FAIR TRADE: BE THE CHANGE

Fair Trade is the new future we will have to long for. Nowadays nobody knows to be the key player for the world’s faith. But we are!

Before reading the last post of our blog, we really want that all of you watch this video:

Every action we make has a consequence that could be positive or negative. If for just a moment, we try to think about the community and not only ourselves, we can really create a better world, where both environment and rights of humans are respected. Make the difference is easier than you think! Just try to have a look to our tips.



Buy fair trade products:
When you are in supermarket try to focus on the trademark FAIR TRADE. There is no difference for you if you buy a fair trade bar of chocolate or another one, but for those who made it, your choice makes the difference Don’t forget that fair trade products are also organic ,so you are sure about the high quality and the delicious taste. 

Check this link to have an idea about more products:http://bottega.altromercato.it/home.php?partner=altromercato

Be social: Social webs have a big power; they are able to spread an idea or a movement and create a common strength. Use your “little power” to contribute with your instagram/twitter/facebook page, so that your friends and followers can enter in a new world and do the same of you.

Let fair trade in your routine:
Even when you want to spend a nice night with your family or your friends, you can choose a fair trade restaurant.

Check this website to find out several delicious restaurant throughout Italy: http://www.altromercato.it/flex/FixedPages/Common/Ristoranti.php/L/IT


Educate yourself and others:

We can’t expect to make a change if we don’t really know the problem. Don’t be self-centered; we are a community so each of us has a social responsibility. Authorities often hide the truth in news, so try to get informed , search information, surf the web!



Here some useful liks that you can use:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JfGki00T0c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVxe1ZKIff0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vfbv6hNeng
http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/press-releases/2016
http://www.fairtraderesource.org/downloads/top_10_reasons_to_support_ft.pdf


Say stop:
When the fashion industry is focused on the profits, the Human Rights and the

environment are lost of sight. This must to be stopped. Do something! Purchases are only the last step in the long travel that involves the invisible work force behind our clothes. We can’t ignore the pain of these people. After the accident of Rana Plaza in 2013 in Bangladesh, a businesses group started to believe in a fashion industry that respects people, environment and profit in the same measure, using the power of the garment factory to take back dignity into the production chain. For this reason a movement called Fashion Revolution has been created. Every year a demonstration is organized and you can take part into it, wearing faritrade clothes or just posting your photos by home with #whomademyclothes?. The chosen date is not casual: 24 April, to remember the accident of Rana Plaza, so it’s a symbolic event that aims to make people aware about this problem.

This is the official website:

http://fashionrevolution.org/

Stay tuned for the next fashion revolution!

Try also to have a look here, to be really ethical fashion: http://www.thetinytwig.com/2013/11/12/shopping-with-ethics-a-5-step-guide/

We wish that our short list can help you to reach a new awareness and understand how important is the collaboration between us. The change is a slow process, but everybody can take part in it. Think always about what you are eating and what you are wearing: you can make a choice.

“since you were born, try to leave a trace behind you. Otherwise, where is the difference between you, trees and stoles? They are also born, get old and die.”

-Swami Vivekanda

Written by: Giada Savino, Martina Ceccato and Safia Mohammad

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

We can change all that...
There is an alternative, the choise is ours!

CHOCO FAIR TRADE:
The most part of cocoa in the world comes from Occidental Africa, like Ivory Coast and Ghana, but Fair-trade works with a small group of producers in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The first cocoa product of Fair-trade has been Green & Black’s Maya Gold that was a chocolate bar. From that moment, the fair-trade has begun to work in global confectionery market. Now 176,600 farmers are organized in 130 small producer organizations.


