A Living Wage = A Human Right
Working alongside garment workers, trade unions, consumers and campaigners, we are calling for those working in the garment industry to be paid a wage they can live on.
A major industry
The garment industry is a major employer across the world. In Asia, for example, over 15 million people work in this industry. With global brands making millions in profits every year, this booming industry has come to rely on, and exploit, the cheap labour of millions of garment workers whose wages fall far short of a living wage.
The right to a living wage: A living wage should be earned in a standard working week (no more than 48 hours) and allow a garment worker to be able to buy food for herself and her family, pay the rent, pay for healthcare, clothing, transportation and education and have a small amount of savings for when something unexpected happens.
The lack of a living wage means that many garment workers are forced to work long hours to earn overtime or bonuses, and they cannot risk refusing work due to unsafe working conditions or taking time off when they are ill. The low wages also mean that workers often have to rely on loans just to make ends meet and have no savings to use if they find themselves out of work or faced with unexpected expenses.
Identifying a living wage
We believe that all garment workers should be paid a wage they can live on, because having a job should mean being able to support yourself and your family. Calculating a living wage is a vital first step in making a living wage a reality. Clean Clothes Campaign is a member of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance who have calculated a living wage for the region where so many rely on the garment industry to be able to live a decent life. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance has made a clear visual explanation of how a living wage is calculated.
Globally recognised as a basic right
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has defined a living wage as a basic human right under their conventions and recommendations to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 23 (ILO Conventions 95 and 131, ILO Recommendations 131 and 135).
Wages and benefits paid for a standard working should meet at least legal or industry minimum wage standards and always be sufficient to meet basic needs of workers and their families and to provide discretionary income.
Workers' stories
Read about garment workers' daily lives and their dreams.
Is your favourite brand addressing poverty pay?
Find out in our new report which covers 20 major clothing companies:
Adidas, Amazon, C&A, Decathlon, Fast Retailing, Fruit of the Loom, GAP, G-Star RAW, Gucci, H&M, Hugo Boss, Inditex, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Primark, Puma, PVH, Tchibo, Under Armour, and Zalando.
A call for change
- Clothing brands and companies: set concrete, measurable steps throughout their supply chain to ensure garment workers get paid a living wage!
- National governments in garment producing countries: make sure minimum wages are set at living wage standards!
- European governments: implement regulation to ensure companies are responsible for the impact they have on the lives of workers in their supply chain!
Learn more
- Tailored Wages - our latest report that looks in detail at the living wage policies of 20 global clothing companies.
- Europe's Sweatshops - reseach on payment and conditions in the garment sector in Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary
- A Wage You Can Live On - documentary on Cambodian wage struggles
- Italian Living Wage report - pay conditions in the clothing and footwear sector in Italy
- Stitched Up - poverty wages in Eastern Europe and Turkey (also in Turkish).
- Shop til they drop - report looking at the impact of poverty wages in Cambodia.
- Stitching a decent wage - the history of the Asia Floor Wage.
Asia Floor Wage Alliance
An alliance of trade unions and campaigners that calculated a living wage across Asia.
