2014 REPORT

Can you earn

a living wage in
fashion in Italy?

1
 Contents
Introduction 3 The typical situation in Campania 35

Methodological note for field interviews 5 Some conclusions 36

Acknowledgements 5 The living wage threshold according to Istat 37

The living wage as a worldwide need 7 Benchmark items 37

The working poor 7 Food basket 37

Insulting minimum wages 8 Housing 39

The living wage: the Asian experience 9 Other items 40

Work in the Italian fashion industry 11 Conclusions and recommendations 42

A changing sector 11

Veneto, Tuscany and Campania regions

under review 12

Main conditions encountered

in the areas under review 14

Chinese businesses 19
A parallel district 19

Subcontractors for all 20

Speed, at the expense of workers 21

Wages and contracts 23

A host of contracts, a host of contractual levels 23

Company bargaining 26

Less favourable employment contracts 26

The actual wage situation 28

Wages broken down by firm and job 28

Focus on Veneto 30

Focus on Tuscany 31

Focus on Campania 32

The extent of off-book payments 33

Some final considerations 33

A living wage: from the workers’point of view 34

Low wages for expensive goods 34

One case study from Veneto 34

2 Case studies from Tuscany 35

 The death toll was 1,138, with a total of 2,500 injured, and
Introduction the victims were mostly young women aged from 17 to
20.

With the knowledge that, in this age of globalisation,

One of the winners of the Nobel peace prize in 2014 big-brand companies are moving from one part of the
was Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian who has campaigned planet to another seeking ever-lower labour costs, trade
for decades against child labour, and indeed against union organisations and associations defending some
slavery. Despite their outrage, many people might view Asian countries decided in 2007 to work together and
this phenomenon as one specific to India, but Satyarthi set up a common platform for minimum wages, to be
has always maintained that child labour is a scourge that applied in every country as a means of putting a stop
affects us all, as many of these children are abducted and to the downward spiral in working conditions. After
forced to make carpets that are then exported to markets many months’ work, the coalition, which had adopted
in Europe and the United States. the name Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), defined a
number of common criteria for a living wage that could
What’s more, Flawed Fabrics, a report produced by be imposed on all firms as a mandatory ‘firewall’.
Dutch NGOs Somo and ICN, published on 28 October
2014, shows that working conditions in export-oriented One of the member association of AFWA is the Clean
textile factories in Tamil Nadu essentially represent a Clothes Campaign, a global organisation protecting
state of forced labour. Women employed in spinning workers’ rights in the garment industry, that has been
and weaving, some just 15 years old, are taken from involved in the initiative right from the outset. And while,
Dalit communities in the poorest areas of the region and initially, the battle appeared to be concerned basically
forced to work long hours for a mere pittance. They live in with newly industrialised countries, we are now seeing
shanties next to the factories where they work, and find that the question of paying a living wage to workers is
it pretty much impossible to escape from the area where being raised increasingly in traditional industrialised
they are forced to live and work. Many of the factories countries. This is borne out by the terrible working
in question sell their fabrics to Bangladeshi and Western conditions found in underground Chinese sweatshops
clothing firms, including C&A, Mothercare, HanesBrands, and on farms that hire primarily immigrant workers who
Sainsbury’s and Primark. can be easily coerced and manipulated, but also by the
amounts paid to temporary workers and the contractual
From 2005 to 2013, Bangladesh saw a 250% increase in its wages in place for entry-level positions.
garment exports, from 8 to 21 billion dollars. At the same
time, the number of workers in the clothing industry grew Campagna Abiti Puliti, the Italian section of the Clean
from 2 to 4 million. Yet, this dizzying growth has been Clothes Campaign, therefore decided to conduct a
paid for by the workers, or rather by women workers, survey on pay conditions in the clothing and footwear
who have been exploited to a barely believable degree. sector in Italy to see whether in Italy too there is a real
A number of interviews conducted in 2013 highlighted living wage problem. This report sets out the findings
the fact that an entry-level woman worker takes home of the survey, which was conducted from April 2013 to
a monthly wage of $56.00, working 48 hours a week. August 2014 by members of the campaign and a team
A sewing machine operator with five years’ experience of Italian researchers represented by Devi Sacchetto,
earns a net wage of $64.00 a month, up to $80.00 with Veronica Redini and Davide Bubbico.
overtime. It should come as no surprise, then, that labour
costs have just a 0.6% bearing on the final price of the Because the research demonstrated the existence of a
goods produced1. living wage problem in Italy, at least for certain categories
of workers, Campagna Abiti Puliti organised a study
Shockingly low wages are however only one aspect of workshop on 30 October 2014 and invited representatives
the horrors experienced by Bangladeshi women workers. of trade unions, businesses, the Government and
Many work 13-14 hours a day, weekly rest days are not the academic world to share their experiences and
always granted, and they endure scams, abuses, insults, suggestions as to the potential approaches to be applied
beatings, and even sexual abuse. And, as we know, their to guarantee a living wage for all.
workplaces are unhealthy and terribly unsafe.
While everyone recognised a living wage as being
As a result of fires and building collapses, there were essential, no clear indications emerged on how to achieve
25 serious incidents in Bangladeshi clothes factories this. Some of those present drew attention to the risks
between 2000 and 2013, resulting in death tolls of 10, involved in defining actual figures through law: if these
30, 60, even 100 victims. The most dramatic incident were too high, they might drive firms underground,
happened on 24 April 2013 in Dhaka, with the collapse while if they were too low, they might affect trade union
of the Rana Plaza, an eight-story building containing five bargaining positions. Everyone agreed, however, that
sewing workshops and housing 4,000 workers. there would be a better chance of establishing a living
wage if certain political conditions were in place, such
as the presence of strong trade unions, international
1 Nazneen Ahmed and Dev Nathan, Improving wages and working standards ensuring the accountability of firms in the
conditions in the Bangladeshi garment sector, Working paper 40,
University of Manchester, May 2014 sector, and a high degree of transparency in supply chains. 3
 The following criticalities and suggestions were put 10. introduction of mechanisms that encourage
forward: companies to set the prices of their orders
at a level that provides suppliers with
1. amendment of current immigration laws that sufficient margins to ensure the application
favour labour flows to areas where production of legal conditions and the payment of living
is based, in order to halt the mechanism wages, and the introduction of systems to
that currently links illegal immigration ensure that this practice is actually applied.
status with undeclared work, and thus with
exploitation and inhumane conditions; This document concludes with a number of
recommendations that also take into account the
2. calculation of the minimum living wage, taking contributions made during the workshop. We wish to
into account the free services offered by the make it clear, however, that we are at the very beginning
State and the applicable levels of taxation. of a path which, in order to make progress, will require a
We should not forget that public services are a significant degree of cooperation among all of the forces
way of ensuring indirect income for everyone, fighting to advance the cause of human dignity.
while tax policy is a fundamental instrument
for combating unfair economic conditions
through the redistribution of income;

3. introduction of mechanisms that adjust the

living wage based on the actual situations of
individual households. In addition to family
dependents, this should consider the number of
adults within the unit who are in employment;

4. maintenance of a balance between

legislative intervention on wages and
trade union bargaining. In addition to
ensuring a minimum level of protection for
everyone, the intervention of trade unions
is essential in terms of the bargaining of
indirect wages and particular aspects of
specific sectors and, indeed, individual firms;

5. promotion of the introduction of a minimum

wage within Europe as a whole, in order
to initiate the process of overcoming
wage differences that currently provide
businesses with the opportunity to
adopt a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy;

6. creation of a multi-stakeholder observation

group on wages. This is now an established
proposal that must be addressed, seeking
alliances across all economic sectors;

7. cooperation in order to achieve major advances

in terms of transparency and social traceability;

8. particular focus on international rules and

trade liberalisation treaties that fundamentally
undermine the possibility of defending
advanced laws and systems for social protection;

