WSM network participates in the Asia Europe People's Forum

The Asia Europe People's Forum (AEPF) 11th meeting took place 4 to 6th of July in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia under the theme of Building New Solidarities: Working for Inclusive, Just, and Equal Alternatives in Asia and Europe. It consisted of seven thematic Clusters:

1. Resource Justice, Land Rights, Equal Access to Water, and Participation – Going beyond Extractivisms
2. Food Sovereignty/Food Security – Beyond Zero Hunger
3. Climate Justice and Transformation of Energy Systems
4. Socially Just Trade, Production and Investment
5. Social Justice – Alternatives to Debt and Austerity, Social protection, Decent Work, and Sustainable Livelihoods
6. Peace Building and Human Security – Responses to Migration, Fundamentalism and Terrorism
7. Participatory Democracy, Gender Equality and Minority Rights

Each of the clusters goes (loosely) through three ‘workshops’ or phases:
1. Contexts and Analysis
2. Lessons Learned, Successes and Failure
3. Strategies for People’s Visions and Future Perspectives

Afterwards, a final declaration was drafted and proclaimed, to be read at the ASEM summit in front of the 53 member states (link).

WSM attended with a delegation comprising Bruno Deceukelier and Francina Varghese and members of the partners, Samy Lourdes from AREDS, India and Robert Trani from AHW Philippines.

Social Justice cluster
Of course, most of our interest went towards the social justice cluster, as this one focuses mostly on Social Protection. Their reference to social justice seems to serve more to highlight the redistributive and transformative role of SP, instead of simple safety nets. WSM had been asked to also present, in the third phase of alternatives, our work and that of our partners.

Around 50 people showed up at the four sessions dedicated to social justice. Several participants question the approach: working from within the system or trying to fundamentally the system.

The WSM presentation, done just after Koen detavernier's presentation of the Campaign of Social Protection for All seemed to have been appreciated and there were many requests for our publications.

At the end of the session, participants also showed their support for the campaign with a pictures and sticking on the band-aids demanding social protection for all.

Though unsure of the political weight of the final declaration and the extent governments would take it into consideration, it is important to provide an alternative voice to the business lobbying. Most interesting for us was however the opportunities of learning and networking, with among others the Network for Transformative Social Protection. AHW is planning to get closer involved with them.

India partners express their support to campaign of Social protection for all

75 participants of the CWM 35th Annual General Assembly Meeting Photos in India on 24th till 26th June 2016 expressed their support to the campaign Social Protection for All. It aims to make universal and comprehensive social protection a policy priority for national governments and the international community.

 More details on the campaign here.

Philippines: alliance to increase the minimum wage

There are currently about a thousand wage levels in the Philippines, regulated by Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 which created the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, which determines the varying levels of minimum wages for the regions in the country. An alliance of organisations composed out of COURAGE, ACT, and three WSM partners: trade union confederation Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and the Young Christian Workers of the Philippines, are demanding the scrapping of RA 6727 and in its place, the enactment of a National Minimum Wage Law. This alliance came behind a joint demand: a National Minimum Wage of 306€ or PHP16.000 per month for the public sector (health workers, teachers …) and 14,3€ or PHP750 per day for workers in the private sector.

The 9€ or PHP466 daily minimum wage for private-sector workers in the National Capital Region and the 173€ or PHP9.000 monthly salary of government employees on Salary Grade 1 do not cover even half of the Family Living Wage, currently pegged at 20,8€ or PHP1,086 a day. The alliance arrived at their demanded amount by multiplying PHP1.086, which, according to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, is the family living wage by 30 days and then dividing the product by two. The alliance supports also different sectoral wage struggles, like an entry level salary for nurses of 480€ or PHP25.000 per month. 66 million Filipinos are living on 2.7€ or less per day while the cost of living for one family is estimated at 635€ per month.

NGWF and their struggle for minimum wage in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) used its own method to calculate minimum wage in its working paper 106. Their study is undertaken to  come up with a definition and method for calculation of the minimum wage based on the ILO Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131). Based on the definition, the minimum wage has been estimated under three scenarios – poverty line, actual expenditure and aspirational diet. Considering the industry’s capacity, the study proposed a phase-wise implementation of the minimum wage under which about 80 per cent of the proposed wage (Tk. 8,200 or 105USD) equivalent to Tk. 6,500 could be provided in the first phase.

