Report of the European Conference on Living Wages, 25 and 26 November 2013, Berlin

February 2014

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Executive Summary

On 25 and 26 November 2013 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the German Round
Table on Codes of Conduct hosted the first European Conference on Living Wages in International
Supply Chains. Over 200 international participants from all stakeholder groups – business, trade
unions, government and civil society – attended the conference. The programme featured high-level
speakers from Germany and the Netherlands, the European Commission, the ILO, the OECD, the
EU, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters
Association (BGMEA) and companies (e.g. Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)). In break-out sessions,
trade unions, multi-stakeholder initiatives, non-governmental organisations and research institutions
facilitated workshops. A number of delegates from Bangladesh, India and Indonesia provided input
from producing countries.

The outcomes of the conference were a Declaration of Intent and an Action Plan. The Declaration
was supported by the majority of conference participants, showing their commitment to work
towards living wages in international supply chains. The text had been communicated to all
participants prior to the conference, and was adapted slightly during the conference. The Action
Plan provides recommendations to all stakeholder groups in addressing the challenges of working
towards living wages for workers in international supply chains. The Action Plan was the result of a
multi-stakeholder consultation process that culminated in the European Conference on Living
Wages. This process contained multi-stakeholder discussion meetings in Berlin (June 2013) and
The Hague (September 2013), and feedback was provided through written consultations and the
online stakeholder forum on the conference website in September and October 2013. The Action
Plan was refined further in focus group discussions during the conference.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Dutch
consultancy firm Berenschot were in charge of the conference logistics and content, and the multi-
stakeholder discussions that took place prior to and during the conference.

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Background
A living wage is a wage that meets the basic needs of workers and their families, including food,
housing, clothing and other expenses, such as education and health care, and provides some
discretionary income. Even though legal minimum wages exist in many developing countries, they
often fail to cover basic needs. A living wage is internationally considered as a human right. The
United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises (2011) and various declarations and conventions of the International
Labour Organization (ILO) recognise the need for workers to receive ‘fair wages and equal
remuneration’ (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). The UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational
Enterprises (2011) state that business enterprises have the responsibility to respect human rights in
countries where they operate. This responsibility applies to their own activities, as well as to their
business relationships in the supply chain. A living wage is thus a part of corporate social
responsibility and responsible supply chain management.

First Day of the Conference – 25th November

Words of Welcome
Dirk Niebel, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and Lilianne
Ploumen, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation opened the
conference.

In his welcome words, Mr Niebel set the concept of a living wage in its historic context, stressing
the human rights aspect of living wages. He emphasised that human rights are a main driver and
guiding principle of German development cooperation. Advocating a holistic approach, he
described the common goal of the German government, the private sector and the civil society as
being ‘to deliver social standards in global supply chains’. He stressed the importance of multi-
stakeholder processes as ‘crucial when it comes to solving complex challenges.’ On this note, he
underscored the importance of economic development for sustainable development and made clear
that the two must go hand in hand. Enterprises practising corporate social responsibility (CSR),
operating in a context where strong governments enforce laws, have significant leverage in terms of
job creation and thus can contribute to ensuring a living wage. German development cooperation
has therefore entered into more than 1,000 partnerships with the private sector since 2009.
However, the German Government goes beyond supporting business activity, and considers that an
active civil society and functioning trade unions are crucial in order to ‘make living wage a living
reality’, as he stated at the end of his speech.

