Asia Floor WageAsia Floor Wage
Decent Wage for Decent Life of Asian Garment Workers
Rita Olivia Tambunan –TURC Indonesia
Email: [email protected]
Garment Industries in Asia• About 60% of global garment are produced by Asian workers.
• Many Asian producer countries are developing countries, heavily
depend on labour intensive industries like garment.
• Their comparative advantages: (cheap) labour supply, raw materials.
• Periphery countries, fragile to ‘capital swing’.
• In effort to attract investment, producer countries are forced to do
‘race to the bottom’ �loosening labour standard, provide cheap
labour to guarantee ‘in-time’ production.
• Impact to workers: heavy working hours (10-18hours), poor wage,
no union allowed (repressive control), women workers are targets.
Garment Company in Indonesia
Global GarmentDivision of LabourPrimary Manufacturing Countries
China
India
Bangladesh
Thailand
Indonesia
Second Layer of Manufacturing CountriesSecond Layer of Manufacturing Countries
Sri Lanka
Cambodia
Vietnam
Philippines
Pakistan
Malaysia
Consumer countries and Asian TNC subcontracting countries
Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan
U.S, Canada, Europe
Wage & Purchasing Power German Workers Indonesian Garment Workers
Minimum Wage 5-8Euro/hours 4.3 Euro/day*
(min wage in Jakarta area: Rp
1,08millions or about
94Euro/month)
Cost of basic needs
basket
25-35 Euro/day*
(for family of four)
12-15Euro/day*
(for family of four)
� +/- 40% of German min wage
workers can buy
Other costs
(transport, education,
health, leisure, etc)
?? (some is covered through
existing national social
security system)
About 1-1.5times of the food cost.
(no national social security system,
some workers depend on the
family support).
Asia Floor Wage Proposal
Floor wage = need-based wage for decent living in the
Asian region.
Basic needs = Food cost + Non-food cost.
475$ Purchasing power parity/month, 48working-475$ Purchasing power parity/month, 48working-
hour/week (ILO standard).
Wage for Family: a worker + 2 dependants (a spouse +
2 children).
Better wage = better working condition, anti gender
discrimination, anti-pauperisation, better life.
Asia Floor Wage ProposalCountry Actual Min Wage AFW Proposal of
Living Wage
Disparity
Bangladesh (Taka) 1,663* (18€) 10,754 (116€) -85%
China (Yuan) 687 (78.3€) 1,639 (187€) -59%
India (Rupee) 4,238 (70.2€) 6,968 (115.4€) -40%
Indonesia 972,604 (82.2€) 1,868,650 (158€) -48%Indonesia
(Rupiah)
972,604 (82.2€) 1,868,650 (158€) -48%
Srilanka (Rupee) 5,046 (34.5€) 16,706 (114€) -70%
Thailand (Baht) 4,368 (110€) 7,567 (190.5€) -43%
* In November 2010, as a result of massive protest & strike, Bangladeshi government announced increased min wage of 3,500 Taka. Still needs some monitoring on the implementation.
Source: Asia Floor Wage Alliance, 2008; self-calculation.
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