Living wage news and archive

Why is it so hard to enforce a living wage?

In Germany, trade union Verdi is calling for a minimum wage of 13.50 euros (about 14.60 US dollars/11.50 British pounds) per hour in the retail sector - figures that garment workers in the Global South can only dream of. Why is it so difficult to introduce living wages in the textile industry and how could this be achieved? Marian von Rappard...

RetailFeatured

The UK retailers making ‘record’ investments to raise staff pay

In a retail landscape marked by questions and concerns surrounding financial stability, mounting reports of “record” investments into employee pay suggest there is a light at the end of this gloomy economic tunnel. Various related announcements that have taken place over the past two months come after the introduction of a revised Real Living...

BusinessFeatured

Remake’s “Fashion Accountability Report 2024” shows industry’s need to act on promises

Now in its fourth year, non-profit organisation Remake has published its latest annual “Fashion Accountability Report 2024”. It measured the performance of 52 large fashion companies (more than 100 US dollars in annual revenue) like Fast Retailing, H&M, Inditex, Kering, LVMH and PVH in six key areas: traceability, wages and wellbeing, commercial...

Business

Sainsbury’s invests 200 million pounds to increase employee pay

Sainsbury’s has said that it would be investing 200 million pounds in order to increase the rate of employee pay by 9.1 percent, effective from March. The supermarket giant will be increasing the wage to 12 pounds an hour, and 13.15 pounds for colleagues in London, making it the company’s “biggest ever investment into colleague pay” with 120,000...

Background |Long read

How (not) sustainable is the fashion industry?

Fashion and 'sustainability' don't actually go together. A garment is usually made in such a way that it quickly goes out of fashion. In the fashion industry there is not only stylistic obsolescence, but also technical obsolescence. Some clothing is of such low quality that it tears, pills or loses its colour after a few wears and washes. Ideal...

Business

Oxfam poll: Australian consumers want fashion brands to pay workers living wage

According to a recent poll by charity retailer Oxfam Australia, consumers do not trust the claims that Australian fashion brands are making in regards to the treatment of overseas garment workers in their supply chains. This comes as no surprise with the industry recording a staggering two billion dollars in expected profits on one hand and...

Business

Why Bangladesh’s minimum wage demand of 23,000 taka is justified

Bangladesh has been in the news recently — minimum wage discussions have turned sour with enraged garment workers taking to the streets for the second week. Two workers have died and sentiments are flaring up on both sides. What is the issue? While garment workers and their unions demand a minimum wage of 23,000 Bangladeshi taka (around 209 US...

Business

Real living wage increases by 10 percent in ‘largest year-on-year rise’

Employees working for companies under the Living Wage Foundation are set to see their ‘Living Wage’ rates rise to 10 pound 90 pence an hour across the UK and 11 pound 95 pence in London. The move will be applicable to almost 400,000 people working for over 11,000 companies linked to the foundation in what is set to be the largest year-on-year...

Business

Study: Garment workers in Eastern Europe, Turkey often earn less than in Far East

According to recent figures by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), garment workers are on average poorer when they earn the applicable minimum wage. The share of the minimum wage as part of the EU poverty line fell from 65 percent to 61 percent between 2018 and 2021, despite nominal increases in minimum wages in many countries. In Eastern Europe...

Business |Interview

Union leader: “Some changes but still long way to go for garment workers”

Indian women's rights activist and trade unionist Rukmini V. Puttaswamy received the 17th Solidarity Award from the German Senate Chancellery of the city of Bremen. Women’s rights organisation Femnet recently organised a meeting with Puttaswamy when she came to Germany to receive the award on 20th June. Reason enough for FashionUnited to...

Fashion Featured

Not enough: The living wage gap in major garment producing countries is 45 percent

WageIndicator Foundation and The Industry We Want (TIWW) have launched the Industry Wage Gap Metric. The metric shows the average percentage gap between minimum wages and the living wages. In the major garment producing countries, this gap is 45 percent. The wage gap means garment and footwear workers in the selected countries are earning far...

Business

Sri Lanka: new union-employer agreement addresses key worker rights issues

Garment worker unions in Sri Lanka have signed a ground-breaking agreement with employer association Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) on Monday, in which both parties reached an understanding about how to address vital workplace issues for garment workers, especially during the pandemic. Sri Lankan unions and workers groups have been...