by Roberta Fabbrocino

What is the #GoodClothesFairPay campaign trying to achieve?

#GoodClothesFairPay campaign is a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) that calls for living wage legislation in the apparel, textile, and footwear industries. Independent of where they are headquartered, brands and retailers who want to do business in the European Union (EU) are included in the scope of this campaign, which is asking them to create a time-bound and goal-bound plan to eliminate the gap between current and living wages. 

As an ECI #GoodClothesFairPay campaign asks the European Commission for legislation that supplements and strengthens the EU's Sustainable Corporate Governance framework, and the EU Adequate Minimum Wage Directive. They also ask for new legislation to push businesses to recognize, prevent, and minimize adverse effects on freedom of association, the right to a living wage, and collective bargaining rights, combat child labour and reduce poverty both within the EU and globally, and overall promote transparency. 

Why a living wage?

Minimum wage and living wage seem like similar concepts but are fundamentally different. A state, national, or federal minimum wage is the minimum hourly rate employers must pay their workers. The Global Living Wage Coalition defines a living wage as the “remuneration received for a standard workweek by a worker in a particular place sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and her or his family” while there are “elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs including provision for unexpected events."

In garment-producing countries, the legal minimum wage doesn't cover the actual living expenses of workers. In Bangladesh, for example, according to the global network Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the minimum wage for a monthly salary is €49.56, while the living wage is €259.80. A gap between the minimum wages the workers can earn, and the wage they and their families can live on has been reported by the same organization in Central, East, and South-East Europe too. In that area, in fact, CCC has found that the statutory minimum wage, on average, amounts to two-thirds of the EU's poverty line, itself equal to 60% of the national average salary. For a worker and their family, the difference between minimum and living wage can be between having and not having access to things like at least three meals a day, a safe living environment, and menstruation products. 

The Importance of Legislation

This European Citizens' Initiative legislation is broader in scope compared to the EU's Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive, as it would cover small and medium-sized businesses as well as big ones, and it emphasizes collective bargaining.  It would hold the brands and their business partners accountable for harm resulting from actual or potential adverse effects on collective bargaining rights or living wages. If passed, the legislation advocated for by the Good Clothes Fair Pay campaign would be the first living wage legislation at the European Union level for garment workers all over the globe.

What can I do to support this initiative?

As an ECI, the #GoodClothesFairPay needs one million signatures from EU citizens to push for the legislation it champions. If you are a citizen of the European Union, you can sign the petition here. If you are not, you can still share it online and send it to your friends and family, who can sign it.