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In her opening remarks Ms Ploumen referred to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises as the normative framework for living wages. With
references to Plato, Aristotle, Pope Leo XIII and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Minister demonstrated
that ‘the idea that wages should pay for the basic needs of workers and their families has a very
long history and a very mixed group of supporters.’ She emphasised the fact that the fight for better
wages is not over yet: the global race to the bottom threatens labour rights. However, she conceded
that ‘there has been a major change in attitude among the more reputable part of the business
community in the past few decades. Corporate social responsibility is growing strongly.’ As regards
the role of civil society, Ms Ploumen noted that ‘strong unions are needed to protect workers’ rights
and demand decent wages.’ Ms Ploumen expressed the need for competition to be based more on
the quality of work, including better working conditions and higher wages. Living wages are a key
aspect of this. She found the recent announcement of an increased minimum wage in Bangladesh –
to EUR 50 a month – promising. However more remains to be done. Research undertaken by Dutch
policy research bureau Berenschot, in cooperation with the Bangladeshi Centre for Policy Dialogue,
shows that a living minimum wage should be EUR 62 at least. This should be the long-term goal,
said Ms Ploumen.

Aims of the Conference

John Morrison, Executive Director of the Institute for Business and Human Rights, who moderated
the conference, stated the conference aims:
 initiating a joint process and building an international coalition of committed stakeholders to
create leverage;
 increasing political commitment by involving higher political representatives in the
coalition;
 providing opportunities for peer and cross-sectoral learning, and engaging in follow-up
activities.
There is pan-European momentum, he said on behalf of the organisers, to discuss living wages.
This conference is an important step in supporting the establishment of an international coalition
that actively implements living wages for workers in international supply chains.

Panel Discussion: Importance of Social Dialogue and Responsible Sourcing

Manuela Tomei, Director of the Work Quality Department of the ILO reminded the audience that
the question of a living wage is not new within the organisation. For decades, the ILO’s aim has
been to have freedom of association and collective bargaining incorporated into institutionalised
law and minimum wages that cover the basic needs of workers and their families. Social dialogue

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through collective bargaining is a key element and the question of a living wage is not a substitute
for this. However, the concept of collective bargaining does support minimum wage setting as it
defines the basic standards of living. This is needed because minimum wages are often still poverty
wages.

Mohammad Atiqul Islam, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures & Exporters
Association (BGMEA) indicated in the panel discussion that the garment industry has been a key
factor in the alleviation of poverty in Bangladesh. The sector is vital for the country’s economic
success and accounts for 79% of foreign exchange earnings. 10% of GDP and 20 million jobs are
directly or indirectly linked to the sector. The workers are the living foundation of this sector, he
said. Working conditions have improved over the years and since 1984 the minimum wage has
increased in ever shorter time periods. However, apparel prices are decreasing whilst the demand
for high quality apparel delivered quickly and cheaply continues to be high. The BGMEA President
stated that buyers also have to take responsibility in helping manufacturers to pay fair wages.

A ‘claim to the buyers’ was echoed by Ashim Roy of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) in the
panel. Since product prices have fallen and the pressure to pay decent wages has increased, it is not
sure that the suppliers have the capacity to strike a balance. Manufacturers in Asia should demand
living wages from buyers and need not be afraid to lose a competitive advantage. All over the Asian
region, wages have risen with little to no negative effect on international trade and investment, as
wages are not the only factor in price setting. The AFWA has offered an operational framework for
living wages since it was first set up in 2009. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) conversion factors are
used to make wages comparable all over the region.

Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct,
reminded the audience that the living wage definition (a wage that is ‘at least adequate to satisfy the
basic needs of the workers and their families’) is included in the revised OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises of 2011. These guidelines refer not only to direct investments but also to
supply chain management. The Guidelines are soft law with hard consequences, since they are
backed by a grievance mechanism, the National Contact Points. Multinational enterprises,
following the Guidelines, must identify, mitigate and prevent negative impacts on human rights –
including a living wage. Due diligence must be more robust in high risk areas and industries, such
as the wage issue for the garment sector. There are risks in purchasing policies when prices are low
and aggressive purchasing practices make it very likely that labour and human rights will be
violated.