The WSM partner National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) refered to that study to advocate in 2013 for a minimum wage and would add 20% to it to become a minimum decent living wage. NGWF is currently trying to create consensus with other garment federations to demand minimum wages for the garment sector to be increased.

Indonesia and others call for ASEAN regional minimum wage

Indonesia has announced its intention to propose a regional minimum wage for ASEAN during a recent World Economic Forum event held in June in Kuala Lumpur. Indonesian officials cited wage disparities between low cost production hubs such as Vietnam and those economies with more expensive labor forces, and expressed concerns that these differences could result in a race to the bottom and ultimately lead to the exploitation of workers. The specifics of Indonesia’s proposal are expected to be released at the upcoming ASEAN manpower ministers’ meeting.

There has been considerable fanfare behind the idea of an ASEAN minimum wage, with Cambodia and Vietnam among those showing support. However, the extent of regional commitment remains to be seen as nations continue to compete for capital inflows brought on by a number of pending trade agreements and relatively competitive workforces. Questions also arise over the current capacity of ASEAN as a whole to institute regional standards of this magnitude.

The Cambodian struggle to increase the minimum wage

Interview with:

Bean Channy, Project officer CLC

Meas Vanny, Legal Officer of C.CAWDU

There are about 700,000 footwear and garment industry workers in 700 factories in Cambodia, the sector which accounts for the lion’s share of the country’s exports. Hence, increasing the minimum wage for this sector has a huge impact. In the past two years, the efforts from the trade unions to get the minimum wage increased have met with much resistance and oppression, and also led to actions around the world, targeting Cambodia’s diplomatic representations and the big brands buying clothes in Cambodia.

Can you explain a bit of the history regarding the struggle for the minimum wage in Cambodia?

Workers’ stories related to a living wage

Source: Asia Floor Wage and Clean Clothes research

Sovann's dream: Enough to eat (Cambodia)
“They told us the shipment was urgent. We were scared of being insulted and forced. We worked even when we were sick. We worked even when we didn't have enough sleep or enough food. I'm so broken down.“

Ratna’s dream: a safe pregnancy (India)
Ratna was 8 months pregnant and working as a contract worker in Bangalore when she began to suffer labour pains.  She had no choice but to go to work as it was a salary day and she could not afford to miss her wages – if she was not present she would have to wait until the end of the month to receive her pay.
The pains worsened around 10 am. She approached her supervisor for permission to leave, but was told she must ask permission from the manager.  She was finally able to leave at 12.30pm, but was further delayed by the security guards.  By the time she left the factory she could barely walk 10 feet and ended up giving birth on the footpath.
It was too late to save the baby, with the umbilical cord uncut due to no proper healthcare, by the time she reached home her baby had died.

Nupur’s dream: to finish school (Bangladesh)
Before starting work in the garment factory, Nupur, 19, was living in a village and attending school but was not able to continue after the 5th grade. Her parents could not pay the school fees anymore. Nupur and her father are the only breadwinners in the family. Her father cannot work all the time due to a chronic disease. The family depends on Nupur’s wages as a garment worker.

Salong’s dream: a safe bathroom (Cambodia)
“The room is tiny [2m x 3m] and ugly. We only have one mat, one mosquito net and a gas stove for the four of us. I earn US$80 a month.  We pay US$40 a month for this one room – everyone pays US$10 - electricity and water included. That’s a lot but we’re lucky because the landlord installed a bathroom attached to our room. It makes us feel more secure.”

Mim's dream: the clothes she makes (Bangladesh)
Mim produces clothes for major western brands that are seen on highstreets across €ope.  Like many young woman, Mim, 23, dreams of dressing up, but on the poverty wages she earns this remains a dream. "I really like the clothes I make, and I would very much like to wear them myself. But I could never afford them!"

Phalla’s dream: Saving for her own atelier (Cambodia)
Phalla earns US$120 a month including overtime, she supports her family including her parents who are sick and also has health problems of her own. Phalla's dream is to save enough money to go to school and open her own atelier, but she says saving money as a garment worker is impossible. “I can never save any money,” she said. “If I did, my parents would die and I would too.”