9. fighting against processes that generate

impoverishment and insecurity, which fuel low-
quality consumptions, and in turn encourage
forms of production that make use of
substantially exploited labour. The extension of
a living wage to everyone, as a way of increasing
family income, could be a means of breaking
this vicious circle;
4
Methodological note for Acknowledgements
field interviews This research was conducted by Campagna Abiti Puliti
(Italian section of Clean Clothes Campaign) with the
The field research was conducted through in-depth support of the European Union. The content of the
interviews, with two lines of semi-structured interviews publication in no way reflects the views of the European
with workers and key stakeholders, such as contractors, Union.
managers, trade union officials and researchers. The
field research was supplemented with an examination of This project is a journey into what is left of the clothing and
literature on the matter (books, magazines, newspapers), shoes industry in Italy in order to explore the associated
both ‘grey’ (unpublished) literature (reports and internal working conditions and, above all, wage levels, with a
periodicals) and statistical information available on view to understanding the extent to which they can be
the webpages of public bodies (ISTAT, INPS, ICE) and considered a living wage. The study method adopted was
employers’ associations (SMI, ANCI, etc.). a field study based mainly on interviews with workers,
trade unionists and other persons with knowledge of the
During the course of the survey, around 70 workers (both industry.
men and women) and key stakeholders were interviewed
in the period from April 2013 to August 2014. The persons Most of the content was obtained from the research
interviewed were chosen through formal and informal conducted from June 2013 to February 2014 by Devi
networks developed over time by researchers and the Sacchetto (University of Padua), Veronica Redini
Campaign. Only a small portion of workers interviewed (University of Florence) and Davide Bubbico (University
were selected via trade union channels. of Salerno) on the fashion sector in the Veneto, Tuscany
and Campania regions. Our warmest thanks go to those
In some cases, the research group visited businesses. individuals.
Some people involved in the interviews wished to remain
anonymous, and the names attributed to them in the We also wish to thank Manuela Marolla, Roberto
full report are therefore fictitious. It should be noted Becherini, Claudia Bruni, Niva Bruni, Letizia Gatto,
that it was not always easy to find workers willing to Maddalena Cogoi, Lucia Carleschi, Marco Sambin, Maria
be interviewed, which demonstrates that, in times of Davoli, Gaia Panfili, Simone Ricotta, Valentina Tocchioni,
economic crisis and during restructuring processes, a Sarah Cruso and Elena Talotta, who volunteered to
person’s readiness to provide information and opinions transcribe the numerous interviews provided.
is increasingly conditioned by the fear of standing out,
even if anonymity is guaranteed. Finally, we wish to thank Carole Crabbé (AchACT and
Steering Committee of Asia Floor Wage Alliance),
Maria Benedetta Francesconi (PCN OECD, Ministry for
Economic Development), Giorgio Grappi (University of
Bologna), Achille Lemmi (University of Siena), Bernardo
Marasco (FilCtem-CGIL), Gianluca Nigro (Rete per
l’Autorganizzazione Popolare), Rossella Ravagli (Gucci)
and Sergio Spiller (Femca-CISL) for their invaluable
contributions during the workshop held on 30 October
2014 in Padua in collaboration with the University of
Padua, FISSPA Department.

The following conducted additional research and helped

to draft the final report: Francesco Gesualdi (Centro Nuovo
Modello di Sviluppo), Ersilia Monti (Coordinamento Nord
Sud del Mondo), Deborah Lucchetti (Fair) and Francesco
Verdolino, members of Campagna Abiti Puliti.

Translated by Paul Warrington

and revised by Jennifer Mills
(AlfaBeta, Roma)

Design by Matteo Sala

5
6
 CHAPTER 1
The living wage
as a worldwide need

The working poor

Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
approved on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly
of the United Nations, states that ‘Everyone who works
has the right to just and favourable remuneration
ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy
of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection’.

In this age of globalisation, however, respect for

this principle appears to have all but disappeared. In
November 2013, the legal minimum wage in Bangladesh
was $30.00 a month. It was then increased to $67.00,
solely for the textile-clothing sector, which in any case
means $2.20 a day, a figure just above the poverty line, a
marker used to indicate those unable to meet their own
needs effectively. And these figures relate to individual
workers - the problem is exacerbated if that individual
needs to support the needs of an entire family.

In practice, wages have never been set based on workers’

needs, but rather on the basis of bargaining power. If the
power is held by the employer, wages fall. If it is held by
the workers, wages go up. And today, when globalisation
has enabled multinationals to have access to practically
the world’s entire workforce, bargaining power has
shifted appreciably towards employers, to the detriment
of workers, who had once been united and are now
competing against each other. Italian workers against
Romanian, Chinese against Indonesian, Bangladeshi
against Cambodian, Kenyan against Ethiopian - all
competing against one another to offer the lowest rate
of pay, just so they can have a job.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that wages are

falling everywhere, and OECD nations, traditionally the
most industrialised group of nations, have seen a 10%
drop in wages between 1970 and 2010 in the sharing of
generated wealth.

The International Labour Organisation tells us that out of

a total of 3.1 billion persons employed (paid and unpaid),
839 million (26.7%) live on less than $2.00 a day, and
375 million (11.9%) in fact have to survive on less than
$1.25 a day2 . But a study conducted on paid workers
in 32 countries in the southern regions of the world has
highlighted the fact that 87 million (41%) paid workers
out of a total of 209 million receive wages below the
2 ILO, Global Employment Trends 2014 7
 ‘bread line’ ($2.00 a day), while 23 million people earn
below $1.25 a day, which is considered to be the extreme
poverty threshold 3.
Insulting minimum wages
Theoretically, the law should represent a bulwark for
Although the benchmarks are different, the phenomenon
decent wages, establishing minimum values that must
of the ‘working poor’ is expanding, even in more
be applied by all firms. However, the ILO Minimum
traditional industrial nations. According to data supplied
Wage Fixing Convention of 1970 (No 131) is rather
by Eurofound, 8% of EU workers were at risk of poverty,
tolerant. Article 3 reads: ‘The elements to be taken into
in that they were earning less than 60% of the national
consideration in determining the level of minimum
average wage. Italy is above the European average, with
wages shall, so far as possible and appropriate in relation
10% of workers considered as working poor 4.
to national practice and conditions, include:

a) the needs of workers and their families, taking into

account the general level of wages in the country, the
cost of living, social security benefits, and the relative
Table 1 living standards of other social groups;
Distribution of wage levels in 32 countries
b) economic factors, including the requirements of
in the Southern Regions of the world economic development, levels of productivity and the
desirability of attaining and maintaining a high level of
ABOVE employment.’
$ 1,25/DAY $ 2.00/DAY $ 2.00/DAY
23 million 64 million 122 million
Unfortunately, many countries have ascribed greater
importance to so-called economic development than
87 million to human decency and, with the excuse of creating
(workers below poverty threshold)
an attractive environment for foreign investors, have
set minimum wages at levels well below the levels of
Figure 1 decency. The country at the bottom of this ranking is
Workers and population in poverty Bangladesh, with a level of €1.67 a day, followed by India,
with €1.72. China, on the other hand, is already at €5.82
a day, while Turkey stands at €8.40. In Europe, the nation
at the bottom of the pile is Moldavia, with a level of €2.36
a day, followed by Ukraine (€2.66), Romania (€4.43),
Bulgaria (€4.60) and Serbia (€6.30).

Table 2
Monthly minimum wages by Country
Source: Data from the Clean Clothes Campaign,
wages in world clothing industry, 2014

Bangladesh 50,32 €

India 51,70 €

Moldavia 71,00 €

Ukraine 80,00 €

Indonesia 82,14 €

Romania 133,00 €

Bulgaria 139,00 €

China 174,60 €

Serbia 189,00 €

Turkey 252,00 €

3 ILO, Global Wage report 2012/2013

8 4 Eurofound, Working poor in Europe, 2010
Figure 2
Legal minimum wages The living wage:
Data processed from the Stitched up Report of the Clean Clothes Campaign..
the Asian experience
It is in this general context of vagueness that we began
to see the development of the idea of a living wage,
interpreted as a minimum wage able to meet the
fundamental needs of individual workers and their
families. This is a concept already contemplated by Article
36 of the Italian Constitution, which reads: “Workers
have the right to remuneration commensurate with the
quantity and quality of their work and, in all cases, to
remuneration that is sufficient to provide them and their
families with a free and dignified existence’.

In global terms, the group that has developed the most

cohesive living wage proposal is the Asia Floor Wage
Alliance, a group of trade union and non-governmental
organisations not only from Asia (Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Thailand), but also from Europe and North America.