In the discussion that followed the panel discussion, audience members highlighted the following
issues:

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  Due to the existence of several approaches/methodologies to calculate living wages, there is
concern that efforts may prove too diffuse. The question was raised as to whether the ILO
sees its role as one of leadership: bringing together different approaches and coordinating
them on an international level. The ILO responded that it provides technical assistance and
advice and feeds and monitors the debate. The ILO welcomes the living wage concept, but
does not see it as a substitute for collective bargaining.
 The oft-heard argument that higher wages must go hand in hand with increased worker
productivity is both valid and significant. However, wage increases have generally lagged
behind productivity development in many countries.
 Globally accepted criteria for living wages still have to be worked out. A collective
bargaining agreement on living wages would be considered as the gold standard.
 The OECD explained due diligence in more detail. The risk management system comprises
identifying and prioritising risks and finding ways to prevent and mitigate the risk that
suppliers do not pay living wages. It is important to use leverage to have suppliers pay
living wages. If you have no leverage, increase your leverage (e.g. through an MSI).
Disengagement must be the last resort.

Keynote Speech: H&M’s Living Wage Roadmap

Living wages are a shared responsibility, Helena Helmersson, Head of Sustainability at H&M, said.
All the discussions over the years have actually led to results. Real wages have increased in many
countries, textile workers in most cases earn more than the minimum wage. The context is
important – generally wages are low in other industries and the public sector in developing
countries. This has to be taken into account. H&M stated that it firmly believed that wages should
cover basic needs and agreed that a living wage is a human right. H&M does not want to impose
wage levels, but to support the process of a fair social dialogue in sourcing countries.

For the first time, H&M presented its ‘Roadmap towards a fair living wage in the textile industry’:
1. By 2014, H&M will develop a Purchasing Practices Roadmap addressing an improved price
method to enable its suppliers to pay the true cost of labour and improved purchasing plans
to reduce suppliers’ production peaks.
2. By 2018, all H&M strategic suppliers should have well-functioning pay structures
implemented. By 2014, the Fair Wage Method will be implemented in 3 model factories (2
in Bangladesh, 1 in Cambodia) and the outcomes will be evaluated.
3. H&M will continue to play an advocacy role vis-à-vis governments and the public on living
wages.
4. As regards factory employees, H&M wants to help empower workers to negotiate their own
rights. In the area of industrial relations, in 2013 H&M launched an Industrial Relations

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 project in Cambodia and by 2014 the company intends to expand its Social Dialogue project
in Bangladesh to 15% of H&M suppliers, with the aim of reaching 100% by 2018.

A member of the audience asked H&M how increasing wages would affect prices and whether
paying living wages would be profitable. H&M answered that it is unclear how this will develop.
By 2015, a pricing method will be in place, but any advice on this was welcome.

Words from the Host Governments

The German government explained in more detail how the process towards this conference evolved.
In recent years, the (German) Round Table on Codes of Conduct has been discussing living wages
and emphasising the importance of social dialogue and collective bargaining. It became clear in the
course of these discussions that a coalition of the willing was needed to move the living wage
debate forward and also that politicians had be more involved. For this reason the German
government was proud to host this conference as a contribution to launching international
cooperation on this important subject.

For the Dutch government it was also clear that the living wage debate should be discussed on a
more international level to include as many stakeholders as possible. This also means listening to
the voices of the South, the producing countries. This conference is focused on the European region
and on the industrial sectors in Asia. With the action plan, a living document, the discussion on
living wages in a multi-stakeholder setting has already been set in motion.

Both governments believe in joint action to address wages in international supply chains.

Workshops
Eight workshops were facilitated by organisations working on realising living wages in
international supply chains:

1. Living wage engineering: early work on factory and brand costing, retail pricing and fair
distribution of increases to workers
Erica van Doorn (Fair Wear Foundation) Anne Lally (Fair Wear Foundation), Per Bondevik
(Ethical Trading Initiative Norway), Doug Miller (Northumbria University, UK)
2. WageIndicator Foundation:Calculating living wages and publishing labour market
information.
Martin Guzi and Paulien Osse (WageIndicator Foundation)
3. Standards Organisations’ Cooperation on Living Wages