But how does it work?
The cocoa grows on trees, given that it needs hot and rainy climates, it grows in countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana in Africa or Ecuador in South America, but the most part are produced in Ivory Coast.
The fruits of cocoa’s trees contain 30-40 seeds, which are extracted, fermented and dried in the sun to be converted into cocoa beans.
The Fair-trade standards include a Minimum Price and a Fair-trade Premium is added to the purchase price; the profits, a part of this Fair-trade Premium, are used by cooperatives for social and economic investments such as education, health services, processing equipment and loans to members.
Fair-trade cocoa producers received 9.8 million euros. About half of the money is invested in production and quality of products.

This e-movie shows how it works and the impact for the farmers.



Who is the largest importer? 

With the graphic, we can see that we are the largest importer and the Netherlands is the global leader in cocoa imports, is committing to use sustainable cocoa for all their products.

What is the impact for the farmers?

Fair-trade offers to farmers the opportunity to live a real living. The fair-trade cocoa creates a minimum wage for the farmers and their families.

One of the principal objectives is to improve profits from farmers through equal price for their products; given that the price of the cocoa in the market rise and fall constantly, the organization of Fair-trade has created a minimum price that correspond of 2000$ per tonne.

Also the Fair-trade organizations check the producer of cocoa to guarantee that the children are not exploited, to protect them and to guarantee their security.

Finally they forbid the use of dangerous chemical products. From the environmental point of view the plantations of cocoa cause some problems such as the reduction of the water and the contamination of the land from pesticides. 

The Fair-trade organizations must respect the environmental standards for example they must use the sustainable irrigation, reduce the carbon emission, make a secure use of pesticides (only legal) and the dispose correctly of dangerous garbage.

This collaboration between producers and buyers guarantees a benefit that increases the quality of the products, the training of the workers, the distribution of the potable water (in their community) and the construction of clinics and schools.

Where can you buy their products?

You can find them in all supermarkets like Coop, Auchan and Esselunga. Also the Coop brand personally collaborated with the fair-trade organization.

There are also specialized shops, which sell only Fair-Trade products like "Il Sandalo" in Saronno and "MACONDO" in Tradate. 

We want to present a brand that collaborates with fair-trade producers: MASCAO.
The particularity of Mascao is that it is produced with cane sugar Mascobado, whose taste is unique. The manifacture is artisanal and during the processing any residual acid is eliminated, making a uniform and velvety chocolate.

Mascao guarantees only pure chocolate, for the protection of consumers and producers. As in all of chocolate bars of Altroconsumo, the main organization of fair trade in Italy and among the most known internationally, Mascao contains only cocoa butter with no recourse to other vegetable fats cheaper and low quality.

Mascao supports small producers associated with:

• El Ceibo- Bolivia: Cocoa

• CONACADO - Dominican Republic: Cocoa

• Alter Trade Corporation - Philippines: whole cane sugar

Why should you buy the fair-trade products?

The fair trade products are controlled regularly by the organization and the respect of the standards.

Their prices are higher than the others because a minimum wage is applied to guarantee a better life.

The taste is not inferior to the other, in addiction chocolate is much healthier as they do not use chemical products.

The most important thing we can do is choosing: this is our power! We can change the conditions of children, forced to work in inhuman conditions.

Written by: Cristina Blanchino, Giorgia Napolitano and Letizia Gottardello

A JOURNEY IN THE ROOTS OF FAIRTRADE

Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. Farmers sell their produce to Fairtrade conditions, provide them a better deal and improved terms of trade. This gives them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fairtrade offers consumers an alternative way to reduce poverty through their every day shopping. The Fairtrade Standards are agreements between retailers and producers and provide a mark on the products. The Fairtrade standards have been created to address the imbalance of power in trade relations. Fairtrade International has developed a theory of change to improve the monitoring program , evaluation and learning (MEL). A theory of change determines the change that an organization wants to see the world as the organization helps to that change. This document provides a reference to measure the results of our work and progress towards the objectives of Fairtrade. During the development of this theory studies we have been conducted with the producers' organizations around the world to understand what is most important to them.