In 2009, this group introduced a system for calculating

Of the 27 states in the European Union, only 20 have a living wage applicable in various Asian countries. The
legal minimum wages (Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech starting point is the definition of living wage, interpreted
Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, as a salary that, earned from 48 hours of work a week,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, allows the individual worker and his/her family (partner
Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Romania, and two children) to meet basic needs, namely: food,
Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain). Austria, Denmark, Finland, accommodation, clothing, healthcare, energy, transport
Italy and Sweden do not have a mandatory minimum and education6.
wage, while Germany and Cyprus have minimum wages
in place only for specific situations. These data show that With regard to food, the group warns that the composition
many legislative systems regulate the minimum wage of this component varies from country to country based
differently by sector, age of workers and corresponding on habits and customs. The suggestion is that a food
experience. The group of countries that have differences basket is prepared, taking into account nutritional needs
by age are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, in terms of quality and calories, so as to reach 3,000 kilo-
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands and the United calories for adults and 1,500 kilo-calories for children.
Kingdom. Differences in terms of qualifications exist in
Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania Non-food items, too, vary from country to country
and Hungary. according to standards in individual nations. The
proportion of wages set aside for clothing, power
But as has been admitted by Eurofound, the European needs, accommodation and healthcare depends on the
Foundation for improving living and working conditions: climate, price policies applied by Governments, and
‘In all States of the European Union, for which data are public services provided at no cost. It also depends on the
available, minimum wages tend to be well below the habits and customs of each country in relation to special
poverty line. In recent years, minimum wages have circumstances, such as births, marriages and funerals.
actually fallen, taking as a benchmark the average It is therefore difficult to define universal parameters
wages paid in industry and services. This is so in for expenses other than food, that might be valid for all
Ireland, but also Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, countries.
Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary. In other
countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Spain), minimum One way of getting around this problem is to find out how
wages have risen slightly, and they have remained an average family in the country allocates its budget. In
unchanged in Luxembourg and the United Kingdom’5. Indonesia, Bangladesh and other countries, for instance,
non-food expenses usually take up half the family
income. In India, the Ministry of Employment has stated
that workers spend 52.2% of family income on expenses
other than food. In Thailand, on the other hand, the sum
represents 40% of the total budget.

6 Jeroen Merk, Clean Clothes Campaign, Stitching a Decent Wage

5 Eurofound, Working poor in Europe, 2010 across Borders: the Asia Floor Wage Proposal 2009 9
 On the basis of these data, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance So how does Italy rank in this area? In the pages below, we
has decided to determine expenses for needs other than have provided a snapshot of the garment and footwear
food by multiplying food costs by a coefficient resulting industry in Italy, and a comparison with the provisions of
from a country-based analysis. contracts and the living wages calculated by Istat (Italian
national institute of statistics).
The graph below shows living wages calculated for
some countries, and a comparison with corresponding
minimum wages.

SLOVAKIA
ROMANIA LEGAL MINIMUM WAGE IN ASIA AND
EASTERN EUROPE FAR BELOW A LIVING WAGE
MIN. WAGE AS A PERCENTAGE OF A LIVING WAGE

UKRAINE 19% CHINA

21% MOLDOVA EASTERN EUROPE

ASIA
14%
19% INDIA 46% LEGAL MINIMUM
NET WAGE IN EURO
Bulgaria 139 Euro
BiH GEORGIA

26% BANGLADESH
BiH (RS)

Croatia
189 Euro

308 Euro

10% Georgia 52 Euro

25% MACEDONIA
19%
Macedonia

Moldova
111 Euro

71 Euro
BULGARIA
Romania 133 Euro
CAMBODIA
14% Slovakia 292 Euro

CROATIA 14% TURKEY

Turkey

Ukraine
252 Euro

80 Euro
21% Bangladesh 50 Euro
MALAYSIA Cambodia 61 Euro

36% 28% China

India
175 Euro

52 Euro

Indonesia 82 Euro
INDONESIA Malaysia 196 Euro

54% Sri Lanka 50 Euro

SRI LANKA
31%
In all researched countries there is an immense gap between the
legal minimum wage and the estimated minimum living wages 19%
and this gap tends to be even larger in Europe’s cheap labour
countries than in Asia. The estimation for a minimum living wage
in Eastern Europe and Turkey is based on workers interviews.
Workers were questioned on household expenditures.
Minimum living wage according to Asia Floor Wage.

So how does Italy rank in this area? In the pages below, we

have provided a snapshot of the garment and footwear
industry in Italy, and a comparison with the provisions of
contracts and the living wages calculated by Istat. negli
stessi.

10
 The fashion industry, which includes the textile, clothing,

CHAPTER 2 footwear, leather, eyewear and fashion accessories

sectors, continues to drive the economy in our country,
second in the manufacturing sector only to metalworking,

Work in the Italian and is the top industry in terms of female employment9.

fashion industry
The sector is characterised by a significant presence of
small- and medium-sized companies, including craft
firms, employing an average of 8.5 workers per firm.

In the early 1990s, at a time when producer firms were

starting to move towards countries offering low-cost
A changing sector labour, seeking commercial expansion and maximum
profit, the number of workers in the sector was well
At the turn of the 19th century, the city of Milan, now a over a million10, representing almost all segments of the
world capital of conceptual fashion, was a centre of Italy’s supply chain, except for the cultivation of fibre plants11.
textile industry. The ‘Textile Arts’, the official journal of
The international economic and financial crisis of 2007-
the National Federation of Textile Workers, described
2008 had a particularly negative impact on this sector,
the dawn exit of women workers from factories in the
which had already been in recession for at least ten
province after a night shift in 1903 as follows: ‘Pale, worn
years, a period during which the relocation of producers,
out, covered in dust, hair unkempt, with huge bags under
the reorganisation of production models and the need
their eyes, branded by fine dust, fatigue and exertion’7.
to compete with countries offering low-cost labour
Emissions from macerated fibres, stagnant dust and
removed from the market a large number of small-sized
unprotected machinery claimed as many victims as
firms making their own products or working in the supply
malnutrition and long working hours, making the
chain of big brands.
factory an extremely dangerous and hazardous place.
Tuberculosis caused the death of spinners and weavers The result has been a net reduction in the number of
at a young age much more than in other sectors. One firms in the sector and in the number of jobs, which was
of the causes of this disease was an operation involving already somewhat in decline. Between 2007 and 2012,
the use of the lips to thread the eye of the shuttle, the number of workers in the Italian textile-clothing
which would remain forever in the memory of future industry (excluding footwear) went from 513,000 to
generations associated with the frightening image of the 430,000, a drop of 16%, and the number of firms fell from
‘kiss of death’. Even though alternative machinery was 58,000 to about 50,000, a drop of 13%, accompanied by a
available, industrialists did not use it, because they had reduction in sales revenue of almost 10%.12
at their disposal numerous workers, at low cost and easily
replaceable. Wages were decided by the employer, and Business crises have been tempered somewhat over
rates were subject to arbitrary reductions at any time. the years through the use of so-called social buffers,
in particular the earnings supplement fund (CIG), but,
Female workers began to organise themselves, and despite avoiding mass dismissals and ensuring that
textile workers have the accolade of being the first in workers have income while they are dealing with
Italy to fight for working hours. This led, in the early 20th temporary economic difficulties, these mechanisms have
century, to a 10-hour working day, and totally new claims not always been able to provide a bridge to recovery of
by workers, as shown by the strike of 400 textile workers production activities.
in the company Da Re, who stopped production for days
during the busy season in July 1899, forcing the owner to
introduce the fundamental principle of a minimum wage
and internal rules drafted by the workers themselves.8