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 Wilbert Flinterman (Fairtrade Labelling Organisation) and Edwin Koster (Social
Accountability International)
4. How to optimise unions’ struggle for wage increase - lessons learned from Indonesia
Jenny Holdcroft (IndustriALL), Sabda Pranawa Djati, (ASPEK), Obon Tabroni (Federation
of Indonesian Metal Workers' Union (FSPMI))
5. Big picture thinking and practical realities
Clare Lissaman (Ethical Fashion Forum) and Stefan Niethammer (3Freunde)
6. Estimating a minimum living wage in the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh
Dr K.G. Moazzem (Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh), Doug Miller (Northumbria
University, UK) and Claudia Schlangen (Berenschot, Netherlands)
7. Partnerships to achieve living wages - their necessity, the messy reality and how to make
them work
Sarah Roberts (Ethical Tea Partnership) and Rachel Wilshaw (Oxfam UK)
8. Work to live or live to live - The business case for a living wage
Johannes Ritter (Solution Matrix)

The PowerPoint presentations from the workshops are available on the conference website.

Second Day of the Conference – 26th November

Panel Interview and Q&A with the Audience

The second day of the conference started with an interactive multi-stakeholder panel with
representatives from business, an NGO, a trade union, and a business association working on social
compliance.

Nazma Akter, General Secretary & Executive Director of the Awaj Foundation from Bangladesh,
drew attention to the gender aspect in the garment industry. The vast majority of workers are female
and operate in unsafe and unhealthy environments. They need to be empowered to stand up for their
rights. Consumers have a responsibility to know who is working behind the low prices. Brands
should do fair business, which means that purchasing departments must work together with CSR
departments to develop a coherent business approach.

Robin Cornelius, CEO of the Swiss clothing company Switcher brought a further gender element
into the discussion. According to Mr Cornelius, business was male-driven and therefore fear-based
and competitive. We needed a more cooperative business culture. Switcher mentioned that it was
bringing manufacturing back to Europe. There is not much difference in costs and youth
unemployment in Spain and Portugal is high. According to Switcher, the payment of living wages

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does not constitute a financial obstacle. We need only to increase the price of a T-shirt by EUR 3 to
double wages in Bangladesh. There is a general lack of understanding about living wages. Buyers
do not feel responsible for wages in sourcing countries, he said.

Lorenz Berzau, Managing Director of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) – uniting
over 1,300 companies around a common Code of Conduct in support of building ethical supply
chains – explained how living wages are reflected in BSCI’s work. He noted that the BSCI Code of
Conduct stipulates that supplier companies shall pay the minimum ‘legal wage’, which in many
countries is already a challenge. In addition to that, BSCI also encourages supplier companies to
provide their employees with a living wage and participates in the Fair Wage Network. A revised
Code of Conduct, which will be communicated in 2014, reflects the expectation that the entire
supply chain bears responsibility for better wage practices and highlights the principle of fair
remuneration which takes into consideration not only quantitative but also qualitative aspects, i.e.
the methods, timeliness and formal payment of wages, reflecting the skills and education of workers
in terms of wages, and the equal treatment of full-time employees, part-time, and piece-rate
workers. Mr Berzau stated that the payment of a living wage was a genuine possibility and not at all
utopian. Knowledge sharing is needed. Sharing good practices, such as a worker welfare fund in
Bangladesh, helps to take away the fear of buyers to act.

The minimum wage in Indonesia is not a living wage, said the Indonesian trade unionist Obon
Tabroni. It is based on a wage basket of items of poor quality. The real needs of the Indonesian
workers and their families need to be fulfilled. Fortunately, more workers are now aware of their
rights and are more vocal.

Action Plan on Living Wages

The host governments then explained the development of the Action Plan on Living Wages in
greater detail. A draft of the Action Plan was developed through multi-stakeholder processes in the
months prior to the conference. The multi-stakeholder process entailed discussion meetings in
Berlin (June 2013) and The Hague (September 2013), while feedback was provided through written
consultations and the online stakeholder forum at the Conference website in September and October
2013.

The purpose of the Action Plan is to create a common understanding of the way forward; to see
local activity as part of a wider strategy; and to stimulate the cooperation of the different
stakeholder groups in all action areas of the Action Plan.
It provides recommendations to all stakeholder groups based on five areas of action:

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 1. General support activities, whereby for example European governments hold living wage
roundtables in producing countries.
2. Actions on transparency, such as transparent payroll systems, the monitoring of prevailing
wages, collecting data on living wages and monitoring the gap between prevailing and
living wages.
3. Actions on freedom of association, such as ratifying ILO conventions and capacity building
training for local unions.
4. Actions on buyer and supplier practices, such as sustainable public procurement, building
long term relationships and teaming up with other buyers to create leverage.
5. Actions on political commitment, such as promoting legal environments and engaging other
EU governments in the living wage debate.

Daniel Vaughan Whitehead (ILO, co-founder of the Fair Wage Network, and Professor at Sciences
Po in Paris) described reaction to the Action Plan in detail. According to him, the Action Plan
process has been exemplary and clearly shows that all stakeholders, including governments, have a
role to play in the area of CSR and in enabling living wages. He suggested having governments
systematically calculate living wages so as to monitor the gaps between prevailing and living
wages. There has been a real wage increase in Asian countries, especially China, but average
growth is rather moderate.

He furthermore stated that investment in labour compared to capital is declining worldwide,

especially in emerging economies. Growth may be taking place, but the wage share is declining.
We are facing a global growth distribution problem. The problem is that for those at the bottom of
the wage scale, the situation is not improving but deteriorating. At the same time the percentage of
workers covered by collective bargaining is very low at an average of 20% (in many developing
countries this is as low as 10%).

He also highlighted that low wages are set in an unfavourable context. There is an institutional
deficit concerning minimum wage setting and enforcement, as well as a lack of collective
bargaining, a lack of labour inspection to control and monitor working conditions and problems of
pay systems that are often undermined by piece rate systems. These institutional deficits link low
wages to low productivity levels.

Mr Vaughan-Whitehead’s more general observations on the draft Action Plan included the need to:
 explore ways of placing producing countries in the best possible situation to be able to
pay living wages;
 identify more concrete proposals in the Action Plan (e.g. methodology is not discussed);

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  address the issue in a more comprehensive way, firstly in terms of legal demands (e.g. is
the minimum wage properly paid, is there a respect for bargaining etc.?) and then in
terms of the enterprise level required to capture productivity gains.

Furthermore, the Action Plan was discussed in subgroups by the conference participants. Three
questions guided the discussions:
 What is your reaction to the action plan, particularly with regard to your own stakeholder
group?
 How could you support others in their actions?
 What are your suggestions for additional actions for your stakeholder group?

Conclusion: Support for Declaration of Intent and Action Plan

The Action Plan was discussed intensely over the two days and received widespread support.
Achim Lohrie, Director Corporate Responsibility (Tchibo), for example, sees the Action Plan as a
starting point for follow-up action. The retailer called upon all executive directors of the multi-
stakeholder initiatives to join forces and work together to implement living wages.

A Declaration of Intent, providing a shared understanding of the living wage concept and its
importance, had been developed prior to the conference and the communicated to all participants in
advance. Some slight changes were made to the text during the conference, and at the end of the
conference there was a broad consensus on the Declaration of Intent from representatives of all
stakeholder groups. The Declaration stresses the joint responsibility of all stakeholders to work
towards realising living wages. The text of the Declaration can be downloaded from the conference
website. A group picture was taken with the conference participants to show symbolic support for
the declaration.

Follow-up
Support for these conference papers was reflected in the willingness by participants to engage in
follow-up activities. Three follow-up actions were discussed:

1. Follow-up approach on living wages in the industrial sector.

In this workshop GIZ/BMZ discussed ideas for a follow up approach with a broad group of
stakeholders.

The main points of discussion focused on the need to:

 Coordinate activities to foster living wages more systematically on an international
level and build on the joint action of brands and retailers;
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  Adopt a follow-up approach to include technical measures and political processes
(e.g. commitments on buying practices, strengthening of due diligence processes
(UN Guiding Principles, etc.);
 Combine the areas of freedom of association, collective bargaining and social
dialogue, and transparency measures;
 Build on the existing activities of MSI, brands/retailers, trade unions, etc. such as:
o ETI Project on Social Dialogue;
o Joint ETI project on transparency to collectively calculate adequate FOB
prices;
o Freedom of Association Protocol in Indonesia (as best practice for local
bargaining processes);
o Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh;
 Involve the following stakeholders: governments, trade unions (IndustriALL,
UniGlobal, local trade unions), brands and retailers, suppliers/loc. employers,
MSI’s, as well as workers and worker organisations.

The participants have not yet agreed on a country or sector (though the discussion focussed
strongly on the garment sector and Asia)

Next steps:
 A broader group of people from different stakeholder groups is committed to
working more closely with BMZ and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
further elaborate a follow approach;
 On behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, GIZ
will develop ideas based on the outcomes of the meeting and approach the group for
feedback, discussions and further input.

2. Multi-stakeholder cooperation on wages in the tea sector.

In this workshop, Sarah Roberts (Ethical Tea Partnership) presented initial ideas for a joint
action proposal, a public private partnership between GIZ, Oxfam and IDH to systematically
work on processes that strive for a living wage and living income in the tea sectors of
Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda. She also introduced the project partners. It was suggested that
the standards organisations Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified and the ISEAL
Alliance be included in the project, too, so that living wages/living income requirements
could be incorporated into sustainability standards in future. From group discussions and
comments during the plenary it became clear that conference participants were very
supportive of the project idea. Such a project would be innovative in the agricultural sector

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 and the lessons learned could potentially be transferred to other agricultural commodities
such as coffee and cocoa.

3. Standards and living wages/living income

As a result of this workshop, facilitated by Kristin Komives of the ISEAL Alliance, the
global association for sustainability standards – six certification organisations including
Fairtrade International, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), GoodWeave, Sustainable
Agriculture Network/Rainforest Alliance (SAN/RA), Social Accountability International
(SAI) and UTZ Certified announced that they will come together to promote a living wage
for workers around the world. The six organisations, which each run their own sustainability
certification programmes, will henceforth measure living wage levels collectively by adding
up the cost of a low-cost nutritious diet and decent housing, along with other essential needs
and unforeseen costs. They also shared their long-term vision of developing a database of
living wage benchmarks to drive social dialogue among workers and employers. The
initiative is still open for other interested parties to join.

EU Support for Living Wages

The German and Dutch host governments were pleased with the EU support for living wages
through the ILO Decent Work Agenda. In his closing remarks, Rudi Delarue, Deputy Head of Unit
for external relations and enlargement at the European Commission, DG Employment, Social
Affairs and Inclusion, agreed that global supply chain issues are now at the forefront and that
cooperation is needed to tackle them. Living wages, and more broadly the decent work agenda,
should be included in the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals, according to the EU.

Closing Speech: Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary, Germany

In her closing speech, Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Government,
described Germany’s approach to collective bargaining and freedom of association as being an
integral part of the country’s economic success. Social partnerships within producing countries with
partners negotiating on an equal footing are as important for social peace and prosperity as
stakeholders from industrialised countries who assume their responsibilities. Through innovative
forms of cooperation such as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, stakeholders
can support the process of delivering social standards in global supply chains jointly. Germany
therefore embraces such agreements in its bilateral development cooperation. Yet another important
lever is transparency: ‘Transparency helps to strengthen control mechanisms. Transparency makes
it possible to see what workers are paid. Transparency can create a level playing field,’ Ms Kopp
explained. Effective use of these three levers – social partnerships, innovative forms of stakeholder
cooperation and transparency – will bring about sustainable development in the long run.

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Further Information
More information on the topic and the conference (e.g. the conference programme, speakers,
workshops and the Action Plan and Declaration of Intent) can be found on the conference website:
http://www.coc-runder-tisch.de/index.php/en/european-conference-on-living-wages
More information on the topic of living wages can be found in various reports and newsletters
available on the Berenschot website: www.berenschot.com/livingwage

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Annex: Conference Programme

Sunday, 24 November
Guided tour of Berlin with a focus on the history of the ban of trade unions
15.00-18.00 in 1933, visit to historic sites
Bus shuttle: 14.50, in front of BMZ, bus shuttle to the restaurant after the tour
Informal dinner, Restaurant Max und Moritz (Oranienstraße 16, Berlin)
18.00-21.00
Bus shuttle to BMZ and neighbouring hotels: 21.00, outside the restaurant
Monday, 25 November
09.30-10.30 Coffee and Registration
Welcome by moderator John Morrison, Institute for Human Rights and
Business, London, speaking on the aims of the conference,
10.30-10.45
accompanied by a short film reflecting different perspectives on living wages
and the conference
Welcome speeches
o Dirk Niebel, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and
10.45-11.05 Development, Germany
o Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development
Cooperation, The Netherlands
Living Wages – views from local and global perspectives
Speeches and discussion round
o Manuela Tomei, Director of Work Quality Department, International
Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva
o Mohammad Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Garment
11.05-12.00 Manufactures & Exporters Association, Bangladesh
o Ashim Roy, Member of the International Steering Committee, Asia
Floor Wage Alliance, India
o Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair of OECD Working Party on Responsible
Business Conduct, Paris
Discussion with plenary
Keynote speech
12.00-12.15 Living wage - a shared responsibility
Helena Helmersson, Head of Sustainability, Hennes & Mauritz, Sweden

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 Consultation rounds and initiatives leading up to the European
Conference on Living Wages: why are we here today?
Presentation by
o Pascalle Grotenhuis, Head of Unit CSR and private sector
12.15-12.30 development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MinBuZa), The
Netherlands
o Daniela Zehentner-Capell, Head of Division, Division for
Globalization, Trade, Investment Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany
12.30-13.30 Lunch
Presentation of previous approaches/initiatives on living wages
13.30-15.30 (Parallel workshops of 60 minutes each, participants choose one workshop
per session, participants meet directly in the indicated rooms)
13.30-14.30 Session 1 (4 parallel workshops)
Garment sector Anne Lally, Consultant on Living Wages, Fair Wear Foundation, United
Kingdom:
Living wage engineering: early work on factory and brand costing, retail
pricing and fair distribution of increases to workers
Calculating a Martin Guzi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
living wage and Paulien Osse, Founder & Director, WageIndicator Foundation, The
Netherlands:
Calculating living wages and publishing labour market information
Commodities Wilbert Flinterman, Senior Advisor, Workers Rights and Trade Union
and Relations Fairtrade International, Germany and Edwin Koster, European
agricultural Representative, Social Accountability International (SAI), The Netherlands:
standards Sustainability standards and living wages. Cooperation, methodology and
organisations results of projects in South Africa and the Dominican Republic
Jenny Holdcroft, Policy Director, IndustriALL Global Union, Switzerland;
Electronics Sabda Pranawajati, General Secretary of ASPEK, Indonesia and Obon
sector Tabroni, Vice President, Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers' Union
(FSPMI):
How to optimize unions’ struggle for wage increase - lesson learned from
Indonesia
14.35-15.30 Session 2 (4 parallel workshops)
Garment sector Clare Lissaman, Board Director, Ethical Fashion Forum, United Kingdom and
Stefan Niethammer, Founder and CEO, 3Freunde, Germany:
Big Picture Thinking and Practical Realities
Calculating a Doug Miller, Emeritus Professor, Northumbria University, United Kingdom,
living wage Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Research Director , Centre for
Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh and Claudia Schlangen, Consultant, Berenschot

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 International, The Netherlands:
Estimating a minimum living wage in the RMG Sector in Bangladesh
Commodities Sarah Roberts, Executive Director, Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), United
and Kingdom and Rachel Wilshaw, Ethical Trade Manager, Oxfam, United
agricultural Kingdom:
standards Living wages in the tea sector, gaining an understanding from a four-country
organisations study
Garment sector Johannes Ritter, Partner, Solution Matrix, Germany:
Work to live or live to live - The Business Case for a living wage
15.30-16.00 Coffee
Presentation of Draft Action Plan on living wages
o Presentation of the Draft Action Plan by Jos Huber, Policy Advisor,
MinBuZa, The Netherlands and Verena Wiesner, Desk Officer,
Division for Trade, Globalization and Investment, BMZ, Germany
16.00-16.45 o Global perspective and the Draft Action Plan by Daniel Vaughan-
Whitehead, Senior Economist, ILO, Geneva
o Reactions to Draft Action Plan and Q&A in plenary, with Daniel
Vaughan- Whitehead, Senior Economist, ILO, Geneva and Doug
Miller, Emeritus Professor, Northumbria University, United Kingdom
Four parallel discussion groups (according to areas of action from Draft
Action Plan), Please choose among:
o Transparency with regard to wages
o Freedom of association & collective bargaining
16.45-18.00
o Practices of buyers & suppliers
o Political commitment
(Each group will discuss in a workshop room and has a chosen rapporteur
that presents results in plenary)
18.00-18.30 Presentation of first results of discussion groups in plenary and closing
18.45 Walk from ministry to evening reception (10 minutes)
Dinner reception at the GIZ Representation (Reichpietschufer 20, 10785
Berlin)
19.00-22.00 o Welcome by Klaus Brückner, Director of the GIZ Representation
Berlin
o Cultural programme, “Nativa Brasilia Band”
Tuesday, 26 November
Welcome, recap of first day (including workshops) and start into second
day,
09.00-09.20
including interview with Nazma Akter, General Secretary & Executive
Director Awaj Foundation, Bangladesh
Introductory speeches and interview, followed by Q&A
09.20-10.00 o Interview, Robin Cornelius, CEO of the Swiss textile company
Switcher

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 o Speech, Lorenz Berzau, Managing Director of Business Social
Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Belgium: Fair renumeration in BSCI’s
Code of Conduct and key success factors for action
o Speech, Obon Tabroni, Vice President of the Federation of Indonesian
Metal Workers’ Union (FSPMI): The union struggle for wage increase
in Indonesia and its impacts
o Q&A with plenary
Presentation of discussion results on the Draft Action Plan on living
10.00-10.30 wages
by the rapporteurs of the working groups
Presentation of a Declaration of Intent on living wages and group picture
10.30-11.00
by Uta Böllhoff, Head of Department (BMZ) and Jos Huber (MinBuZa)
11.00-11.30 Coffee
Starting with action I (in plenary)
Presentation of inspiring follow-up approaches
Group 1: BMZ: developing a follow-up approach to foster living wages in the
industrial sector
11.30-12.10 Group 2: Ethical Tea Partnership: success factors and challenges of multi-
stakeholder cooperation on wages in the tea sector
Group 3: ISEAL and standard organisations: living wages in standards
Group 4: Space for open discussion: creating new living wage alliances by
exchanging demand and supply of different organisations
12.10-13.10 Lunch
Starting with action II (in groups)
Interactive parallel sessions with representatives on the activities presented
previously
Group 1: Follow-up approach on living wages in the industrial sector
13.10-14.40
Group 2: Living income in the tea sector
Group 3: Standards and living wages/living income
Group 4: Moderated discussion on alternative projects
(Please meet in the indicated workshop rooms)
Starting with action III (in plenary)
Recap and outlook
14.45-15.30 o Results of group discussions on follow-up activities
o Upcoming related events
o Further outlook and perspectives
Closing ceremony of the conference
o Rudi Delarue, Deputy Head of Unit DG Employment, Social Affairs
15.30-16.00 & Inclusion, European Commission, Brussels
o Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany

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