Asian Labour Builds a Global Movement for Living Wage: The Asia Floor wage

Anannya Bhattacharjee, 

International Coordinator, AFWA 

Garment workers in Asia, the majority of whom are women, currently earn around half of what they require to meet their own and their families’ basic needs, such as for food, water, education and health care. Living wage has been a key demand among labour activists in the garment industry for a long time. The demand has been made to the brands over a long period with very little progress beyond rhetorical support. Three main arguments have been put forward by reluctant brands. First, that there is no common definition of a living wage and no method of calculation; therefore, it is not possible to pay something that is not defined. Second, that any attempt to demand a living wage at a national level results in relocation across the border; and therefore is punitive to national economies. Third, that demand for a living wage is often driven by Northern activists without a collective demand from the global South.

 

India: hard data towards the rights of unorganized workers’ decent living income

By L.A. Samy, 

Steering Committee member for India, 

Executive Director of AREDS

Why study the informal sector with regards to a decent living income?

In India, the size of the informal sector, which comprises 94% of the worker population, is increasing day-by-day and it has been accelerating at an alarming level with the implementation of globalization policy in 1991. Since India was an agrarian nation, it was the agricultural sector that provided employment opportunities to millions of illiterate and literate masses in India. Next to the agricultural sector, it was the small scale and the cottage industries which provided livelihood opportunities to millions of people in India. 

Minimum vs fair vs living wage – concepts

• Minimum wage: the lowest remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers.
• Fair wage: basically, somewhere between the living wage and the minimum wage. ‘Wage levels and wage-fixing mechanisms that provide a living wage floor for workers but ensure competitiveness and refers to skills, tendencies in the sector or country standards, but not to the needs of workers.
• Living wage: the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their needs that are considered to be basic, to maintain a safe, decent standard of living within the community. It should allow a worker to be able to buy food for him/herself and family, pay the rent, pay for healthcare, clothing, transportation and education and have a small amount of savings for when something unexpected happens. 

What is a minimum to live: ILO context and instruments

By Bart Verstraeten, WSM Political Secretary

Since the 19th century, the idea that labour is not a mere commodity that can be owned, traded or exploited like any other raw material, has gained ground. This basically means that labour has to be rewarded, that workers had to be remunerated for their hard work. The most common way of doing so is by paying them a wage.

Most prominently, this idea was incorporated in the ILO Constitution which entrusts the ILO to promote “policies  in  regard  to  wages  and  earnings [….] to ensure a just share of the fruits of progress to all, and a minimum living wage to all employed and in need of such protection”.

Over the years, the ILO developed several international labour standards on this topic. The standards offering the broadest protection in that regard are Convention 131 (C131) and Recommendation 135 on minimum wage fixing, adopted in 1970. Key features of these 2 standards are:

• Governments are required to put in place and maintain specific machinery to fix minimum wages and to adjust them periodically.
• Representative organisations of workers and employers have to be involved in this minimum wage fixing machinery.
• Minimum wages have the force of law.

How to compare minimum wages

Let’s look at two countries: the minimum wage for an hour in Belgium is almost 9 €, in Nepal it is 34 €ocents, 26 times less. But is life not much cheaper in Nepal than in Belgium? So let us compare in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), a fictional currency which compares currencies through a basket of standard products. In Belgium, minimum hourly wage would be 10,31PPP and in Nepal 1,21PPP. Not as huge a difference, but still 8.5 times less, especially if one considers that many Nepalese are paid less than the minimum wage, while many Belgians earn more than the minimum wage (Belgians on average earn 22 €/hour).

Strength in numbers

463,000 years: that is how long a worker would have to work to have the same annual income of the CEO of the French company LVMH, Bernard Arnault. And in 2007, the 200 workers of this factory Ecce based in France, were fired because the company shifted production to countries with lower salaries. Whose salary should be lowered though?

Quote from 1933 on meaning of living wages

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.... By living wages, I mean more than the bare subsistence level - I mean the wages of a decent living."

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Statement on the National Industrial Recovery Act, 16 June 1933