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16,000 Taka and no less: Workers in Bangladesh have been protesting for months for a fairer minimum wage. Photo: © NGWF16,000 Taka and no less: Workers in Bangladesh have been protesting for months for a fairer minimum wage.
Photo: © NGWF

After a long struggle for an increase in the catastrophically low minimum wage in the Bangladeshi clothing industry, the responsible Commission has now announced the future minimum wage in September: 8,000 Taka (approximately €82) – half of what local trade unions demanded! The total amount is not only far below a credible living wage estimate, but can de facto hardly be regarded as an actual increase, but rather as a compensation for inflation over the past five years. In response to this much too low minimum wage, seamstresses in Bangladesh are now entering the labour market. Hunger strike for fairer wages, FEMNET's partner organization, the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), announced today.

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Green buttonThe Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is planning to introduce a state-owned metaseal for the textile supply chain ("Green Button") and therefore invited to a round table in September 2018 to discuss the implementation concept of this metaseal. The Clean Clothes Campaign took part in this discussion and is now sharing its views in writing with this opinion:

The Green Button (GK) is supposed to be a state metaseal, which initially only refers to the stage of assembly. If they want to use the GK, companies must prove that:

  1. they comply with their corporate due diligence obligations, accepting as evidence the recognition of a roadmap within the framework of the Textile Alliance.
  2. the products covered by the GC comply with the minimum social, environmental and credibility requirements for a product label rated ‘good’ and ‘very good’ on the comparison platform ‘seal clarity’.

Despite criticism of the fundamental weakness of product seals, the campaign for clean clothing welcomes the combination of company and product-related criteria in the awarding of the GK. However, we have massive requests for the previously planned design of this combination, which concern the claim level, the reach, the control, the communicable ability and thus also the credibility of the planned metaseal.

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The NGWF trade union is calling for a minimum wage of EUR 160. Photo: © NGWFThe NGWF trade union is calling for a minimum wage of EUR 160. Photo: © NGWFBonn. The Bangladeshi government has decided to raise the minimum wage from 5,300 Taka (€54) to 8,000 Taka (€80) as of December 2018. This is far from enough just to absorb the increased costs of recent years, let alone to achieve a real wage increase. Wages in Bangladesh's clothing industry are still the lowest in the world. The unions demanded 16,000 Taka (160,-€). There has been no wage increase for five years, although the 2013 legislative amendment provides for the basic wage component to be increased by 5% each year.

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Cover: How Sustainability Goes OnlineBonn. Today, the report ‘This is how sustainability works!’ is published. The report documents 17 flagship initiatives and projects on how we can organise ourselves more socially just and ecologically clean in Germany and around the world. FEMNET presents initiatives of the cities of Bonn, Cologne and Stuttgart for a fair public purchase of workwear.

The report ‘This is how sustainability works! Germany and the Global Sustainability Agenda 2018’ breaks down the Sustainable Development Goals in a tangible and concrete way. The editors want to shake up politics and show in which range sustainability is already being implemented in practice.

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by Gisela Burckhardt

The Steering Committee of the Textile Alliance in Cologne 2018. 3rd from Gisela Burckhardt. Photo: © Alliance for Sustainable TextilesThe Steering Committee of the Textile Alliance in Cologne 2018. 3rd from Gisela Burckhardt. Photo: © Alliance for Sustainable Textiles Each member of the Textile Alliance had to draw up an action plan (Roadmap) and publish it for the first time this year how it intends to contribute to improving social and environmental conditions in the supply chain in 2018 (FEMNET-Action plan and Progress report as PDF files). The roadmaps are reviewed by external, independent service providers and published on the website of the Textile Alliance. Currently, the Textile Alliance has around 130 members, 79 of whom are companies that, despite some withdrawals, account for almost half of clothing sales in Germany. Brands and retailers had to plan measures for ten binding targets, six additional targets were recommended, and they were also able to set voluntary targets.

The roadmaps provide information on which three main production countries companies source goods from and which three main sales markets they have.

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Trade union representatives demonstrate for a minimum wage of 16,000 Taka on 27.7.2018. Photo: © NGWF Trade union representatives demonstrate for a minimum wage of 16,000 Taka on 27.7.2018. Photo: © NGWF

The Bangladesh Clothing Industry Employers' Association (BGMEA) has shown extreme contempt for the well-being of workers and their lives outside the factories. On Monday, July 16, BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) proposed setting the minimum wage for workers at 6,360 Taka (approximately €64). This amount does not reach nearly a subsistence wage level in Bangladesh, nor does it remedy the neglect of the required legal minimum wage increase in the last 5 years.

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Trade union representatives demonstrate for a minimum wage of 16,000 Taka on 27.7.2018. Photo: © NGWF Trade union representatives demonstrate for a minimum wage of 16,000 Taka on 27.7.2018. Photo: © NGWF

The Bangladesh Clothing Industry Employers' Association (BGMEA) has shown extreme contempt for the well-being of workers and their lives outside the factories. On Monday, July 16, BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) proposed setting the minimum wage for workers at 6,360 Taka (approximately €64). This amount does not reach nearly a subsistence wage level in Bangladesh, nor does it remedy the neglect of the required legal minimum wage increase in the last 5 years.

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