History of Fairtrade 
In 1988 was lunch the first Fairtrade by Max Havelaar. In 1997 Fairtrade International was established in Bonn (Germany) to harmonize worldwide standards and certifcation. In 2013 that was a change in Fairtrade International’s constitution gives farmers and workers an equal say in running the global Fairtrade movement. Fairtrade International introduce the Fairtrade Sourcing Programs for cocoa, sugar and cotton – the first major change to Fairtrade labelling in its history. With the Charter of Fair Trade Principles since 2009 there is a single reference point for international Fair Trade. The Charter aims the creation of a future co-operation between Fair Trade Organisations in order to develop its potential to guarantee more equity in international trade. Adopted by the WFTO and Fairtrade International, it explains the main Fair Trade principles. Te Fairtrade standards are made to support the sustainable development and give more power to the small producers and agricultural workers in the poorest countries in the world. There are different types of Standards. One of them give to smallholders the opportunity to work together in cooperatives or other types of organizations.
Another standard ensure for workers decent wages, the right to join trade unions and the respect of health and safety standards from the employers. Fairtrade Standards also foresee a Fairtrade Minimum Price, that is the minimum that must be given to the producers to cover their costs. In addition producers can get an additional sum to invest, the Fairtrade Premium. Another objective of this standards is to ensure financing for producers who require it. There are also some materials that must not be used in the production of Fairtrade products.



Fairtrade Minimum Prices 
The minimum price is determined by the Fairtrade Standards and Pricing Unit. It applies to most Fairtrade certifed products. It is an established listing in concert with manufacturers to enable them to receive an income that covers production costs, but also enable investments for business development. If the market price is higher than the Fairtrade minimum price, the Fairtrade Standards require that producers should be paid to the market share.

Fairtrade Premium 
In addition to the price paid for the product, there is an additional sum of money, called the Fairtrade Premium. Are the same manufacturers, in fact, who decide how to use the Fairtrade Premium. In the case of small producers' organizations, members can make decisions about the Fairtrade Premium by voting during their meetings. In the case of employees, the Fairtrade Standards require that a "Joint body" democratically elected, composed of employees and representatives, is responsible for the administration of the Fairtrade Premium.

The mission 
The mission of Fairtrade is to help producers and consumers, promote fairer trading conditions to fight poverty, strengthen their position and take more control over their lives.


USEFUL LINKS:

http://wfto.com/fair-trade/10-principles-fair-trade
http://www.fairtrade.net/about-fairtrade/what-is-fairtrade.html
http://www.fairtrade.net/about-fairtrade/history-of-fairtrade.html
http://www.fairtrade.net/about-fairtrade/our-vision.html

Written by: Leonardo Pinzuti, Daniele Motti e Davide Palmato

HIGHER WAGES FOR A BETTER LIFE

We are going to analyze two different companies involved in the same industry and the wages of their employees. Decathlon is one of the worst company that is doing little or nothing to ensure workers. Inditex is trying to do something to increase wages, but it isn't doing enough yet.

DECATHLON
Decathlon is one of the world’s largest sporting goods retailers that belongs to Oxylane group. Their products can be bought directly through their stores located all over the world or also online through their online sellers. The position of the company on the living wage is critical because Oxylane hasn’t implemented any responsible policy that will allow the payment of living wage to workers yet.

Oxylane has carried out a few actions to promote freedom of association or worker empowerment; indeed they say that during audits they check the workers are free to join any union or collective bargain activities. Oxylane recognizes the principle of a living wage, but the company has not adopted benchmarks to measure this.

The company has signed a joint public statement sent to the prime minister of Bangladesh in June 2012, where they ask a regular rise in the minimum wage and state that there’s a programme based on step-by-step approach, that ensures fair wages to workers, but they didn’t give more information about this specific programme. The lack of details make us think that not a lot is happening in practice, but at least it seems that they have taken into accounts the need to work on wages as a priority, even if they currently lacks any strategy to make a change. In the future, we hope that Oxylane can start to take a more proactive approach to its responsibility to the living wage.


