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SECTION 1 2 3 WHAT CAN BE DONE The median income of a UK supermarket CEO – in whose shops Kenyan flowers are sold – more than quadrupled from £1m to over £4.2m between 1999 and 2010. 332 If executive reward can be factored into business models, why not a living wage for the workers on whom their reward depends Women are on a lower road than men for work and wages. In Honduras, for example, women predominate in sectors where labour law is unenforced and there is no social security. They earn less than men, despite working longer hours. The average woman’s wage covers only a quarter of the cost of a basic food basket in rural areas. Their economic dependence on their partners, coupled with the discrimination they face in wider society, can also lock them into abusive relationships in the home, as well as harassment in the workplace. CASE STUDY POVERTY WAGES IN THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD Detroit, Michigan (2008). Photo: Panos/Christian Burkert Low wages and insecure work is not a story confined to developing countries. Three of the six most common occupations in the USA – cashiers, food preparers and waiters/waitresses – pay poverty wages. The average age of these workers is 35 and many support families. Forty-three percent have some college education, and many hold a four-year degree. 333 In a recent survey, half of those questioned told Oxfam that they had had to borrow money to survive, while only a quarter receive sick leave, paid holidays, health insurance or a pension. They live in one of the richest countries in the world, but carry a burden similar to that of workers in the poorest of countries. 76
SECTION 1 2 3 WHAT CAN BE DONE (CASE STUDY CONTINUED) Dwayne works in a fast food restaurant in Chicago. His wages have to provide for two daughters, as well as his siblings, his mother and his grandmother. ‘I’m the sole provider of the household and can’t manage with an $8.25/hour wage ... given how hard we are worked, fast food workers deserve to show something for it.’ 334 The rise in inequality in the USA has happened in parallel with the decline in the real value of the minimum wage and the decline in union membership. 335 The incomes of the bottom 90 percent of workers have barely risen, while the average income of the top one percent has soared. 336 The erosion of bargaining power Unions represent an important counterweight to top executives and shareholders whose imperative is largely to maximize profit. Their negotiating power helps ensure prosperity is shared; collective bargaining by unions typically raises members’ wages by 20 percent and drives up market wages for everyone. 337 Trade unions also play a crucial role in protecting public services. In South Korea, for instance, public sector health unions held a strike and protest rallies in June 2014 after the government announced deregulation and privatization of health services. Many developing countries lack a history of strong unions, and in many places workers are facing a crackdown on their right to organize, which has contributed to falling union membership. In Bangladesh’s garment industry, where 80 percent of workers are women, union membership stands at one in 12. 338 According to an analysis of the Rana Plaza disaster, Bangladesh factory owners have ‘outsize influence in the country’s politics, hindering the establishment and enforcement of labour law’. 339 In South Korea, public sector workers face deregistration of unions, unlawful arrests and anti-strike action. In 2014, Yeom Ho-seok, a Korean employee of a company making repairs to Samsung phones and founder of the Samsung Service Union, committed suicide following a period of financial hardship. After founding the Samsung Service Union, Yeom’s work was reported to have been reduced by his employer; his take home wage fell to just $400 a month. 340 The right to organize has been enshrined in ILO conventions, but since 2012 the official group representing employers (the Employers Group) has contended that this does not include the right to strike. In 2014 this conflict was referred to the ILO’s governing body. Striking is the last resort of workers to bargain with their employees for a fair deal, and revoking it would be a huge blow to workers’ rights. 77
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