History teaches us that acquired rights are never for ever,

and after the great trade union struggles after World War
Two, which led to collective labour agreements, the first
comprehensive laws on health and safety, the Workers’
Statute, and complete trade union freedom, today 9 The fashion sectors in Italy are those sectors of industry that record
globalisation has changed the situation completely, the highest rates of women workers, ranging from 75% in garment ma-
king to 60% in textiles and 50% in footwear, compared with an average
returning us to an industrial world that is not very much in the manufacturing sector of 30%.
different from the situation in place one and even two
centuries ago. 10 Clemente Tartaglione (a cura di), I principali numeri sull’occupa-
zione del tessile-abbigliamento italiano prima e durante la crisi : con un
focus sull’Europa, 2014
11 The growing of linen and hemp was abandoned for good in the
1950s. Up until that time, Italy was the second largest producer in Eu-
7 Fiorella Imprenti, Operaie e socialismo : Milano, le leghe femminili, rope in terms of the quantity of hemp for the textile sector and the lea-
la Camera del lavoro (1891-1918), Milano, Franco Angeli, 2007, p. 71 ding country in terms of fibre quality.
8 Fiorella Imprenti, Operaie e socialismo : Milano, le leghe femminili, 12 Source: ISTAT data processed by SMI, Movimprese, Sita Research
la Camera del lavoro (1891-1918), Milano, Franco Angeli, 2007, p. 33 and sample surveys, 14 May 2013. 11
 in which the highest number of workers are employed
Table 3 in the textile-clothing and footwear sectors are Milan,
Use of earnings supplement fund Naples, Rome, Florence and Vicenza; in these provinces
in the fashion industry in 2011 over a quarter (25.2%) of workers are employed in the
Source: Inps Annual report 2011
sector.18

One distinctive trait of the textile, clothing and footwear

extraordinary system in Italy is the concentration of manufacturing
earnings earnings firms in specialist industrial districts (among the best
Sector supplement supplement
hours(1) known are the wool and knitwear district of Biella, the
hours(2)
sports footwear district of Montebelluna, and the jeans
Textiles 28.162.820 16.014.787
district in the Marche region).
Clothing 16.990.311 17.258.925
Our research examines three regional settings in the
Leather/footwear 6.199585 9.163946
North, Centre and South of the country (Veneto, Tuscany
(1) Ordinary CIG can be claimed in the event of temporary events not and Campania) and, within those regions, three specific
attributable to the employer or to workers, such as a temporary market crisis. production areas: the footwear district of Riviera del
(2) Extraordinary CIG can be claimed in the event of bankruptcy and/or corporate Brenta for Veneto, the textile-clothing district of Prato,
restructuring. the leather goods district of Florence and the footwear
district of Valdinievole in the province of Pistoia for
Tuscany, and the fashion system in the province of
Naples for Campania.

Veneto, Tuscany These sectors play an important role in the respective

and Campania
regional economies, but their production systems
and labour markets are extremely different in terms

regions under review

of quality, type of product, general labour market
characteristics, presence of foreign labour and women
workers, and percentage of undeclared employment,
Despite these difficulties, the textile and clothing sector and consequently percentage of undeclared production.
(excluding footwear) accounts for 10% of the total
added value of Italian manufacturing and 14.2% of job The aim of this process is to provide an overview of
numbers13. This sector has the same importance within working and pay conditions in these areas, and thus of the
the 27-Member EU as a whole, considering the fact that national context, looking at a range of production, from
about one third of sales revenue for the sector and about craft or garment-making firms to luxury manufacturing
28% of companies are Italian14. Italy’s footwear industry, centres.
in turn, was the world’s tenth largest producer in 2011,
with 80,000 workers, almost two thirds of all workers in
the footwear sector in Europe as a whole15.

In terms of worldwide trade, Italy is in second place,

behind China, for clothing, footwear and leather items,
and fourth for textile products16.

Italy’s textile, clothing and footwear sector is concentrated

in nine regions: Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna,
Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Molise, Campania and Apulia.
The three regions covered by our survey (Veneto, Tuscany
and Campania) record high values in terms of the number
of workers and firms, and for exports17. The provinces in
which the textile-clothing sector is most present in terms
of the number of workers are Fermo (36.2%), Prato
(35.5%), Biella (25.8%), Barletta-Andria-Bari (17.4%)
and Macerata (15.4%). In absolute terms, the provinces

13 Source: ISTAT data processed by SMI, Movimprese, Sita Research
and sample surveys, 2012.
14 Source: ISTAT data processed by SMI, Movimprese, Sita Research
and sample surveys, 2012.
15 Ermeneia-Studi & strategie di sistema, Shoe report: fifth annual
report on contribution of footwear sector to ‘Made in Italy’ movement,
Milan, Franco Angeli, 2013.
16 Source: National Foreign Trade Institute, 2013. 18 Istituto Tagliacarne, I numeri mai visti delle filiere : oreficeria, TAC,
nautica, edilizia sostenibile, 2012; consultabile sul sito www.unioncamere.
12 17 Source: Processed from INPS, ANCI-Ermeneia 2012, ISTAT data. gov.it/download/1834.html
The footwear district
of Riviera del Brenta (Veneto)
This is one of the main footwear districts in Italy,
specialising in the production of women’s shoes of Textile-clothing district of
medium and high quality. 90% of output is exported Prato, leatherwear district of
to Germany, France, Switzerland and some new Florence and footwear district of
markets, including Russia and China. A total of 550 Valdinievole in the province
firms work in the area, employing 10,000-11,000 of Pistoia (Tuscany)
workers, about two thirds of whom are women.
Immigrants make up about 10% of the workforce, Tuscany’s fashion industry centres on textile-clothing
mostly Moroccan, Bangladeshi and Romanian. A production (Prato, Empoli) and leather-footwear
further 10% are of Chinese origin, working almost production (Valdinievole, Valdarno, Santa Croce),
exclusively in the 150-200 subcontracting factories an area in which most production is concentrated,
owned by their fellow countrymen, a few dozen of with almost 27,000 enterprises and 150,000 workers
which operate illegally or semi-illegally. A further operating in the sector and producing over 37% of all
300-400 women workers are employed in their own exports for the region. While the historical, primary
homes doing hemming work, although their numbers weaving sector is generally in decline, clothing
are falling sharply following the relocation of this production in the province of Prato has grown
type of work. In the late 1990s, the manufacturing considerably over the past twenty years, due mainly
expertise of this area, provided at modest prices, to the impetus provided by Chinese entrepreneurs,
drove some of the world’s leading luxury brands to who have entered the local production scene,
move to the district, taking over small and medium initially with products requiring little specialisation
enterprises, and turning some medium-sized but subsequently all but replacing existing local
enterprises into their licensees or contractors. Louis businesses. With regard to garment production,
Vuitton is now present in this district, with 400-450 Chinese-run firms make up about 80% of all
employees, along with Giorgio Armani, with 170-200 enterprises in the area. The Florentine leather goods
employees, and Prada and Dior, each with about a sector (bags, wallets and purses, belts, luggage
hundred employees. and footwear of medium-high quality as well as
the luxury segment), bordering Italy’s main tanning
district (which employs a substantial number of
immigrants, chiefly from Senegal), has trebled its
output over the past decade, becoming the most
important manufacturing centre in the world in this
segment. International luxury brands operate here,
both Italian and foreign, including Gucci, Ferragamo,
Prada, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior and Céline.

The fashion industry in the province of Naples (Campania)

In southern regions, the clothing and footwear industry, concentrated in Apulia and Campania, consists primarily
of firms that cover the needs of the local market and contractors producing for clients in the centre-north of the
country, partly destined for export. The fashion sector in Campania represents a little over 7,500 firms, about 60% of
which are located in the province of Naples. There is a craft-based haute-couture presence in the area (men’s clothes,
formal dress, bags, gloves), which continues to work within a system of small and micro-contractors characterised by
a varying degree of employment legality, and which is increasingly under pressure from foreign competition, mainly
Chinese, but also Pakistani, in the garment-making sector. In the ‘ready to wear’ segment, a number of local brands
have flourished (Coconuda, Original Marines, Piazza Italia and Alcott in the clothing sector; Carpisa for leather goods,
Yamamay for lingerie), although almost all their production is based overseas. As regards the footwear sector, there
are small craft-based enterprises, making expensive items, working alongside other medium-sized firms producing
for brands such as Ferragamo, Sergio Rossi, Louis Vuitton and Melluso, the latter a well-known high-quality Italian
brand. Nevertheless, a portion of production (cutting or hemming) has now been outsourced. One problem faced
by the sector is that of counterfeiting, compounding the more general problems of undeclared work and wholly
undeclared production.
13
 Hiring via temporary employment agencies has incre-
Main conditions ased with the presence of companies producing luxury
items, with temporary workers increasingly being taken
encountered in the areas on subsequently under apprenticeships, with a view to

under review
moving on to open-ended contracts:

