Page 22 - TEXtalks. September-October 2022

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Textile and garments workers’

wages still fall short of the

estimated living wage

T op global brands outsource their production to low-cost countries to procure apparel and other products at
the most competitive rates. The suppliers compete to provide brands with the lowest possible price.

T o ensure timely supply and cover the risk of depending on one source the orders (that run in millions) are
outsourced to different suppliers in different countries. Brands are secretive about what percentage of their
retail prices go to the worker. While labor costs vary, for most garments, experts say wages for production will
scarcely exceed 3 percent of the retail price of the garment. Some experts opine that only 4 percent of the
wages go into the cost of a garment.

The labor cost in the case of high-end brands would be appreciably less as the garment workers across the
board are paid the same wages. The minimum wage of textile and garments workers is very low across Asia
which supplies the bulk of apparel to the world. We have tabulated the minimum wages drawn by textile and
garment workers in major textile countries of the world excluding China (where wages vary by region).

The minimum wage for textile workers in Cambodia for instance is $200 per month. In Indonesia, the minimum
wage varies from $120 (unskilled) to $298 (skilled) per month. In India, a skilled textile and garment worker
draws $185 per month. In Vietnam, the minimum wage ranges from 3,070,000 VND (US$133) to 4,420,000 VND
(US$191), however, this still falls short of the estimated living wage of 13,183,848 VND (US$570) per month.
With Tk 8,000 as the minimum wage equivalent to $78.17 Bangladesh provides the lowest wages to its textile
workers. ignoring their demand then, the trade union leaders said. The minimum wage in Pakistan was
increased to Rs27000 per month which at the current dollar rate is equal to $122 per month. When the rupee
slipped to Rs240 against the dollar a month back the minimum wage was declined to $112.5.

In Turkey, Skilled workers received about 5,000 lira (US$275), while the legal minimum wage was 4,253 lira
(US$233). In Spain, the yearly minimum wage of 12600 euros is arrived at by multiplying the monthly wage by
14. In those cases where workers are not paid 14 minimum wages per year, the monthly wage is 1050 euros.
The average textile worker's gross salary in Germany is 32.081 or € or an equivalent hourly rate of 15 €. In
addition, they earn an average bonus of 481 € (average monthly salary including bonus 2713 €).

September/October 2022