A recent report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – A methodology to estimate the needs of workers and their families for the purpose of wage setting, including living wages – has provided added impetus to the work of Banana Link and partners in promoting Living Wages in export banana production.
The report outlines the ILO’s methodology for estimating the needs of workers and their families to support evidence-based wage setting, including living wages. It provides practical guidance for using household income and expenditure surveys and economic data to inform social dialogue, in line with ILO principles adopted in February 2024.
The objective of the methodology is to strengthen the capacity of governments, employers’, and workers’ organisations to use data on the needs of workers and their families, along with economic factors, to engage in evidence-based social dialogue for wage setting.
“We live in a world in which inequalities remain enormous, social cohesion is under pressure, and where millions of workers are unable to afford a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. In this context, it is more important than ever that we take action to ensure that every worker earns a living wage so they and their families can lead a decent life,” – ILO Director-General Houngbo.
The programme will also seek to strengthen wage-setting institutions, particularly collective bargaining, and minimum wage systems, and identify root causes of low pay. To help this, the ILO will set up a “wage data hub,” supporting evidence-based wage-setting processes in ILO Member States.
The programme is also supported by the ILO’s online training tool on living wages designed to help users learn about living wages and the ILO principles of wage-setting processes.
The ILO programme adds impetus to existing work by industry stakeholders, including Banana Link, to address Living Wages for plantation workers in Latin America and West Africa.
European retailers commit to Living Wages in their supply chains
European retailers from the Netherlands, Belgium, UK, and Germany have stated their commitment to working together to implement Living Wages in their banana supply chains through an initiative known as Better Together, in which the retailers have put competition to the side to look for sustainable solutions.
A 2024 joint statement by the retailers recognises the complexity of living wage implementation and the importance of working together, both as a retailer group and with suppliers through long-term contracts and responsible purchasing practices. “Collective bargaining is the most sustainable approach to wage improvement, balancing worker rights and economic interests” reads the statement, while acknowledging that this is a process that can take time, and in some contexts requires “structural changes in the enabling environment for effective social dialogue”.
The retailers’ aim is to collaborate with producers, trade unions, and other stakeholders to close the Living Wage gap for workers in their banana supply chains by 2030 at the latest.
Bridging the Living Wage gap in Côte d’Ivoire
A recent report by the Dutch development agency IDH – Bridging the living wage gap in the banana sector: a collaborative approach – highlights how companies and industry coalitions are successfully turning their commitments on living wages in the banana sector into making a difference.
This included a three year programme of work led by Banana Link in Côte d’Ivoire to reach a collective agreement on living wages for banana plantation workers by 2026. The resulting Roadmap for negotiating living wages in the banana industry of Côte d’Ivoire was signed in late 2024 by banana companies, workers unions, retailers, state actors and ILO under framework of Decent Work and Shared Responsibility.
IDH has recognised the importance of the establishment of effective partnerships among producers, unions, retailers, and international organisations fostering shared responsibility and mutual accountability, to the success of this work.
Supported by the African trade association AFRUIBANA, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), European retailers and the Ivorian government, the collective agreement will focus on decent working and living conditions and lead to a Living Wage for all banana workers.
This work has also created a replicable model for sustainable wage improvements across West Africa, and to inspire and stimulate replication of the approach across other regions in the banana industry and beyond.
Living Wage research in Ecuador
A 2024 Banana Link report – Wage and contractual conditions among banana workers on banana farms and plantations in the province of El Oro, Ecuador – on the findings of field research among banana plantation workers in Ecuador’s El Oro region found that most workers say their salary is inadequate to meet their family’s needs.
150 employees from the plantations were interviewed by Banana Link about pay and working conditions. The study found that almost a third of the workers interviewed reported earning less than USD 21 per day, 10% of them earning less than USD 16 per day, with 83% of the respondents saying their salary is not enough to cover their family’s needs.
Additionally, most of the workers interviewed (71%) do not know that there is a minimum wage in Ecuador and 58% do not know what the term “Living Wage” means. More than half indicated that they do not have a contract or do not know if they have one, while more than half of those who do have a contract do not know the terms.
The research – funded by the German Retailer Group on Living Incomes and Living Wages and the German Development Agency (GIZ) was designed to provide reliable and up-to-date information on the wages and contractual conditions of banana workers to serve as a baseline for assessing future developments.
ALDI pilots worker-led Living Wage verification on its banana farms
Banana Link partnered with ALDI South Group and ALDI Nord in 2022 to undertake the first pilot to explore the role that trade unions can take in the verification of living wage data. With independent mediation from Heartwood LLC and the participation of Dole, Grupo Iren and Banafem, this was the first project of its kind to be undertaken in the banana industry.
Verification of the data from three farms that supply ALDI South Group directly was led by independent trade unions, where they were active, and where they were not, by farm worker groups and Fairtrade worker committees.
In its report on the process, ALDI South Group recognised the importance of developing trust and dialogue between partners in order for open, transparent and accurate wage data verification:
“… by establishing dialogue, collaboration and building trust among all the relevant stakeholders, farms were more open to share sensitive information. This enabled more accurate wage calculations as well as an effective verification mechanism. This process worked most effectively when an independent trade union was present and involved” – ALDI
The findings from the process showed that this model of worker-led Living Wage data verification can provide important contextual information that added value to the process of wage verification. For example, where trade unions provided the wage data verification, they were able to point out annual fluctuations in pay that is behind the average wage data.
The results also showed that transparent dialogue on related topics was achieved, in a way that remote checks or audits would not normally produce. Worker-led living wage verification is not only able to provide important qualitative information to situate the quantitative, but also, by engaging workers and farm management in a mediated process with a clear outcome, it strengthens the capacity for further dialogue between workers and employers on issues of mutual interest.
“Banana Link welcomes the role of the ILO in the global push for living wages. We support their approach to living wage calculation which is founded on a commitment to local contexts, actors and processes, on transparency and evidence-based methodology, and on strengthening social dialogue and collective bargaining. We hope that this approach can lead to positive changes for agricultural plantation workers globally. Living wages are the cornerstone of a decent life for workers and Banana Link is ready to work together to achieve this with all other actors in the supply chain.” – Banana Link Project Coordinator, Holly Woodward Davey
