Focus: Raising the bar in the struggle for living wages

Abstract

The Asia Floor Wage is an industrial level collective bargaining strategy, targeting the garment global supply chain and combating the threat of relocation INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 19 Volume 21 Issue 2 2014 chain into a barrier both for organising and collective bargaining. In the face of such challenges Asian trade unions and NGOs have led the way in tackling the transnational nature of the industry and the fear that when workers struggle to improve their wages and conditions in one country, companies relocate to another, where wages and conditions are lower. From their grassroots activism grew the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (‘AFWA’) an alliance of trade unions, labour and human rights organisations whose aim is to raise wages collectively throughout Asia, thereby countering the threat of capital relocation. AFWA originated out of meetings at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, in 2004. Local activists, NGOs and trade unionists recognised that tackling wage issues at a local or national level was not enough, the power of global sourcing companies was placing severe limits on the ability for such efforts to be effective. AFWA therefore was an attempt to denationalise wage bargaining and opt for regional organising in order to address capital’s strategy of pitting workers against workers , and countries against countries. Ashim Roy, Secretary General of the New Trade Union Initiative, India, puts it as follows ‘the Asia Floor Wage is an industrial level collective bargaining strategy, targeting the garment global supply chain and combating the threat of relocation’. Regional solidarity At the core of AFWA is the commitment to acknowledging the importance of the Global South led by unions ensuring workers representatives are at the heart of the struggle for decent wages. This means that a key goal of AFWA is to achieve decent wages through negotiations between employers in the industry and workers’ representative organisations, with the mediation and support of governments, inter-governmental organisation and social movement organisations. AFWA was officially launched in 2009, and today over 70 trade unions, labour and human rights organisations from 17 countries make up the alliance. This joint approach means instead of competing against each other to drive wages further down, the alliance is providing a unified, regional demand for a wage that is decent and fair. AFWA has an international steering committee that is formed with representatives from South Asia, South-East Asia, East Asia, Europe, and the US. In keeping with the roots of the organisation representatives from Asia have a majority vote of 75 percent. There is an International Secretariat located in Delhi, India and at country level, national campaign coalitions have been formed in many of the regions major garment producing countries. S ince the invention of the sewing machine the garment industry has been one of the driving forces behind economic development globally. Whilst the 19th Century saw the garment industry predominantly in North America and Western Europe, today 60 percent of the world’s garments are produced in Asia, where over 15 million people rely on the industry for employment. Much has changed over the last two centuries in terms of technological know-how, transportation of goods and the growth of fast fashion but some things have sadly stayed the same. The inequalities and exploitation facing garment workers - low wages, excessive overtime and poor working conditions remain wide-spread. At the heart of the struggle for decent workers rights in the garment industry is the fight for a living wage. Whilst corporate social responsibility teams in major fashion brands talk of ethical, sustainable and fair fashion the fact is that while low labour costs continue to be exploited it is impossible to argue that the industry is benefitting the women and men who make the clothes. What is a living wage? A living wage would mean a garment worker would be able to feed 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. A living wage should be the basic pay earned in a standard working week – which should never be more than 48 hours. Overtime and bonuses should be in addition to a living wage. A...