INDITEX

Inditex is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Galicia. Is one of the biggest fashion group in the world, which has over 7000 stores and 88markets worldwide. It owns more than 100 firms that include the chains of Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Uterque and Oysho. Inditex owns many factories in Spain and outsorces the production in Portugal, Morocco and Turkey. The rest of the production in divided in many countries such as China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Brasil. We have analyzed how peoples are paid by Inditex group and if there is they respect living wage. Inditex says that wages should always be enough to meet at least the basic needs of workers and their families. Any collective agreement on salaries that has been freely elected by trade unions representatives constitutes a fair wage reference for a country, city or factory and this fact is accepted by Inditex.

Its task is to work with trade unions to increase the wages of employees. However, Inditex has cited benchmarks in some countries including Morocco, Spain and Portugal but for Asia no benchmarks have been established. As regard the workers empowerment, Inditex says that suppliers and manufacturers shall ensure that their employees have the right of association without any distinction. Inditex through trainings and meeting with local trade unions in a number of key production countries has worked to proactively promote these rights, through also trainings of suppliers of freedom of association issuing “right to organize” guarantees in Cambodgia, Turkey and India. The company is working on a number of project that address issues fundamentally linked to wages, including freedom of association and short-term contracts. One of the project aims to establish or improve a sustained worker representative system to the social dialogue communication between employer and employees. It has also worked with the International Labour Organization (ILO) with a project aimed to guarantee a living wage breakdown of labour costs. 

For Inditex company the living wage is one of the key priorities for the coming years, but so far the company hasn’t published an overall strategy to deal

specifically with living wage because they have no systematic benchmarking of living wages standards. Despite everything Inditex continued to guarantee its responsibility to ensure workers are paid a living wage with its task to freedom of association. The firm hopes that the work with ILO on “proper calculation of living wages in different sourcing countries” will make an important step. The living-wage benchmarks that Inditex did provide for Europe and Morocco only were very low, just above the minimum wage; It would be more than possible for the company to look at improving wages in the short term, alongside its programme of trade union rights. This would require a clear, time-bound strategy for reaching a living-wage level in its key supplier factories in major production countries. Unfortunately, to date, Inditex has been reluctant to engage with the Asia Floor Wage proposal. Given its commitment to engagement and the buying power, the company would be a good candidate for working with the trade unions involved and testing the implementation of the Asia Floor Wage benchmark.

USEFUL LINKS:

https://www.cleanclothes.org/livingwage/tailoredwages/tailored-wage-report-pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon_Group

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inditex

Written by: Francesco Mura, Matteo Speroni and Simone Anzani

BIG BRANDS, LITTLE WAGES

The Clean Clothes Campaign is an international alliance that aims to improve conditions and support the workers in the global garment industry. It has national campaigns in 16 European countries and its secretariat is based in Amsterdam.

This organization made a survey based on the rights of workers who make clothes for large retailers because sometimes the employers don’t pay the right wages to employees. We talk about companies that make something to resolve this problem and others that keep paying unacceptable wages.

In this article we present companies that have been labelled as  “black” and “orange” according to the CCC.

The first ones are firms which are doing little or nothing to protect rights and wages of workers, while the second ones are brands which are trying to make something to increase wages, although this solution is still far.

We consider: Levi’s (the black company) and Adidas Group (the orange one).

Adidas AG is a multinational firm created by Adolf Dassler in Germany. Today it is the first sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second in the world. This is the parent company of Adidas Group which consist in Adidas, Reebok, Taylor Made, a percentage of Bayern Munich and Runtastic. The Headquarters of Adidas Group are in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria.

In this survey Adidas is placed in the orange group, the company is working on living wages, but the efforts are not impressive.

The company thinks that the way to improve welfare of employees is to promote wage setting, which must be transparent and developed with direct inputs from workers. Adidas in continuing to make research on this field.

