In the Netherlands, Fashion Revolution Week was focused on getting more support and visibility for the Good Clothes Fair Pay Campaign. This is a grassroots campaign calling for living wage legislation across the garment, textile and footwear sectors. We need one million signatures from EU citizens by July 2023 to push for game-changing legislation that requires companies to conduct living wage due diligence in their global supply chains.
GOOD CLOTHES FAIR PAY MARCH
Millions of people – mostly women – work in textile, clothing and footwear production worldwide. The vast majority are not paid enough to fulfill their basic needs. This means they cannot afford to live in decent housing, eat healthy food and get medical help. They earn 2 to 5 times less than they need to provide for themselves and their families. Even though the right to a living wage is a fundamental right included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, fashion brands have consistently failed to consider this. Fashion brands pay their suppliers prices below production costs, and commonly cancel orders at the last minute, without compensation or paying for them. They impose very short lead times between orders being placed and expected delivery and this means that the people who are making our clothes remained trapped in poverty.
The EU needs to ensure that the people who make our clothes are paid fairly. This is why the Good Clothes Fair Pay campaign, a European Citizens’ Initiative for living wages in the fashion supply chain, is demanding legislation that helps achieve fair pay for textile and garment workers around the world. Fashion Revolution in the Netherlands organized a march on the 22nd of April to raise awareness and collect signatures to achieve this goal.