to collectively bargain. In 2021, a Hearthside worker testified before a U.S. Senate Committee about how Hearthside prevented her coworkers from forming a union at a facility in McComb, Ohio.(3) In 2024, a labor union filed various unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging labor law violations at Hearthside’s London, Kentucky facility.(4