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  Living wage  

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NEW (recent additions to this section; top item is most recent addition)
Coffee-makers' huge profits leave a bitter taste -...Aid and fair trade organisations accuse the world's major coffee roasters of making huge profits out of impoverished growers in developing countries, whose returns are a fraction of retail prices. They say the price paid for green coffee is so low that desperate families cannot support themselves...Oxfam advocacy co-ordinator Jeff Atkinson said the world's major coffee makers - Kraft (Maxwell House, Jacobs), Procter and Gamble (Folgers), Sara Lee (Moccona) and, to a lesser extent, Nestle (Nescafe) - had done little to improve the growers' lot. (Stathi Paxinos, The Age [Australia], 28 Apr. 2003)

Websites:

Business Leaders and Investors for a Living Wage (Responsible Wealth)

Facts and Resources for Living Wage Campaigns (National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice)

Labour Behind the Label: UK Campaigners Launch Living Wage Campaign (Clean Clothes Campaign)

Nike company website:

NikeWages.Org: Olympic Living Wage Project  

"Wages-Living Wage", in Global Business Responsibility Resource Center (Business for Social Responsibility) Note: click "Human Rights" in column on left side of the website page which appears, then click "Wages-Living Wage".

Other materials:

2003:

Coffee-makers' huge profits leave a bitter taste -...Aid and fair trade organisations accuse the world's major coffee roasters of making huge profits out of impoverished growers in developing countries, whose returns are a fraction of retail prices. They say the price paid for green coffee is so low that desperate families cannot support themselves...Oxfam advocacy co-ordinator Jeff Atkinson said the world's major coffee makers - Kraft (Maxwell House, Jacobs), Procter and Gamble (Folgers), Sara Lee (Moccona) and, to a lesser extent, Nestle (Nescafe) - had done little to improve the growers' lot. (Stathi Paxinos, The Age [Australia], 28 Apr. 2003)

SAS [Students Against Sweatshops] continues push to oust Taco Bell [USA] - Due to labor issues surrounding the people who pick tomatoes for Taco Bell, a Grand Valley student organization is trying to get the restaurant kicked off campus. Allison Kranz, member of Students Against Sweatshops, a fair labor and human rights organization, has been working on the project for over a year now. (Danielle McGillis, Grand Valley Lanthorn, 19 Mar. 2003)

Taco's tomato pickers on slave wages [USA] - Dispute over poor pay by contractors highlights plight of immigrant workers - The American fast food giant Taco Bell has been buying tomatoes produced by slave and sweatshop labour, according to a group of Florida tomato pickers who held a 10-day hunger strike outside the company's headquarters. (Duncan Campbell, Guardian [UK], 17 Mar. 2003)

Minimum wage rise [in Guangzhou, China] will benefit migrant workers (South China Morning Post, on website of Human Rights in China, 2 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Union bails out exploited sailors - An international union investigation of sub-standard pay and conditions affecting seamen on foreign ships trading in Australian waters has netted close to 20 offenders. (AAP, in Herald Sun [Australia], 18 Nov. 2002)

Women’s Health a Special Concern at Regional Migrant Workers Conference in Bangladesh -...attendees were especially concerned about the particular risks faced by female migrant workers, including sexual abuse by employers, diseases such as AIDS and forced or illegal abortions. Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand were criticized for subjecting migrant workers to mandatory AIDS tests and immediately deporting workers found to be positive. Singapore and Malaysia also automatically deport migrant workers found to be pregnant. Other issues addressed at the conference included low pay, dangerous working conditions and inadequate access to health care. (BSR [Business for Social Responsibility] News Monitor summary of 11 Oct. 2002 article from Inter Press Service, 16 Oct. 2002)

NGWF demands fair wage and trade for garment sector [Bangladesh] - The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) formed a human chain in the city yesterday demanding fair wage and trade for garment sector. (Daily Star [Bangladesh], 15 Oct. 2002)

Peru jungle farmers raise cups to fair trade coffee -...Farmers in Alto Incariado have joined up with the local La Florida Cooperative selling coffee carrying the "fair trade" label - a seal guaranteeing consumers that producers comply with conditions like a "decent wage" for farmers, the right to unionize, environmental standards and shunning child labor. [refers to fair trade coffee generally, and to Starbucks, Costa/Whitbread PLC, Cafe Direct, Max Havelaar] (Missy Ryan, Reuters, 27 Sep. 2002)

