News about Our Work - 08 October 2019 How fair do German companies pay? Five years after a first check, the Clean Clothes Campaign (with the participation of Public eye, the Clean Clothes campaign Austria and the German Clean Clothes Campaign) In 2019, 45 companies, including eleven German companies, were again contacted and asked about the steps they have taken to ensure that their suppliers pay a living wage. FEMNET has obtained the results of the Company checks 2019 Take a closer look. What are the eleven German companies involved in this year's check? The sobering result: None of the eleven German companies ensures that their suppliers pay a living wage. The 11 German companies are: Adidas, Aldi, Esprit, Hugo Boss, KiK, Lidl, Otto Group, P&C, Puma, Tchibo, Zalando, with four of them (Lidl, Otto, Peek & Cloppenburg, Zalando) not responding to the questionnaire, which is why commonly published data was used in these cases. The results of the survey were as follows: transparency (Disclosure of direct suppliers): There is a positive development here. After all, seven companies disclose their suppliers in whole (Adidas, Aldi, Esprit) or in part (Hugo Boss, Lidl, Puma, Tchibo). This is, among other things, a result of the CCC’s ‘Transparency Pledge’ campaign a year ago, when we publicly and effectively asked companies to publish their suppliers. This was followed by Aldi, Hugo Boss, Lidl and Tchibo, the other companies had already published their suppliers beforehand, as other large companies (C&A, Primark, H&M) now do. So far, the publication refers to the ready-made and mostly not yet down the supply chain, but at least a first step has been taken. Obligation to ensure a living wage: Tchibo has made a public commitment to this, and most other companies have only partially done so. Otto, P&C and Zalando have not publicly announced their existence wages. When it comes to the question of implementationTchibo is the only company that has calculated this only in terms of whether the price paid to the supplier even allows that supplier to pay living wages to its employees. All other companies did not carry out any calculations, which indicates a low interest in implementation according to the motto: Talk a lot, do nothing. Also on the question of the Strategy for the introduction of a subsistence wage No German company has taken any concrete steps. Six companies (Aldi, Esprit, Hugo Boss, KiK, Tchibo, Zalando) led their participation in the ACT initiative. ACT is an initiative that seeks to initiate collective bargaining between global brands and unions in selected countries. In this process, the brands commit to complying with certain purchasing practices. So far, however, it has not been successful in any country. The other five German companies (Adidas, Lidl, Otto, P&C, Puma) did not show any steps, the obligation to pay a living wage is pure lip service. Other steps towards living wages could be to instruct suppliers to: Local trade union activities Also, brand companies and fashion companies should negotiate and sign legally binding, enforceable agreements with employee representatives. No company takes any of these steps. conclusion: The declarations of intent of most fashion houses only look good on paper. Despite promises to the contrary, none of the companies analysed still ensure that their seamstresses receive a living wage, they do not even have a strategy that could lead to it.
