Enabling Reliable Wage Improvements through Supply Chain Industrial Relations: An HRDD Perspective on Collective Bargaining supported by Purchasing Practices
Feb 20, 2024 | 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Feb 20, 2024 | 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Description
Organised by: ACT (Action, Collaboration, Transformation)
Achieving sustainable wage improvements and progressing towards living wages or workers in the global garment and footwear industry remains a central challenge. Except for minimum wage increases, most wage improvements have proven unreliable, failing to yield real wage growth and often accompanying increased work intensity and extended hours. Thus far, regulatory frameworks within Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) have fallen short in providing effective solutions to the pervasive issue of wages in supply chains. Efforts to position the discussion on living wages within the HRDD framework have predominantly centred on measuring gaps towards external living wage benchmarks, sidestepping the critical systemic shifts required to engender long-term wage growth.
The session will explore the role of collective bargaining in establishing a structural approach to long-term wage developments, ensuring reliable and predictable wage increases for workers. By bringing together perspectives of trade unions, brands, investors, and technical experts on wages and wage measurement, the panel will examine whether and what focus should be placed on structural transformation, progress in collective bargaining, freedom of association, and industrial relations when assessing wage progress.
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