I have been working for seven years, I started with a

Labour in Riviera del Brenta is provided by the less well- temp agency. I did almost three months with them.
After that I was an apprentice, with an open-ended
off social classes, marked by low levels of education.
contract. Then they took me on as a factory worker.
Among those hired in the period 2008-2013, one tenth
did not have any academic qualifications, half of workers (Bangladeshi footwear worker, 2013)
held a basic school-leaving certificate, one fifth had an
advanced school-leaving certificate, and only 5% were One pattern maker hired by a leading brand spent five
graduates.19 This picture is similar in part to that of the years under an apprenticeship contract:
province of Naples, where workers are from the lower
social classes and have low levels of education. I did a trial period for a month, then they took me
on as an apprentice on a fixed-term contract. Five
I am 48, I left school early. My father was a years, the most they could get away with. Obviously,
bricklayer, my mother worked from home... they pay fewer social security contributions. At the
I started work after leaving school, first learning to start I was paid €900 a month. Then the pay rose
be a home-based worker, for a year and a half, then gradually.
in a factory. I spent a year in a shoe upper factory, (pattern maker, 2013)
five years in another, then for a while I did some
cleaning. After that I started at Rossi Moda. One issue that unites many workers is the length of time
spent at particularly low contractual levels:
(female footwear worker, 2013) I didn’t move up a level in fifteen years’ work, to go
up a level you have to give a lot, for instance if you
Women and immigrants perform the most repetitive do a lot of overtime you can go up in your boss’s
and simple jobs, while men are employed in services, in estimation, I have always asked for rises, but never
prototyping, design, leather cutting and assembly of fo- been given one.
otwear. The highest ranking and best paid professional
(footwear worker, 2013)
figure in the process is the pattern-maker, whose job is
to make a prototype from the designs provided by the The presence of leading brands ensured that the district
designer. made it through the period of economic crisis, but there
was also a decline in small manufacturers of medium-
The most common type of employment contract among
quality goods, whose names are not well known in
Riviera shoe manufacturers is the open-ended contract.
international markets, and of their subcontractors:
This type of contract accounted for 88.4% of all con-
tracts in 2007, a little below the average for workers in It’s the big names that are killing us, not the Chinese
the manufacturing industry in Veneto (91.5%).20 Althou-
gh numbers are falling steadily, about 400 home-based (contractor, 2013)
workers are still employed, working mainly on hemming
and some cutting operations, in Tuscany (especially in Some operators that have closed down due to bankruptcy
the Empoli area) and in the Naples area. have been hired as production managers, but also as
workers:
Currently, about 20% of the workforce is of immigrant
origin, about half of whom are Chinese, employed almost The person taking charge of the conveyor belt
exclusively in enterprises owned by compatriots. Immi- [on footwear assembly line] once had a factory of
grants originate primarily from Romania, Bangladesh, his own. Unit managers are usually people with
experience. They can’t just put anyone in charge if
Morocco and Albania.
the factory is going to survive.

(footwear worker, 2013)

19 See the Silv database at the website Veneto Lavoro, www.vene-

tolavoro.it.
20 N.Parise, Popolazione e occupazione nel distretto calzaturiero
della Riviera del Brenta, in P. Messina (ed.), Sguardo al futuro: il caso del
14 distretto calzaturiero della Riviera del Brenta, Padua, Cleup, p. 65-94.
According to the results of a research conducted at The pace of work can be exhausting for the workers of
the turn of the century, working hours in Riviera vary firms working for the major brands. A woman worker
depending on production needs for two-thirds of the employed by a firm that began to produce for the big
footwear workers interviewed, while job tasks were brands in the late 1990s says:
considered rather repetitive, and 30% of workers were
required to do them within one minute. It comes as They installed the electric conveyor belt, in order to
no surprise, therefore, that over 44% of the sample go quicker, then they added hours, because they had
to deliver, they were there with the lorry waiting to
considered the pace of work to be stressful, significantly
go. It was no longer a simple, unhurried job. They
higher than the percentage for workers in other districts21. would say to you: “We have to make 90 pairs of
shoes for tomorrow evening”, and they still had to be
With regard to working hours, in Riviera, as in other areas cut. They were things that you had to do well, they
under study, the standard shift is the so-called split shift, were going to be worn on the catwalk.
from 8:00 am to 5:00-5:30 pm, with a break halfway We also worked on Saturdays, almost always
through. The national collective labour contract (CCNL) just in the morning. But someone also went in the
makes it possible for businesses to increase weekly hours afternoon. We were doing up to 12 hours a day
when this is required by production needs, and to recoup during the peak times. Sometimes the soles were
the hours worked in periods when work is scarce by missing, sometimes the heels, and you find yourself
having to do everything in a hurry, and instead of
means of compensatory periods of time off with a 20%
finishing at half past five you finish at eight o’clock.
increase in hourly wages. Work time flexibility (flexitime)
involves the possibility of having to work for nine or (female footwear worker, 2013)
more hours a day, usually five days a week, consecutively
for some weeks (the CCNL agreement includes the As well as pay-related aspects, some workers highlight
possibility of flexible hours for up to 20 weeks a year). the lack of recognition of the quality and effort that has
In the new national collective contract signed at the gone into the work:
end of 2013, there is also the possibility that the limit
of 96 hours of annual flexibility (Article 33-bis) can be We often feel we are considered as just a number. In
exceeded through an agreement with the trade unions my unit, we are all well-trained and careful cutters.
representatives at the factory level. In practice in Riviera We do our job with care and dedication, including
del Brenta, agreements between trade unions and the tailors, women who are marvellously dextrous,
and do the sewing work by hand, precious work that
company management are often pure formalities, and is an ancient art.
sometimes there are not even any trade union delegates:
If they once said to us: well done!, it would be as
Usually we do an hour of overtime a day when there good as a bonus, maybe even better. They see what
is a lot of work, but we do not get paid for it. They do we do more for the amount we produce and how
flexitime. If you go over 120 hours a year, from the much we are ready to work than for our contribution
121st hour they pay you an hour of overtime. We are in terms of experience. Most of the time it all appears
lucky, however, because if we work on Saturday they to be expected of us.
pay at once, and they always do pay.
(cutter in clothing sector, 2014)22
(footwear worker, 2013)

The practice of not officially declaring overtime is still

present in some small and medium firms:

Especially on Saturdays; more than anything it’s

what we ask for, to tell the truth. Everything else
is above board, he also gives us the money for
contributions, which of course he does not pay in.
But it’s always us that get ripped off.

(female footwear worker, 2013)

21 F.Belussi (2001), La condizione del lavoro dipendente nelle piccole

imprese della Riviera del Brenta : una ricerca sulle aree distrettuali ve-
nete, in F. Belussi (a cura di), Tacchi a spillo : il distretto calzaturiero della
Riviera del Brenta come forma organizzata di capitale sociale, Padova,
Cleup, p. 165-196 22 Interview of Campagna Abiti Puliti, July 2014. 15
 Injury risks are still present in the footwear sector, albeit In Tuscany, in both the leather-footwear sector and the
to a lesser extent than in other manufacturing sectors. clothing (wedding gowns) and accessories (gloves, hats)
Crushed limbs and cuts continue to be a problem for sector, there are still forms of home-based piecework that
work safety. One of the aspects highlighted by some in- are paid based on the patterns and the number of items
terviewees is the wear and tear on the body, in particular made. These types of employment are part declared and
with regard to carpal tunnel syndrome and problems as- part undeclared, as a home-based undeclared worker
sociated with the high degree of repetitiveness of some who sewed shoe uppers recounts:
tasks. The Italian workforce has on average twenty years
of work experience, and is beginning to report a number of I was sewing the uppers by hand, with a needle and
physical problems due to wear and tear. Other problems thread. It’s a hard job. It’s made my arms ache. We
[her and her son] would do 20-30 pairs. They paid
relate to the emergence of allergies to glues and dust.
me per pair, cash in hand. You would wake up at 6
Quantitative data from INAIL (Italian national institute o’clock, but be at home, so you could watch TV while
for the insurance against occupational accidents and di- you worked, and you would go on until the evening,
seases) do not, however, reflect the real extent of injuries, pulling the thread all day [makes a sewing gesture]
bearing in mind the amount of work performed illegally. because you have to do this movement. So, all day
For the textile-clothing sector, an auditor of working doing this, in order to make €500 or €600 a month.
conditions on behalf of international fashion brands says: Then I got these pains, and had to stop. It wasn’t
difficult to find this job: my sister was already doing
I have not found evidence of many injuries relating it. But now she does something else. She makes
to poorly maintained machinery. hats. Still from home. It’s a small factory, the job
I do, however, see a lot of cuts. Workers using is still sewing using the machine, but now she’s
cutters without suitable metal gloves. But it really is insured. She sews on the machine and has a part-
impossible to cut while wearing a wire-mesh glove. I time contract.
didn’t believe it at first. They got me to try. When you
put on one of these gloves, you have no perception (home-based worker, 2013)
of the fabric, you can’t handle it. But in one way
or another, you have to protect yourself. I’m not
an engineer, and I don’t know how to resolve this
problem, but wire-mesh gloves must be worn: too
many people have cut their fingers23.