International workshop - "The Pricing Structure in the Garments Industry - Towards a living wage for garment workers" - 20 - 21 February 2003 - Germany (IRENE & Clean Clothes Campaign/Netherlands) [added to this website on 26 Sep. 2002]

Clothing firms in court over workers' rights [Australia] - Thirty leading fashion companies, including Rip Curl and Laura Ashley, have been taken to court as part of a crackdown on the alleged exploitation of clothing outworkers. (AAP, in Sydney Morning Herald, 25 Sep. 2002)

Coffee companies under fire as millions face ruin - Millions of people in 45 coffee-growing countries are facing economic ruin - and many are going hungry - due to collapsing world prices. Oxfam today launches a global campaign to tackle the coffee crisis and force the corporate giants who dominate the $60-billion industry [Sara Lee, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and Nestlé] to pay farmers a decent price. (Oxfam, 18 Sep. 2002)

2,000 Women Retirees Protest in Daqing [China] - China Labour Bulletin has learned that over 2,000 retired women workers of Daqing Petroleum Administration Bureau (DPAB) staged protests in front of the bureau's headquarters on 24 June, 2002 to demand better pension payments. The women pensioners receive only 50 yuan a month from the DPAB. The wage necessary for a minimum standard of living in the poorer cities of China usually averages around 150 yuan per capita per month. (China Labour Bulletin, 28 June 2002)

High street shops under attack for their ethics [UK] - High street shops have scored poorly in a survey rating businesses on their support for ethical trading practices. The survey...awarded marks to businesses according to their stance on issues such as child labour, poverty wages and poor working conditions. The Co-op, Body Shop and DIY chain B&Q all scored highly. But the survey said most high street shops either had no code of conduct to cover unfair trading issues, refused to publish one or declined to allow their codes to be independently checked. (Henrykl Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner [UK], 20 June 2002)

Councils Armed To Drown Sweatshops [Australia] - Five Sydney councils hold the key to rooting out clothing industry sweatshops that employ predominatly immigrant, female labour for as little as $2 an hour. (Workers Online, Labor Council of New South Wales, 31 May 2002)

North American Fair Trade Movement Reports Big Advances - The Fair Trade industry in North America made nearly US$100 million in gross sales in the year 2000, according to a new report released this week by the Fair Trade Federation (FTF), an association of retail and wholesale outlets committed to ensuring that Third World producers are paid a basic living wage for their products...it expects further increases in 2001 and 2002 primarily due to the rapidly growing market for fair-trade coffee sold by retail outlets (Jim Lobe, OneWorld, 1 May 2002)

Council Support Grows for a 'Living Wage' [New York] (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2002)

Oxfam challenges Nike, Adidas to pay workers [Indonesia] (Miranda Korzy, AAP, 7 Mar. 2002)

Thousands of workers left unprotected in W. Java [Indonesia]: Of more than 1,270 companies employing a total of 95,000 workers in the West Java regencies of Cirebon, Indramayu, Majalengka and Kuningan, only 40 percent have participated in the obligatory social security programs, an official says. (Nana Rukmana, Jakarta Post, 6 Mar. 2002)

Housing for Field Workers Eyed [Napa Valley, California]: In this conspicuously prosperous valley, home to a $4 billion wine industry, hundreds of migrant farm workers sleep in cars or under the stars. (Justin Pritchard, Associated Press, 4 Mar. 2002)

Living Wage Movement Greets the Recession with New Victories [USA]:...on February 2, 63 percent of voters in New Orleans said yes to setting a citywide minimum wage at one dollar above the federal minimum of $5.15. The ordinance is unprecedented in that it will cover all private-sector employees working within city borders (Jen Kern and Stephanie Luce, Labor Notes, Mar. 2002)

Wages don't meet minimum needs [Indonesia]: The average 2002 provincial minimum wages could only cover 85.89 percent of the minimum physical needs, compared with 90.48 percent in 2001, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said on Tuesday. (Jakarta Post, 27 Feb. 2002)

