What Is A Living Wage For Jewelry Production?
One of the difficulties in “fair trade” standards is the issue of, what is a “living wage?” Does a government’s standard of minimum wage constitute “fair wages” in a “fair trade” certification? How do those judging determine, objectively, what a “fair wage” is? In the “fair trade” movement this issue is considered primarily for the poor in the developing world, but it is also relevant to US wages.
My main supplier in Indonesia, who I claim on my website works in the spirit of “fair trade,” starts his employees with minimum wage in Indonesia. One of the questions I asked him is: Can someone in Bali survive on the minimum wage?* *To see his response, you’ll have to go to this item on my website
http://www.celticjewelry.com/item.php?co=BB433-G and click on the ‘FRE’ tab.
Perhaps what is fair and what is not fair is best decided by the purchaser of an item, rather than an organization which labels something as “fair.” At present, with fair trade coffee, for example, we rely on third party certification to determine “fair.” As much as fair trade has helped coffee producers, what is fair trade is not always what is best for the producer. My brother in law owns a coffee roasting company and he pays his suppliers well above the “fair trade” certified coffee producer prices without getting the “fair trade” halo effect.
I advocate dispensing with labels and going directly to studies posted on line about a particular company. In this scenario, the third party certification organization would a ‘transparency organization’ rather than a labeling organization. For example, I go to a factory in India with a checklist and video camera and I post all my results online, which can be hot linked by the purchasing agents who deal with that company. It will take a while for such a system to be put in place. Until we have such agencies, any company can choose to be transparent and honest, as I have with the factory I work with. I have created the FRE system as an open source system to handle this type of situation.
Closer to home, where I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, our city council just recently and unanimously agreed that the Federal minimum is not a fair wage. With strong citizen support, we now have the highest minimum wage in the US: $9.50 an hour.
Previously, Santa Fe had a higher minimum wage than the rest of the country, but it applied only for businesses that had over 25 people.
There was widespread opposition to this higher minimum wage, particularly by the hospitality industry, but over time studies showed that the higher minimum wage did not adversely effect our local economy.
Now, this minimum wage, which is tied to inflation, is in effect for all businesses. Even students and the disabled are entitled to this minimum wage.
From my point of view, a $9.50 an hour wage is still far to low, but it is a good first step. (You can check out my companies’ policies on wages and benefits on our website in the FRE category.) I applaud the work of our “Living Wage Network” and proud to be in a city which is leading the nation in bringing economic justice to workers who no longer have to be “working poor.”
Below is a link to our local newspapers.
Applause Greets Wage Law Change
From The Albuquerque Journal