(auditor, 2014)

In all the areas examined, the low level of conflict with

trade unions is a common trait. Few workers are trade
union members, while almost everyone views union
actions to be absolutely inadequate. In the specific
case of Riviera del Brenta, the levels of trade union
participation are relatively low, no more than 10%-15%
of workers. Some of the workers registered with trade
unions, probably around 10%, are migrants who join a
trade union to solve red tape issues, and to be able to
organise and defend themselves in the workplace.

Among the top brand names, it appears that Prada is

the company in which trade union relations are most
complicated, and working conditions most critical.
Furthermore, Prada is the only luxury brand working
in Riviera that applies the leather sector employment
contract even though footwear is produced:

Prada applies the leather goods contract. But, it

basically makes shoes. The leather sector contract
is slightly lower in economic terms and as regards
regulatory aspects compared with the textile or
footwear contract. So it is quite a cunning choice.

(trade union official, 2013)

16 23 Interview of Campagna Abiti Puliti, January 2014.

In the province of Naples, the sector is characterised
by the intensive use of undeclared labour, which is
distributed as shown in Table 4.

Table 4
Types of enterprises in the sector in Campania
and extent of undeclared employment24

Type of enterprise Reference market Extent of undeclared employment

Enterprises working Medium-high, strong craft tradition, Absent, but possible

for themselves foreign market In subcontractors

Enterprises working partly for themselves Final enterprises, Especially for low-quality goods,
and partly for others medium-low products working for others

Ready to wear for local or national final enterprises Greater spread of undeclared employment,
Contracting enterprises (leading brands); medium-low quality product
for local/national market especially in firms making low-quality goods

Eg sewing for textile firms, stitching operations for Greater spread of undeclared work
Specialist enterprises footwear firms, binding, heel layers and informal enterprises

So-called parallel and legal production;

Completely underground enterprises Production unit completely undeclared
orders from wholesalers

24 Adapted from: G. D’Onofrio, Nero e grigio: i colori del sistema

moda in Campania: processi di esternalizzazione, grandi griffe ed eco-
nomia sommersa, 2013. Sociology degree thesis, Faculty of Sociology,
University of Naples. 17
 It is also fairly usual in Naples for work to be handed down An auditor looking into working conditions on behalf of
from father to son, so workers in the sector usually do international fashion brands says:
not have a good school education, and begin to work at
a very young age. They are used to hold a job as informal I have come across some cases of child labour.
workers for many years, in some cases in family firms: The first was in Naples nine years ago, the second
four-five years ago, again in Naples. The first time it
I began to do what I do now at the age of 14, was, I think, an unannounced audit, in any case the
working in my uncle’s firm, a workshop with about firm was not expecting me, and there was this girl
twenty workers, which made women’s suits (jackets working at a sewing machine. She was the daughter
and skirts) for retailers and wholesalers. Most of one of the workers , but who was not registered
workers did not have a contract, most certainly anywhere. She must have been 13 or 14 years old.
those related to the owner, while the other ten girls The second case was another girl, who did however
had a contract, even though they did not always do appear on some papers: she was on health and
what was written in the contract. safety documents, she had done a course in the firm.
I realised that, more than anything else, the firm
(cutter in clothing sector, 2013) was not aware of the seriousness of the offence.25

In small contracting firms in the footwear sector, work

is often based on daily production targets; it is not
piecework as such, since it is agreed that the working
day is 9-10 hours, and all possible production is done
within that period of time. The smaller the firm, the less
there is a clear-cut division of work, but this is because,
in part, many workers come from a long professional
apprenticeship, albeit often unofficial, which has enabled
them to acquire a range of different skills.

Probably the most interesting point to emerge from the

surveys in Tuscany and Campania is the presence in many
firms, if we exclude those with a trade union presence,
usually (but not always) employing over 50 workers, of
both declared and undeclared employment, which often
takes the form of workers hired with part-time contracts
that work all day, or workers , especially in recent years,
who have been made temporarily redundant and are
called back by the firm to carry on working regularly
alongside those not affected by redundancy. Then there
is the practice of prolonging the working day, at the
end of the shift or at the weekend, without overtime
pay, or of classifying workers in lower categories to pay
lower wages. One example of this is workers hired as
apprentices, but who perform level I or II factory worker
jobs:

I can generally say, in this area at least, that firms

complying with legislation on wages, working
conditions, safety, etc. are in the minority. The most
common misdemeanours are false pay slips, and
the absence of legal employment relationships. But
I have to say that the techniques employed have
become more subtle over the years. Firms also pay
by cheque or bank transfer, but the worker has to go
right back to the employer and give back a portion
of the pay that he/she should not have received.
So while wages are correctly calculated on the pay
slip, wage reductions are a widespread practice.
Grey labour is perhaps the most common form of
remuneration in this sector.

(work lawyer, 2013)

18 25 Interview of Campagna Abiti Puliti, January 2014.

 cutting) have proven to be a valuable resource for Italian

CHAPTER 3 businesses, which have made increasing use of small

Chinese workshops, exploiting their organisational
model in order to cut production costs. Chinese workers

Chinese businesses first entered the home-based work circuit with an

extremely low labour cost, before taking a step upwards
and becoming entrepreneurs and clients. The economic
strength of the community has grown in tandem with
the rising number of immigrants arriving, mainly in the
A parallel district mid-1990s, first illegally and then legally through the
regularisation of residency offered by new laws.
In Italy, there is a large and well-established community
of immigrants from China, which began to form in the
period between the two world wars, although migratory
flows grew in particular in the 1980s and 1990s. The
Chinese community is the third largest non-EU foreign
community in Italy in terms of numbers (over 300,000
legal residents in 2013)26.The first Chinese to come to
Italy were mainly pedlars and workers making bags
and ties,27 who managed to find a place in the Italian
economy using their professional skills. The cohesion of
family networks has led to the organisation of work in
ethnic workshops, where both employers and workers
are Chinese, operating as subcontractors for Italian
enterprises chiefly in the clothing, leather goods and
bag- and shoemaking sectors. Chinese workshops have
made a fundamental contribution in maintaining the
competitiveness of the Italian fashion industry, providing
their clients with flexibility and cost reductions.

