Living Wage Project

We’ve joined forces with four like-minded brands and our shared supplier Mergu in Türkiye to launch a unique pilot project – the Living Wage Project. Together, we have a higher leverage and can make a real difference for all.

The aim: to bring fair living wages to all the production workers at the Mergü factory. There are still issues we need to solve and learn more about. But while we figure it all out, we’re already paying a mark-up since December 2021, so workers receive a fair wage.

STORY BEHIND WAGES

Global brands and their managers are making millions in profits, they’re exploiting their garment workers by paying them barely anything. It’s crucial to close the gap between legal minimum wages and a fair wage, to fund decent livings. Sadly, the lack of working practices and general excessive demand means the industry is still lagging where it needs to be. Therefore, we need to work on solutions. So we did!

WAGES AT ARMEDANGELS

We as brands don’t pay wages directly to the garment workers since we don’t own any factories. All our partners are individually owned entities. We, however, pay prices for the garments we buy from them. These prices need to be fair. We at ARMEDANGELS set a high degree of transparency and also demand this from our partners.

We’ve been extremely busy implementing our True Costing methodology over the past few years, which makes price negotiations almost obsolete and wage payment as transparent as possible. We set the goal to always pay 20% above minimum wages for all suppliers. Currently, we are evaluating actual wages of all our suppliers twice a year. Because it’s only fair if it’s fair for everyone.

Read Our Action Report

Julia Kirschner

Social impact manager at Armedangels

“Every movement starts with action. Already since 2017, we work with a radical open costing for all our products to make sure that we have transparency in wages and avoid negotiating against them.

I am very proud that we joined forces with four other like-minded brands to further accelerate change. In this unique pilot project, we established the payment of a living wage bonus to all production workers in the factory, making a real difference to the livelihood of each worker.

This is another amazing project to prove that ARMEDANGELS is here to make a change and that we have fantastic supply chain partners on board to support us in our mission."

Sandy Lang

SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER at NUDIE JEANS

“We always try to apply a gender lens on the activities in the supply chain. We acknowledge that a large majority of textile workers are female and raising wages is one action to strengthen the position of women in factories, training is another. For many years, we have supported the factories with different types of training, in this case, before we launched the living wage program in Mergu, the factory management and employees were encouraged to participate in a social dialogue training to strengthen the communication."

Sandy Lang

SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER at NUDIE JEANS

“We always try to apply a gender lens on the activities in the supply chain. We acknowledge that a large majority of textile workers are female and raising wages is one action to strengthen the position of women in factories, training is another. For many years, we have supported the factories with different types of training, in this case, before we launched the living wage program in Mergu, the factory management and employees were encouraged to participate in a social dialogue training to strengthen the communication."

CASSANDRA RHODIN

FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR at mini rodini

“The clothing industry can be a dirty business and the price for cheap conventional clothing production is paid by someone else. Our living wage program is paying workers that work in factories producing our clothes an extra bonus. I don't think we are doing anything good. We are just doing what all companies should do. People have the right to be able to live on their salary."

CASSANDRA RHODIN

FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR at mini rodini

“The clothing industry can be a dirty business and the price for cheap conventional clothing production is paid by someone else. Our living wage program is paying workers that work in factories producing our clothes an extra bonus. I don't think we are doing anything good. We are just doing what all companies should do. People have the right to be able to live on their salary."

The Good Clothes, Fair Pay campaign is governed by a coalition which includes citizens and civil society. Fashion brands and retailers were not involved in the development of the campaign asks and legal proposal.

CREDITS Director: Anna Ginsburg Illustrator: Viktoria Cichoń Production Company: Strange Beast Sound designer: George Grinling

FAQ

What is the difference between legal minimum wage and living wage?

A living wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. The living wage differs from the minimum wage in that the latter is set by national law and can fail to meet the requirements to have a basic quality of life which leaves the family to rely on government programs for additional income..

How exactly has the bonus payment made a difference in workers life?

That is a good question. So we asked the workers of our supplier Mergu and this is what they said. Due to the rising prices and inflation workers have difficulties to pay for food, clothes and housing. The Living Wage bonus payments provides financial relief. So at the end of the month they still have money left: Rukiye could afford a trip to the sea, Nezahat uses the extra money for her daughters’s education and Hakan is able to pay his debts.

With who are you collaborating on this project?

Participating brands at our supplier Mergu are Nudie Jeans, Mini Rodini, Kings of Indigo and we, ARMEDANGELS. All four brands and the supplier are committed to continuing this project for the coming seasons. We are looking to use new tools such as the Fair Price App, conducted by the Fair Wear Foundation, to simplify the calculations behind the project.

I want to learn more! How can I support fair payment for textile workers?

We are happy that you are keen to learn more about this important topic. Thanks for that!

Fashion Revolution started an initiative: The Good Clothes Fair Pay initiative is a European Citizens’ Initiative is pushing the European Commission to introduce legislation requiring that brands and retailers in the garment industry ensure workers are paid living wages. The ECI - the European Citizens’ Initiative - is a unique instrument enabling citizens to call directly on the European Commission to propose legislation in an area of EU competence. Here you can learn more and support the campaign