Fair Wages

Even within the same country, the minimum income a worker requires to afford basic needs (such as food, shelter, clothing, medicine) can vary from one region to another. Because G-Star, like most clothing brands, doesn’t own the factories that produce our clothes, achieving fair and living wages requires committed collaboration within the industry.

ACT on living wages

In 2019 we joined ACT on Living Wages. ACT is a ground- breaking agreement between 22 global brands and retailers and the IndustriALL Global Union, a global trade union fighting for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world. It aims to achieve a living wage for all textile workers through collective bargaining at an industry level. By joining, we have committed to purchasing practices with our suppliers that will ensure fair terms of payment, full coverage of wage increases, better forecasting and planning, training and responsible exit strategies. With sector common indicators, the ACT accountability and monitoring framework will help us measure progress towards more equal supplier partnerships.

Purchasing practices

Purchasing practices are an important part of interaction between brands and their suppliers. The way we buy from and work with our suppliers can have an impact on the working conditions at their factories. We try to plan ahead as much as possible because if for example a last-minute order is given, or last-minute changes are made to the design of a product, it is difficult for a factory to plan the schedule for the workers or manage their production capacity and costs. This can influence working hours and the payment of wages to factory workers. Through our commitments with ACT we can work on further improving our purchasing practices and promote better working conditions.

Minimum wage statement Bangladesh

G-Star RAW supports a minimum wage increase for RMG workers in Bangladesh which will ensure the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet the basic needs of himself/herself and his/her family, including some discretionary income. An income which should be earned during legal normal working hour limits.

Our commitments to the position of the unions and responsible purchasing practices are expressed through our engagement in ACT and our direct collaboration with IndustriAll as part of the ACT initiative. Our support on this matter can be found through the public announcement that ACT and its members have agreed upon on and published.

Through this individual brand statement we would like to stress once more: the importance of taking into consideration the due diligence and calculations put forward by the unions, our long-term commitment to Bangladesh as a sourcing country, and our commitment to absorb price increases resulting from the outcome of the current negotiations.

On a final note, we would like to emphasize that organizations supporting the rights of garment workers should always be treated with dignity and respect so they can safely continue their important work.