Despite Adidas is trying to understand what living wage means in its business, they also know that the significant change needed for workers will never happen. Adidas must identify the living wage, then change prices in order to enable the payment.

The Group organizes trainings for workers and for the management of its supplier, in order to teach the freedom of organization for employees, same as it does in Indonesia where they have developed  and signed  a protocol with Trade Unions, NGOs and Managers on freedom of association.

Adidas check if suppliers pay a fair wage using the legal minimum wage as a benchmark.

The interviewers comment that the protocol signed in Indonesia is admirable, but they think that is unsatisfying that a business as large as Adidas Group continues just to control that its supplier pay the minimum wage and not the living one.

In order to change the situation, Adidas can use its buying power to choose suppliers that pay better wages with the purpose to promote the change and guarantee a living wage for all workers.

For the interviewers it is very important that a company chooses an understandable benchmarks so that, when wages meet employees' needs, this standard can be measured and it takes part in the product price.

The company is going in the opposite direction: if the minimum wages go up, the multinational companies flee, taking assets away and impacting on the industry of developing countries.

Adidas needs to change its tack.

Levi Strauss & Co. is an american company founded in 1853, famous all over the world for clothing production. Its headquarters are in San Francisco (USA).

In this survey Levi’s is placed in the black group since the company said that has nothing to declare.

Levi’s said hat “everyone who works has the right to wages ensuring a standard of living adequate for health and well-being of themselves and of their family but is doing nothing to increase and improve the wages that workers need.

In addition to that, Levi’s declared that they cannot raise wages without working with governments and unions.

Beside this, Levi’s has started a project called “Improving workers well-being” and even if a survey revealed that fair wages were one of the principal goal of the project, we haven’t got any information available.

 It  is also known that the firm is doing nearly nothing to resolve wages problems and there are not concrete proofs that wages have been improved.

Debate has moved on because Levi’s said that since there are not internationally recognised benchmarks or standards between brands, it is not possible to improve the wages and improve the situation.

It would be better if we could see more evidence that the company is taking the right responsabilities.

Written by: Debora Frontini, Chiara Lupo, Irene Scandroglio

MASS INDUSTRIAL HOMICIDE

In April 2013 the deadliest catastrophe ever took place in a fashion factory in Bangladesh: people worked in terrible conditions but no one cared about this. Some years later they received a small compensation but the situation is still the same; although a lot of brands signed an agreement to improve the status of employees and the facilities, they didn’t adopt any change.   

The Rana Plaza was a building in Savar (a district in the division of Dhaka, Bangladesh) and the owner was Sohel Rana. In 2006-2007 the first 4 floors were built on a pond without any permission, substandard construction material were used also; then between 2008 and 2012 other 4 storeys were added without any supporting walls. The building contained 6 clothing factories but it was planned for banks, shops and apartments, so it wasn’t strong enough to support the machinery vibration and weight. 5000 people were employed and they produced cloths for brands like Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Joe Fresh, Monsoon Accessorize, Mango, Matalan, Primark and Walmart. On 23^rd April 2013 workers noticed a crack across the building and evacuated. Some architects commanded to close the structure but the textile staffs was forced with violence to go back to work and was threatened not to receive their monthly salary; moreover the managers were under pressure to complete orders within short deadlines. Sohel Rana declared that the edifice was safe.

On  24^th April 2013 at 8.45 a.m. the electricity went out and the workers heard a loud explosion: the Rana Plaza collapsed with 3000 people inside; more than 1000 people died. It is considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in history.  

A few days after the collapse of Rana Plaza factory, Sohel Rana the owner of building had been arrested while running to India; with him other 42 people were accused to be guilty by the authority, among some factory officials and government inspectors who confirmed that the edifice was safe.

