“Netherlands roundup: Managers back textile industry fair pay initiative” – IPE – September 28, 2018

On September 28, 2018 IPE reported that “(e)ight Dutch institutional investors, with combined assets of €725bn, have launched a platform campaigning for fair wages in the textile sector in the developing world.

The investors – including asset managers MN, Kempen, Achmea IM, NN IP and Robeco – have also targeted banning child labour and excessive overtime.

The Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF) initiative demanded that textile manufacturers increase the salaries of staff in clothing factories to a ‘living wage’.

‘As shareholders, we can make the difference,” said Karlijn van Lierop, head of sustainability at MN. “International organisations and [non-governmental organisations] have been advocating fair pay in the sector for years, but most multinationals pay labourers in poor countries the minimum wage, which is often much lower.’”

You can read the article on the IPE internet site.