Individual Chinese enterprises make up 8.8% of all firms Independent production sites
operating in Italy in the textile-clothing sectors, and are
While the entry of Chinese labour has allowed
situated all over the country. This number doubled in
garment-making firms to stay in business and combat
the period 2000-2005 (4% in the year 2000). Individual
the crisis, the characteristics of the production
Chinese enterprises in the leather goods and footwear
model and Chinese immigration trends have pointed
sectors made up 9.5% of the total in 2005, compared
to the possible creation of a district within a district,
with 5.8% in the year 2000.
in other words of a ‘parallel district’. This definition
In Tuscany alone, Chinese enterprises make up 19% of all refers not so much to a Chinese economy removed
firms in the garment sector and 22% in the leather goods from the local productive context, with which it
and footwear sectors28. nevertheless interacts in various phases, from the
renting of production plants to the purchase of
In the historic district of Prato, in Tuscany, 3,600 textile- machinery, export services and accounting, as to
clothing and leather goods firms are owned by Chinese. the fact that the Chinese economy in Prato is not a
In the garment-making sector, Chinese-run enterprises part of the chain, but, rather, a veritable ‘enclave’,
make up about 80% of all active firms29. an autonomous and separate production area that
accommodates and employs almost exclusively new
In recent years in Prato, one of the biggest Asian immigrant labour of Chinese nationality.
communities of Europe (second only to that of Paris)
has formed, and this community has silently and
methodically penetrated the various phases of the
clothing supply chain. The characteristics typical of work
performed in Chinese undertakings (extreme flexibility,
massive use of piecework, family labour, extreme cost
26 Ministry for Employment and social policies, La comunità cinese
in Italia: rapporto annuale sulla presenza degli immigrati, 2013 (http://
www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/Attualita/rrPunto/Documents/2c13_
Comunita_Cinese_v0.pdf).
27 Antonella Ceccagno (a cura di), Il caso delle comunità cinesi : co-
municazione interculturale ed istituzioni, Roma, Armando Editore,
1997, p. 31
28 Antonella Ceccagno, Renzo Rastrelli, Ombre cinesi?: dinamiche
migratorie della diaspora cinese in Italia, Roma, Carocci, 2008, p. 72-73
29 Chamber of Commerce of Prato, L’imprenditoria straniera in Pro- 19
vincia di Prato, 2013, p. 7-8.
 Subcontractors for all
As one journalist notes:

Sometimes the luxury sector and the Chinese come

into contact, because there are Chinese working
In recent years, concern has been growing about the for Ferragamo, for Chanel, for Cartier, as producers
legality of many of the activities performed by Chinese in the leather goods supply chain in Florence. This
enterprises in Prato, not just the use of labour without happens above all in the leather goods sector, but
residence permits, but also undeclared employment a lot less in the clothing sector, although in Empoli
relationships, under-the-counter payments, tax there are Chinese working for Dolce & Gabbana,
evasion, long working hours and night-time work. Armani, as suppliers for Italian firms, which are the
What is very revealing is the fact that the sense of alarm main client. The big brands protect the supply chain
increased within a section of local operators when many very jealously, and are therefore unlikely to tell you
who their suppliers and subcontractors are. The most
Chinese firms broke away from their traditional role of
transparent in this sense is Gucci, which has been
subcontractors and expanded into the ready-to-wear working on its supply chain, but the other big names
sector, taking control of all phases of production and are a lot less transparent.
distribution.
(economic journalist, 2013)
In their capacity as subcontractors, Chinese entrepreneurs
produce for both Italian firms interested in quick Excessive fragmentation and complexity, with long
deliveries and low labour costs and for those interested subcontracting chains, have, over time, essentially
in higher quality work that comply with employment created conditions that cannot be monitored and thus
rules. A survey conducted a few years ago through controlled:
interviews with Chinese businesses supplying Italian
firms showed that the most commonly cited names This is what happened in our district, which had a
were Armani, Ferré, Valentino, Versace and Max Mara30. tradition in the leather goods sector, a situation in
Indeed, quite a lot of Chinese subcontractors were which the grey market reigned supreme... Chinese
firms, unventilated basements..., the subcontracting
working with Italian firms. These firms are legal in terms
chain came right to the home, with family members
of taxation and employment aspects, but they pay the sticking on the label.
penalty for working in a subcontracting system focussed
on constant cost-cutting. One trade union representative (textile entrepreneur, Florence, 2013)
says:
In production areas in Campania too, the arrival of
Despite now being a not insubstantial link in Asian immigrants, Chinese and Pakistani in particular,
Tuscany’s supply chain, in particular in the luxury gave preference to the use of low-cost labour (fuelling
sector, Chinese businesses usually stay in the
the exploitation of foreign workers) and created strong
shadows.
competition with local labour. In recent years, Chinese
(trade union representative from Prato area, 2013) and Pakistani businesses have presented themselves
directly as entrepreneurs in the garment-making
business. The Chinese have now taken over much of the
sales of fabrics and accessories for sewing activities:

The Chinese produce with final prices that local

A business kept in the shadows entrepreneurs could not even offer to cover their
costs. Many small owners have closed down their
Chinese entrepreneurs complained about the fact workshops and, if they had a special skill, they are
now working as employees for more stable firms. A
that they had to deal with Italian businesses who
friend who was the owner of a small firm that made
would say ‘this is the the price I pay” . Then, when leather jackets is now working with me, because
they saw they were Chinese, they would say, ‘no, Chinese production pushed the firm completely out
wait, it’s half that’. Just seeing a Chinese person of the market. Today in Grumo [province of Naples],
meant being able to manoeuvre more with the there are a large number of Pakistani businesses
price. But the opposite can also happen, where a making women’s garments.
firm may not wish to showcase the Chinese presence
in the business, even if it works with declared firms, (cutter worker, Naples area, 2013)
because it is afraid to let people know it is working
with the Chinese.

30 Antonella Ceccagno; Le migrazioni dalla Cina verso l’Italia e l’Eu-

ropa nell’epoca della globalizzazione, in Antonella Ceccagno (a cura di),
Migranti a Prato : il distretto tessile multietnico, Milano, Franco Angeli,
20 2003, p. 25-68
Two television programmes looking at the world of high and there is a gas canister. Windowless places, and
fashion broadcast in 2007 and 2008 revealed for the first the stairs taking you down to the production zone
time to the general public the very close ties in place are probably packed with cardboard boxes filled with
between undeclared Chinese factories operating in the fabrics. I am always reading about the inspections
performed by the Guardia di Finanza on Chinese
control-free subcontracting chain and the luxury sector,
subcontractors. They close them down, but then
both Italian and foreign, with production activities in they re-open. How do they do it? They open it in
Italy: Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Dior, Ferré, their wife’s name, her name and the firm’s name are
Ferragamo, Valentino, Burberry, Chanel, Max Mara and different. But then, this economy brings money into
Louis Vuitton.31 Italy, so perhaps the authorities turn a blind eye to it,
otherwise the top brands would not be here.32

(auditor, 2014)

Speed, at the expense In Riviera del Brenta, the type of production – women’s
shoes of medium-high quality – requires sophisticated
of workers production techniques and a particularly skilful
workforce. The degree of relocation to other countries
is less than in other sectors due to the need to maintain
The Italian public was very upset by news of the tragedy
quality levels and meet production deadlines. There are,
of the Chinese low-cost clothes factory that went up in
however, many firms that resort to relocation to eastern
flames in December 2013 in Prato, killing seven people
Europe, in particular for the hemming phase.
in a part of the city where dozens of industrial sites
were located, almost all rented to Chinese garment The need to keep production costs low and to prepare
makers operating in the underground economy. collections very quickly has driven businesses to resort
Working conditions brought to mind images from other increasingly the use of to local contractors, in particular
countries: round-the-clock work, illegal employment of Chinese workshops, whose number has grown since the
illegal immigrants, beds created on mezzanine floors year 2000. The percentage of foreign-owned firms has
used as dormitories, doors and windows barred with risen considerably in recent years, a situation that is also
gratings. This tragedy highlighted the inability of public the result of the closure of numerous businesses. The
institutions and prevention bodies, such as INAIL’s labour estimated number of Chinese enterprises varies and can
Inspectorate, for years the victims of economic cuts and be assumed to be around a hundred. Chinese enterprises
restructuring, to ensure an efficient public system to can work directly on behalf of luxury brands or, more
monitor the health and safety of workers. often, form part of the subcontracting chain, combining
low-quality production with medium or high-quality
An auditor of working conditions for leading foreign
output. The key aspect relating to the use of Chinese
brands that have suppliers in Italy says:
workshops does not appear to be just cost cutting, but
When the client asks me to go to a Chinese also the extreme flexibility of working times, ensuring
subcontractor, it is for a full audit. When I go around almost real-time responses to production needs, as an
the production area, I check the papers, I try to talk Armani manager says:
to employees. But it’s very difficult, because they do
not speak Italian, and even if I have an interpreter, You have to admit that the Chinese are extremely
they do not trust me. At first sight, you may see competitive as regards the time factor. The Chinese
nothing unusual, apart from enormous quantities firms we work with are all correctly registered [with
of cloth everywhere, because they naturally the Chamber of commerce] and certified, above all
have large orders. Perhaps the sites are poorly we go and visit them, they come here, they have a
maintained, but that is often also a trait of Italian responsiveness and a flexibility that local businesses
subcontractors. The problem starts when you ask for struggle to achieve. But we also have some excellent
documentation, when you ask to see the chamber local [Italian] entrepreneurs.
of commerce registration, standards certification, (manager, 2014)
when you ask for information about the person
renting out the building, or registration of personnel
at the employment office. They might have one or
two employees registered with the employment
office, but they may not actually be among those
working there at that time. The main problems of
Chinese subcontractors are illegal labour and the
non-management of health and safety. They might
have a fire extinguisher, but it is empty, they have
dormitories like those in the factory that burnt
down in Prato last month. I have seen a number
of dormitories, and I can assure you that they are
terrible, because 15 people are expected to sleep in a
room as big as this one, there is space for the kitchen