In January 2014 the Donors Trust Fund was established to collect money to compensate the victims and to cover health care expenditure. Rana Plaza Coordination Committee announced that 30million dollars were necessary  . Clean Clothes Campaign started immediately the campaign to collect this amount from international brands; thanks to the pressure from the consumers around the world the fund reached 2,4 million dollars. An anonymous donation afforded to arrive at 30 million dollars expected.  CCC will continue to help the victims who await further compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted and does his best to intervene promptly in the event there are other tragedies. 

Two years on, the only visible memorial to the devastation are two giant granite fists clutching a hammer and sickle, erected by the Workers Party of Bangladesh. Neighborhood talk is that a new factory will soon be built on the site, as global demand for cheap clothing continues to grow.

The majority of brands involved didn’t take on their responsibility and didn’t help the victims; in spite of the protests of the workers the reality didn’t change.

All the world should realize the seriousness of this event and avoid another one; everyone should feel a bit responsible of the exploitation in the garment factory and do something to change this situation.    (Here you can have a look to an interactive guide)

USEFUL LINKS:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/23/rana-plaza-factory-collapse-history-cities-50-buildings

http://www.theguardian.com/world/rana-plaza

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/mar/17/rana-plaza-factory-collapse-compensation-interactive-guide  

Written by: Giulia Abati and Debora Spolaore

DO THE BIGGEST FASHION BRANDS CARE ABOUT THEIR WORKERS?

Clean Clothes Campaign and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance have conducted a survey to discover how the sector of garment industry works on workers’ wages. Companies have been interviewed and the results have been processed and classified to identify how many brands nowadays can guarantee a living wage to their workers, and not only a minimum wage.

In March 2014, Clean Clothes  Campaign, an International alliance for garment industry, working for the fundamental rights of workers and the improvement of their conditions, has made a survey with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance,  another international association that insists on the right of a tailored wage for Asian workers. This project has been created with the financial support of European Union.

Nowadays the well-being of millions of people around the world depends on the global garment industry. We have to consider that a serious problem is connected to this market area: brands like H&M, Zara, Marks & Spencer and many others have their production factories in countries where the cost of workforce and the labor cost are lower than in industrialized countries. This allows companies to sell their goods at lower prices but on the other side, to pay the employees less. In fact the majority of workers in fashion industry are underpaid so they cannot afford to live with dignity and satisfy their needs. 

Clean Clothes Campaign has considered this matter as a scandal so it has conducted this study because it believes that none of the biggest multinational companies works ethically if their clothes are manufactured by people who reach less than a living wage.

Please, remember that a living wage is a human right (ICESCR, 1966): in this case, Clean Clothes Campaign affirms that there is an evident violation of this right.

Despite this declaration, for most of the world’s garment workers this right remains a utopia, because they receive only a minimum wage, established by local governments. So, what is the problem? Practically, the money earned by employees with a minimum wage, makes them unable to face and satisfy their essential needs (food, clothes, transport, pay the rent, medical care and education);  this because the minimum wage is lower than the living wage. This wide gap is in constantly growing.  

All these considerations constitute the preamble of the survey and allow us to understand properly the contents, the aims and the results.

1)      First of all, let’s try to understand how this study has been carried out.

The two alliances has contacted companies between June and September  2013, for a total of 50 enterprises, representing a mixture of fashion industry (sportswear, supermarket retailers and also luxury fashion brands). They were asked to fill in a questionnaire providing very practical, concrete information about their work including, especially, wage benchmarks.

Some of them, 15 firms, didn’t fill in the survey, despite having taken part to the project, but their profiles have been created using publicly available information.

Once the information has been read and processed, each company was recorded according to a list of criteria and a profile of its progress regarding “living wage”. After having sent these profiles to companies to verify that they were correct, firms were asked to give a mark out of 10 for four categories  that Clean Clothes Campaign thinks are fundamental to show the responsibility about the right of a living wage. These categories are: worker empowerment, commitment & practice, collaborative approach, strategy.

