Workers-Driven Social Responsibility, Compliance and Implementation of Living Wages in Ethiopia and Indonesia’s Garment Sector (OECD Side Session) - February 15, 2023

This session explored compliance, wages and working conditions in Indonesia’s and Ethiopia’s garment sector. The session is based on projects implemented by WageIndicator where we work with trade unions and employers’ organisations to gauge working conditions, workers’ wages and labour law compliance in Indonesian and Ethiopian garment factories.

To implement these projects, databases of Minimum Wages and collective agreements were coded and improved, and coded information for 50 topics in national Labour Laws were created. The DecentWorkCheck tool, which surveys awareness of and compliance with relevant labour laws, and special surveys to gauge working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic were used in factories across both countries to collect data on labour law and (minimum) wages. The results are made publicly available through dedicated websites in local languages. The results are also used to facilitate evidence-based social dialogues between workers’ and employers’ groups. In both projects and countries, labour law compliance, (minimum) wages, and working conditions improved tangibly.

These projects are scheduled to grow in scale and scope. We will start with a Worker Priority Poll tool which will assess the needs of workers, especially from marginalised groups, beyond the scope of labour laws. Moreover, in line with the EU Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, WageIndicator increasingly supports brands and multinational companies to implement living wages in their company and throughout their supply chain, based on its growing living wage database.

Based on the success and the plans for the future, the session will showcase means to improve compliance, wages and working conditions in the garment sector. It will highlight the role that data and its use play in creating workspaces that are not only compliant with labour law, but also accommodating of all workers’ needs. Next to discussing the tools and methods, we analyse data from Ethiopia and Indonesia with a focus on earned wages and the wage ladders for minimum wage, living wage and average wages by skill level, and we discuss how implementation of living wage in companies and the supply chain can improve conditions not only for workers but employers and brands as well.

Watch the session's recording

WELCOME BY WAGEINDICATOR FOUNDATION Welcoming all attendants and explaining the rules of engagement
	FIONA DRAGSTRA Session moderator, General Director WageIndicator
Presentation from Indonesia Workers Driven Social Responsibility – Improve and Monitor Working Conditions in Indonesian Garment Industry 230215_WageIndicator-OECD Side session_Indonesia.pptx
	Dela Feby Project coordinator for Indonesia
	Lydia Hamid Project coordinator for Indonesia
Presentation from Ethiopia Monitoring Improvements in Workers’ Wages and Labour Law Compliance in the Ethiopian Garment Industry 230215_WageIndicator-OECD Side session_Ethiopia.pptx
	Daniela Ceccon Director Data at WageIndicator and project coordinator for Ethiopia
	Eyoel Mekonnen Project coordinator for Ethiopia
	Gashaw Tesfa Project coordinator for Ethiopia
Presentations from survey designers and comparison on wage setting Understanding the results of the Decent Work Check Survey in Indonesia and Ethiopia 230215_WageIndicator-OECD Side session_Better working conditions.pptx Mapping the Global Garment Supply Chain, perspectives for Indonesia and Ethiopia 230215_WageIndicator-OECD Side session_Global supply chain.pptx
	Kea Tijdens Sociologist and survey designer
	Nii Ashia Amanquarnor Data Analyst at WageIndicator’s Living Wage team
	Maarten van Klaveren Economist and author of publications on the garment supply chain
Discussion of implementation of Living Wage in a garment company 230215_WageIndicator-OECD Side session_Living wages.pptx
	Paulien Osse Lead of WageIndicator’s Living Wage team