An Oxfam Briefing Paper – Paid up? Living wage efforts in banana supply chains of Dutch and German supermarkets – published this week, takes a hard look at the progress made by Dutch and German supermarkets in working towards Living Wages in their banana supply chains.
The report finds that almost all supermarkets investigated have started implementing timebound targets to close living wage gaps in their own-brand banana supply chains.
In the Netherlands, supermarkets have committed to reduce this gap by at least 75% by 2025. In Germany, major supermarkets have pledged to source at least 50% of their bananas as “Living Wage Bananas” by the end of 2025. Yet, despite these commitments, the efforts show a gap between promises and reality.
For substantial and long-lasting wage increases, all supermarkets buying bananas
need to undertake effective efforts to close the living wage gap. These include paying higher prices and participating in respective sectoral initiatives, where trade unions need to be involved meaningfully.
The report also recognises the contribution of Banana Link in thought leadership on the role of social dialogue and importance of trade unions to the process, and research we have undertaken to identify Living Wages gaps in Ecuador and Costa Rica.
Among Oxfam’s recommendations are:
- Work on the implementation of Living Wages in coordinated collaboration rather than through unilateral action;
- Assess and verify living wage and gender pay gaps in a participatory manner with rights-holder involvement, and jointly develop action plans to address all the issues raised by rights-holders;
- Adopt responsible purchasing practices that include, but are not limited to, higher prices, fair payment terms, stable business relationships and multi-year contracts;
- Negotiate and sign legally binding agreements with trade unions that require payment of higher prices to suppliers allowing producers to pay living wages to
the workers; - Engage in strategic dialogue with public authorities, producers and trade unions to work towards collective bargaining agreements and higher minimum wages;
- Communicate transparently about living wage gaps, amounts paid and the effectiveness of measures taken;
- Strengthen gender responsive approaches to living wages by systematically tracking and disclosing gender pay gaps. Develop and implement action plans to close them;
- Take effective measures for the protection of rights holders and human rights defenders and ensure the protection of complainants; and
- Move beyond living wages towards living income for smallholder farmers and agroecological production.
