We recognize that freedom of association, collective bargaining and overall social dialogue at the workplace is key in order for wages to improve towards a living wage and beyond.

Local organisations (including trade unions, governments and/or NGO’s) that calculate living wage benchmarks can apply to get IDH recognized if they meet the criteria.

 

 

 

We advise for an active participation of unions/workers representatives when companies fill and submit the Salary Matrix

We advice for HR to fill the Salary Matrix and to share with unions/worker representatives for them to check the aggregated results.

Local unions/workers representatives should be informed on how a living wage benchmark is chosen as input on the Salary Matrix.

 

As included in the ‘’Guidelines for verifying wages and living wage gaps’’, an active participation of unions/workers representatives is recommended during the Salary Matrix verification, including the verification of the in-kind benefits added into the Salary Matrix.

 

Unions/workers representatives should be involved in the discussions to improve wages

We recommend that companies consider including projects that actively enhance social dialogue across their living wage work.

The living wage work should not limit local bargaining power or CBAs. Union org. could use the Salary Matrix in their toolkits to support unions

 

Union organizations will be one of the targeted audiences to share learnings with.

If you need assistance for connecting with union organizations in the countries where you operate or source from, please contact the following members of the Stakeholders Committee of the Roadmap on Living Wages

  • Alistair Smith

    International Coordinator & Director

    Banana Link

  • Isabelle de Lijser

    Living Wage Expert & Programme Officer Asia

    CNV Internationaal

  • René Kouwenhoven

    Trade Union Official International Affairs

    FNV

Recommended reading

Respecting Trade Union Rights in Global Value Chains: Practical Approaches for Businesses

Mondiaal FNV & Shift, 2019

“Businesses today recognize both the business and social imperative of respecting human rights throughout their global value chains. This includes the expectation that they respect core labour rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining […] Yet, when it comes to taking action, many companies still struggle to identify and implement meaningful action to address identified risks to trade union rights in their global value chains.”

See complete publication here.