Last but not least: Vögele millions for the image, as a monthly salary the value of a cheap pair of jeans
This year's title sponsor of the Zurich "Fashion Days", Charles Vögele, wants to create a new image for itself with design, glamor and lots of advertising. However, while the Cruz sisters appearing in Zurich today are "expensive" even for the Vögele boss, the seamstresses producing for Vögele in Asian supplier factories are dirt cheap.
The company, which is well-known in India, Bangladesh and Cambodia as a buyer and client, not only has a clean image as a sponsor of Fashion Days. According to Anannya Bhattachearjee, global coordinator of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance AWF, Vögele's workers in the textile industry regularly have to work very long overtime hours and receive wages that are far too low. As the Berne Declaration writes in a press release on Wednesday, it is a fact that Vögele, like the majority of clothing companies, is only committed to paying statutory minimum wages. However, it is also known that these wages do not provide a decent standard of living throughout Asia and are barely enough to cover a percentage of a garment worker's expenses. What is particularly outrageous is the fact that Vögele is building up a marketing budget in the millions on the back of these minimum wages.
In Bangladesh, a country where a large proportion of Vögele products are manufactured, the statutory minimum wage has been raised. However, even this new state standard only covers 30 percent of the daily expenses of textile workers. The situation in Cambodia is not much different, which is why over 200,000 workers took to the streets there last September, as the EvB press release explains. In Cambodia, seamstresses receive just the value of a pair of Vögele trousers as a monthly wage. The legal minimum wage is 61 dollars.
But the responsibility for specifying a fair approach to minimum wages lies with the producing countries, writes Charles Vögele in a response to a flood of protest emails.
The Asia Floor Wage Alliance AFW is a coalition of around 70 NGOs, trade unions and academics from across Asia. The AFW demands the payment of a living wage for seamstresses and presents a concrete calculation model as well as implementation proposals for a living wage. The Berne Declaration/Clean Clothes Campaign supports the AFW's demands.
In Bangladesh, a country where a large proportion of Vögele products are manufactured, the statutory minimum wage has been raised. However, even this new state standard only covers 30 percent of the daily expenses of textile workers. The situation in Cambodia is not much different, which is why over 200,000 workers took to the streets there last September, as the EvB press release explains. In Cambodia, seamstresses receive just the value of a pair of Vögele trousers as a monthly wage. The legal minimum wage is 61 dollars.
But the responsibility for specifying a fair approach to minimum wages lies with the producing countries, writes Charles Vögele in a response to a flood of protest emails.
The Asia Floor Wage Alliance AFW is a coalition of around 70 NGOs, trade unions and academics from across Asia. The AFW demands the payment of a living wage for seamstresses and presents a concrete calculation model as well as implementation proposals for a living wage. The Berne Declaration/Clean Clothes Campaign supports the AFW's demands.
