Living wages now! Fair wages for textile workers

“A coat, of which we sew a hundred a day, costs 120 euros in Germany. That's more than I earn in a month. I was very surprised by that. Who gets all that money?”
- Mim Akter, Bangladesh

Living Wage now! For wages that are enough to live on!

Hard work for wages below the poverty line: While fashion companies generate billions in profits, the workers in the supplier factories receive wages that are usually barely enough to survive. This applies to the clothing industries of the global South as well as to Eastern Europe or Turkey.

What is a living wage?

Unlike state-defined minimum wages, a living wage is based on the real cost of living. It is calculated on the basis of the needs of a family of four: How much money does it need in the respective country for food, housing, health, clothing, education or reserves for unforeseen events? A full-time basic wage for a regular 48-hour work week must cover these costs - without overtime or bonuses.

Companies usually still produce where the labour force is cheapest. In order to meet their basic needs, families have to be in debt and have to work overtime beyond any load limit. Even state-defined minimum wages are often below the poverty line. Protests in Bangladesh, but also in Turkey, it is clear that there is an urgent need for action: Thousands of workers are taking to the streets, risking unlawful dismissals, indictments and violent assaults. Governments and factory owners are cracking down, and trade unionists are particularly hard hit.

Together with the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) FEMNET is working to put the issue on the social agenda. We show with our FashionChecker, how little fashion companies really pay and demand that companies finally advance the payment of a living wage – also known as a living wage, livelihood wage or ‘wages to live’ – throughout the supply chain.

Our goals

Together with seamstresses, trade unions, consumers and other non-governmental organisations, we demand wages for workers in the global textile industry that make a decent life possible.

This is what we want to achieve:

  1. Major fashion brands are changing their purchasing practices to promote decent work and pay in apparel production.
  2. Workers in the producing countries organise themselves in trade unions in order to demand fair wages through dialogue or protest.
  3. Companies, business, trade unions and civil society draw up action plans with specific objectives and implement them in a coordinated manner.
  4. Throughout society, we are strengthening a rethink in favour of a mode of consumption and economics that serves people and not profit.

Simply explained: The Asian Floor Wage

An example of the calculation of a living wage is provided by the Asian basic wage, which trade unions and NGOs have determined for the Southeast Asian countries.

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Our activities


#Payyourworkers campaign

We are part of the global campaign and support workers in producing countries in their fight for fair wages and decent work. Solidarity works!

CAMPAIGN '#PAYYOURWORKERS'

 


‘FashionChecker - Exploitation in the spotlight’

Together we put pressure on the companies: With the new FashionChecker, we show the purchasing practices of over 100 fashion companies and call on them to improve the wages of their workers and to report transparently on them.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN...