Retailer groups from four European countries have publicly recognized the vital role of workers’ unions in enhancing wage and working conditions on farms and plantations in their supply chains. The group, including European giants Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Ahold Delhaize, and UK’s Sainsbury’s, emphasized the significance of collective bargaining in achieving wage improvement.
The statement also highlights the necessity of responsible purchasing practices among buyers to allow producing companies to close living wage gaps. These include ensuring fair price for producers, contracts beneficial for both buyers and producers, and a commitment to partnering with producers to close gaps.
The retailers have opted to proceed with a single living wage assessment tool – the IDH Salary Matrix, aiming to collaborate with voluntary sustainability standards to verify wage data.
However, Sainsbury’s announcement to pay the Fairtrade Living Wage Reference Price to close living wage gaps in their banana supply chains seems to contradict the joint retailer statement’s aims of collaborating with trade unions for lasting wage improvements for workers.
Banana Link’s International Coordinator, Alistair Smith, commented: "Although we welcome the move to invest additional resources in workers’ wages and sign longer-term contracts with producers, Banana Link is not convinced of the sustainability of Sainsbury’s chosen means of transferring extra value to workers. Rather than transfer extra money as a ‘windfall’ premium to the workers’ committees in producing countries, the company could have chosen to dedicate funds to collective bargaining which would ensure that higher wages are enshrined for good."
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Source: bananalink.org.uk