2)    The first aim of this survey was to collect practical data  on steps to discover how companies in fashion industry guarantee a living wage (if they do it). In addition, providing transparency for customers on this issue has been fundamental.

3)     Considering results: very few companies are doing enough to guarantee a living wage, in fact, only 4 out of 50 were able to demonstrate that they have started work to increase wages. The results have been classified into different categories from the worst (BLACK) to the best (GREEN) (see picture).  But some limited progresses have been made: a number of companies is planning to work on this issue and maybe, in the future, these plans will be realized successfully. 

Written by: Lisa Caimi, Giulia Pietroboni, Viero Serena

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Speaking about: Minimum and Living Wage

In this article we will talk about the differences between minimum and living wage, the projects and the different situations around the world (Asia, Europe and America). Finally we will talk about the effects of today’s economy in the application of minimum and living wage in a normal worker-salary and what effects it would have on his family.

As the law has established, the MINIMUM WAGE is the lowest salary that a worker can reach in his job. Most of times, this income doesn’t give the opportunity to live in a dignified way, so a worker can’t support him and his family’s costs. The most important example is the one in South-East Asia, where we can find some of the lowest salaries in the whole World. This situation is not well spread out and there are many differences between each country.

A worker must be able to support himself and is family. In this case we talk about LIVING WAGE, which let the worker live with dignity. As stated by the article 23 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of the Human Rights, the living wage must be a right for each person. Working in a dignified way is also the main purpose of ILO (International Labour Organization), which promotes a free, equal and safe way of working. As a guarantee of a minimum income, the living wage shouldn’t be a ceiling but a floor.

What means having a worthy life?

Let’s have a look at the situations around the World

ASIA: We start explaining the situation in Asia, which has the worst situation in the whole World, because the gap between minimum wage and living wage is the widest. Most of the World’s garments are made in Asia, and yet Asian workers who make them are not paid enough to live on it.

The Asian Floor Wage has been created to fight against this critical situation, it is a global coalition of trade unions; it has also calculated a living wage formula for Asia.

PPP$ (Purchasing Power Parity) is the way the Asian Floor Wage is calculated, which is a hypothetical world bank based on the consume of goods and services by people.

Bangladesh is the worst case in Asia with a percentage of 19% of minimum wage. The situation for workers is awful, they work too much and their earning is very low and so there are a lot of poor people. But the situation is very difficult in all of South-east Asia.

Here there is an image that represents the critical situation in South-east Asia.

In EUROPE the situation is not as critical as in Asia but we have differences between minimum and living wage too and there is a wide range of cases; for example in Italy isn’t established a minimum wage. We can find a different situation in Germany and Switzerland, where their governments want to introduce it. in Germany, Angela Merkel agrees in the introduction and Switzerland, if it would be introduced, would be one of the highest in World (3300 €).

Law has established a minimum wage in France (1400 €), Luxembourg (1900 €) and Great Britain with 1200 €; in Spain there is a minimum wage of 750 €.

The worst situation is surely in eastern Europe, where there are minimum wages very miserable, like in Moldova, 71 €, which is the lowest one in Europe. In Czech Republic has the highest minimum wage in East- Europe with a value of 390 €

In USA exists a minimum wage of 7,25 $ but the President Barack Obama want to take it at 10,1$ per hour; in Canada every province has his own minimum wage, but the national average is 11,08 C$ (Canadian Dollar)

WHAT COMPANIES THINK ABOUT WAGES

Today, more and more companies are employing workers which want a minimum income, so they accept every kind of condition, like 9 or 10 hours per day, and a very low wage in relation of the hours worked. So, in today’s economy, companies prefer to apply a minimum instead of a living wage because the labour cost re less. Another problem which is extended in the whole World is that companies are very reluctant in employing people with open-ended contracts, because the company’s work-necessities could change in time. This situation wouldn’t get the worker the opportunity to maintain his family.

Written by: Anzani Leonardo, Mattia Bolzanella, Davide Uboldi