Industrial Unrest in China: A Labor Movement in the Making? [section entitled "Illegal Working Conditions and Management Methods" refers to "sexist pay rates" that award male workers more than female workers, workers earning less than the legal minimum, and "humiliating and antisocial behavior from management"] (Tim Pringle, Foreign Policy In Focus, 20 Feb. 2002)

Thorny Issue: Flower Firms Accused of Exploiting Workers [Kenya] - Participants at a human-rights conference in Nairobi last week heard harrowing descriptions of how employers in Kenya's booming flower industry neglect and abuse their workers as they seek to maximise profits [including reports of "starvation wages", arbitrary dismissal for such offences as leaving the greenhouses even when it becomes unbearably hot, sexual harassment of women workers, inability to form or join unions, failure to provide proper safety equipment to protect against chemicals (resulting in illnesses)] (Cathy Majtenyi, East African [Nairobi], 18 Feb. 2002)

Starbucks braces for another round with eco-protests: Facing mounting pressure from protest groups, Starbucks Corp. this week affirmed its commitment to environmentally friendly products and fair wages for coffee farmers. (Chris Stetkiewicz, Reuters, 15 Feb. 2002)

Companies 'face rising risks over human rights': Multinational companies face a growing risk of being associated with human rights violations, according to research published in London yesterday by Amnesty International and the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum. The research examines the operations of 129 leading companies in 34 countries where human rights abuses including torture, forced child labour and denial of freedom of expression occur. (Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 13 Feb. 2002)

Dita Sari Spurns Reebok Award [Indonesia]: Prominent women’s labor rights activist Dita Indah Sari has rejected a $50,000 human rights award from sporting apparel giant Reebok in protest against the meager salaries the company pays its Indonesian factory workers [includes text of Dita Sari’s Statement on Reebok Human Rights Award] (Laksamana.Net [Indonesia], 6 Feb. 2002)

Restaurateurs Relish Sustainability [USA]: We [Chefs Collaborative] help restaurants connect with regional producers to purchase local seafood, meat, dairy, and eggs. We are also concerned with green-building materials, living wages for restaurant employees, and reduced energy consumption. (GreenBiz.com, Feb. 2002)

From Factories to the Fields Anti-Sweatshop Movement Spreads to Farm Workers [USA]:...U.S. farm workers lack the legal protections to organize and engage in collective bargaining. They also are exempt from the federal minimum wage law. (Simon Billenness, Trillium Asset Management, in Investing for a Better World, Feb. 2002)

'Refusal To Pay Minimum Wage Is A Recipe For Failure', Global Union Warns Indonesian Employers:..."If, on the other hand, you want to build a viable export industry, then begin paying a living wage, introduce working conditions that respect international labour standards" (ITGLWF - International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 24 Jan. 2002)

Another Chinese firm [Universe Safety Glass, operating in South Africa] flaunts labour laws [South Africa]:...Total disregard of industrial safety regulations, working hours beyond the maximum allowed under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the payment of starvation wages (Frank Nxumalo, Business Report [South Africa], 13 Jan. 2002)

Garment companies fail to move on living wage issue: Legal minimum wages are insufficient to cover the basic needs of even single workers according to "Wearing Thin: the State of Pay in the Fashion Industry", a report published recently by The UK network Labour Behind the Label, part of the International Clean Clothes Campaign. As part of this study, 12 companies were surveyed and none of them acknowledged the need to pay suppliers a price sufficient to pay workers a living wage. (Clean Clothes Campaign, Jan. 2002)

2001:

Tomato Pickers Boycott Taco Bell for Higher Wages [USA]: Borrowing a tactic from anti-sweatshop campaigns, tomato pickers seek a sustainable living wage by appealing to Taco Bell, the primary purchaser of the tomatoes they pick. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 12 Dec. 2001)

Support where it matters [Burma]:...The lobby group claims that Triumph International [lingerie manufacturer] is supporting the brutal regime in Burma by paying rent for the plant direct to the military junta, responsible for Burma’s appalling record of human rights abuses and slave labour. They state that workers at the Triumph factory north of Rangoon are paid 70p a day, a level described as an "extreme poverty wage" by the United Nations. (The Scotsman [UK], 12 Dec. 2001)

