Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the Worker-driven Social Responsibility
Network (WSRN) launched a website today that sets out a concrete proposal for an enforceable, binding agreement
between global brands and unions on the payment of living wages to garment workers. The groups represent a broad
coalition of unions, advocacy groups and NGOs and have received tremendous support from other allies across the
globe. By launching this public website all actors can provide input and suggestions, and engage in discussions as
well as offer support and endorsement.
“It’s about time that a credible proposal is made in which brands are truly held accountable for the dreadful
circumstances under which workers and their families have been living for decades while they, the brands, were
making gigantic pro ts. Brands’ CSR reports are full of promises regarding wages. Now it’s time for them to put their
money where their mouth is,” remarked Anannya Bhattacharjee, president of the Garment and Allied Workers Union.
Brands are the primary pro t accumulators in the garment supply chain, dictating what prices are being paid while
barely abiding by minimum wage standards. Because of the extremely low prices brands pay for labour, most workers
are forced to work overtime hours in order to make ends just meet. Voluntary brand or multi-stakeholder initiatives
have thus far failed miserably to address this core issue of the garment industry and not led to any wage increases for
workers and certainly not to payment of a living wage.
WageForward.org (http://WageForward.org) highlights the important bene ts of the Enforceable Brand Agreements
(EBA) and Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) approach. Just as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in
Bangladesh and the Fair Food Program have dramatically improved the safety and living conditions of supply chain
workers, EBAs within the garment industry hold real promise for addressing the crises caused by poverty wages.
Iwan Kusmawan, Head of International Department, National Leadership SPN said, “Industry stakeholders are busy
talking about what a ‘just recovery’ from the Covid-19 crisis would look like. An enforceable brand agreement on living
wages must certainly be part of that.”
The central element of the proposal is the payment of a living wage contribution on every order signatory brands
place with any supplier. This contribution directly goes to workers. The contribution is largely based on the gap
between statutory minimum wages and estimated living wages. Unions in many production countries have set