Indian Labour Laws Protect Only 8% of Workforce: Report -...present labour laws provided protection to only eight per cent of the entire workforce in the country leaving the rest without any protection in matters of wages, employment and social security (Asia Pulse, 3 Dec. 2001)

Nafwu pushes for living wage: The Namibia Farmworkers Union (Nafwu) annual meeting at the weekend was adamant that Government should introduce minimum wages in the agricultural sector in view of the starvation wages paid by some farmers. (The Namibian, 19 Nov. 2001)

Bangladesh...Ending the Race to the Bottom [report on sweatshop abuses in factories in Bangladesh producing for over 20 universities and Nike] (National Labor Committee, Oct. 2001)

Sweat & Tears [in New York City]: Daily News Investigation (Bob Port, New York Daily News, 8-11 July 2001)

Landmark Study Shows Mexican Maquiladora Workers Not Able to Meet Basic Needs on Sweatshop Wages: Workers in foreign-owned export assembly plants in Mexico are not able to meet a family's basic needs on sweatshop wages, according to a comprehensive study conducted in fifteen Mexican cities. (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility / Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras / Center for Reflection, Education and Action, 28 June 2001)

Worker Rights in the Americas [El Salvador]? A Rare Inside Glimpse: Suppressed USAID-funded investigation documents systematic denial of rights and "abject poverty" wages of eighty-five thousand maquila workers, mostly young women sewing garments for Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Gap, Ohio State, Duke, University of Michigan, Georgetown, Kohl's, Wal-Mart and Elderwear school uniforms. (National Labor Committee, May 2001)

Human rights activists speak out against Nike: ... Keady and Kretzu spent last August living in solidarity with Nike factory workers in Indonesia and living on their wages. They spoke Friday at Allen Hall about sweatshops and the exploitation of workers in developing countries. "Our goal was to humanize the sweatshop issue," Kretzu said. "Nike is undermining human dignity for a profit. You may survive on $1.25 a day, but you can not live and maintain your dignity." (Tom Polansek, The Daily Illini [University of Illinois], 12 Feb. 2001) 

Working for a Living Wage (Jen Kern, Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2001)

Letters - Fair Pay: 'It is the role of the Cambodian government, multinationals and their consumers to ensure that the wages of parents working in the factory are sufficient to educate their children.' - Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (Vanessa Lesnie and Justine Nolan, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, letter to the editor, Asiaweek, 12 Jan. 2001)

2000:

Nike: American dream on RI [Republic of Indonesia] sweat (Donna K. Woodward, Jakarta Post, 13 Sep. 2000)

The "Living Wage" Clause in the ETI [Ethical Trading Initiative] Base Code - How to Implement it? (David Steele, ETI Information Officer, June 2000)

Nike wrong-foots the student critics (Jagdish Baghwati, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, in Financial Times, 2 May 2000)

Trying to Live on 25 Cents an Hour.  The U.S. Companies Say the Workers Do Just Fine.  But can you really live on the 25 cent an hour wages that the U.S. contractors pay in China - which come to $15 for a 6-day workweek or $65 a month? (National Labor Committee, Made in China: The Role of U.S. Companies In Denying Human and Worker Rights, May 2000) 

Paying a Living Wage Is Good For Business, Employers Say: New report documents benefits of raising pay (Responsible Wealth, 29 Mar. 2000)

Report on the Living Wage Symposium, 19-21 Nov. 1999 (Institute of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin, Feb. 2000) 

Wages, Benefits, Poverty Line, and Meeting Workers' Needs in the Apparel and Footwear Industries of Selected Countries (Office of International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labour Affairs [ILAB], United States Department of Labor [U.S. Government], Feb. 2000)

1999:

Living Wage (Labour Behind the Label, Oct. 1999)

The Case for Corporate Responsibility: Paying a Living Wage to Maquila Workers in El Salvador: A Study for the National Labor Committee (M. Connor, T. Gruzen, L. Sacks, J. Sunderland, D. Tromanhauser; School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, 14 May 1999)

1998:

Time for a living wage around the world (Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange, fall 1998)

1997:

Survey of Vietnamese and Indonesian Domestic Expenditure Levels (wage study commissioned by Nike and carried out by two professors from Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Nov. 1997)