31 Schiavi del lusso, 2 December 2007; Disoccupati del lusso, 18 May

2008 (“Report” programme broadcast on RAI 3). 32 Interview of Campagna Abiti Puliti, January 2014. 21
 In some cases production is low quality. A former female A ‘creative’ solution to reduce production costs, maintain
worker, for instance, notes: control over quality of the product and avoid situations of
illegality is to ‘incorporate’ the Chinese subcontractor into
The upper shoes to be sewn were cut inside [in the the firm, reserving a unit for its activities. This solution
factory] then they were given out, then they did has been chosen by one of Italy’s biggest industrial dye-
everything themselves. They gave them to you
works:
already sewn, then they were moulded. The stitching
was not well done. The big brands, like Dior, knew
Inside our structure, we have a Chinese firm,
how they were done. But you know, they always
with which we collaborate, not just for labour
work, and ask for little. When we went on holiday,
cost reasons. They do all machine work on jeans
we would come back and there would be a lot of
[brushing, papersanding, chemical fading, etc.,
work ready to do, they had already done everything.
editor’s note]. But we have provided the best
They always worked on Saturday and Sunday.
technologies, the laser unit is managed by them,
with the supervision of one of our engineers, but
(former factory worker, 2013)
the personnel are Chinese. The Chinese are very
productive, take fewer breaks and are more efficient.
In recent years, law enforcement agencies and labour Personnel are hired legally by a company managed
inspectors have performed a number of operations to by Chinese, in accordance with Italian employment
combat illegal labour, which have involved suppliers for rules. They perform repetitive, mechanical
well-known brands such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, operations that Italian workers do not want to do
Dior and others. Over time, the presence of Chinese any more. They prefer to monitor machinery and do
businesses has ended up being a source of conflict, and more gratifying jobs. It would have been difficult for
both some local businesses and trade union organisations us to replace retiring workers. If we find them, they
have complained about the unsustainability of the are immigrants, in particular Senegalese33.
system. In 2013, the provincial union leaders of Filctem- (owner of industrial dye-works, 2013)
Cgil reported that half of Riviera output was through
Chinese workshops.

Big companies, leading brand names, are beginning

to play on the price of the product. So, I have to
make 100 heels? You are asking for 40 a heel? I ask
you if you can do it for 20. Why? Because I can find
someone that will do it for 20, perhaps even less:
they are the Chinese. It is clear that, at that point,
a war breaks out in Riviera del Brenta, and indeed
in the sector as a whole, between those asking for
legality and those who try to handle the situation
in their own way. There are those who are brave
enough to report the situation, and indeed nine
months ago the Heel-makers Association was
formed, as they are the hardest hit by the Chinese.

(CGIL trade union official, Venice, 2013)

22 33 Interview of Campagna Abiti Puliti, April 2013.

 ganisation of work, working hours, job duties,

4 CHAPTER
worker training, etc.), with special reference to
economic incentives in the form of production
or attendance bonuses.

Wages and contracts Company agreements are not mandatory, and their
application depends on the rate of unionisation within
firms (which is generally higher in larger-sized firms),
on the ability of firms to generate profits, and on the
readiness of employers to invest economic resources in
A host of contracts, a host innovation and better working conditions.

of contractual levels The main national collective agreements governing

the textile-clothing and footwear sector are the Textile
Clothing Fashion CCNL for industrial operators, the
In Italy, as in some other EU countries (Austria, Cyprus,
Footwear CCNL for industrial operators, and the Textile
Denmark, Finland and Sweden), there is no compulsory
Clothing Footwear CCNL for craft firms.
minimum wage. The level of pay is established by bargai-
ning among social partners, namely between employers’ Contracts for craft firms differ considerably from those
associations and trade union organisations, through na- for industrial enterprises in terms of pay, with a gap of
tional collective labour agreements in different sectors. about €150-200 per month (before taxes). To be defined
as such by Chambers of Commerce, craft firms cannot
We should stress that contractual pay levels are pre-
employ more than 19 workers, even though the type
tax values. The actual figures that workers will pocket
of production may be similar to that of industrial firms.
are therefore influenced by tax rates and social securi-
They employ about 200,000 people, including 75,000
ty withholdings. While withholdings for social security
employees, out of a total of 750,000 workers in the
contributions can be quantified at about 10%, tax rates
fashion industry as a whole (textiles, clothing, footwear,
are impossible to calculate in advance, because they are
leather goods, tanning, eyewear, fashion accessories)34
significantly influenced by the number of family depen-
dents. While, for a big name company, labour costs do not
normally exceed 8%-10% of sales revenue, the cost for
While they have lost a measure of their powers of repre-
a craft firm can represent up to 80% of sales revenue,
sentation in recent years due to reduced membership
in relation to the considerably lower ability to generate
and, more generally, a fall in the number of workers,
income35. Small and very small enterprises may also
Italy’s trade unions, some of the strongest in the We-
choose to apply the contract applicable to industrial
stern world, still retain their negotiating power. The past
concerns, which, unlike the craft contract, contemplates
twenty years have seen the emergence of ‘uncharacteri-
payment of a contribution to the earnings supplement
stic’ forms of employment in the production sector (for
fund, partly covering pay-outs to employees in periods
example project-based contracts, and various forms of
when production has been halted due to economic
temporary employment), and this, combined with the
crises. Craft firms are exempted from paying in this
difficulties observed in bringing wages into line with pri-
contribution, but, consequently, they are not permitted
ce rises through the mechanism of contracts, has fuelled
to take advantage of it.
the debate on the level of economic protection required
for workers. The mandatory minimum wage, like the
basic (so-called citizenship) income or social income for
workers removed from the production process, is one of
the proposals currently being discussed. In Italy, only the
old age pension has minimum levels set by national laws.

The current contractual model is based on two levels:

• the national collective agreement (level I con-

tract) (CCNL), valid for three years, which go-
verns employment relationships and general
rules regarding economic and regulatory tre-
atment.

• the company agreement (level II contract), of

the same duration, entered into by the emplo-
yer and trade union representatives elected by
workers in the workplace. The company agre-
ement governs matters delegated thereto by
the national agreement (for example, the or- 34 Trade union source, August 2014.
35 Trade union source, August 2014. 23
 Table 5
Clothing industry: overview of minimum contractual pay
before tax withholdings and social security contributions
Textile Clothing Fashion CCNL for industrial operators – 2014-2016, with gradual
wage rises (13 monthly payments) (*)

Monthly pay 2014 € Monthly pay 2015 € Monthly pay 2016 €

Worker category Position (simplified) before taxes before taxes before taxes

5 Tailor/Couturier 1.640,45 1.713,70 1.734,05

4 Cutting 1.557,51 1.629,51 1.649,51

3 Complete garment making 1.522,81 1.592,06 1.611,29

2 Simple garment making 1.415,57 1.479,01 1.496,63

(*) to be added to the above minimum values:

• individual rises dependent on length of service in the same

firm;

• payments set down in company agreements. If company

agreements are not entered into, workers will in any case
be paid €280 a year before taxes. Bearing in mind that the
previous contract had established an amount of €200 for
the same purpose, considered to be an acquired right, if no
company agreement is concluded, each worker receives a
total of €480 a year.36

Table 6
Footwear industry: overview of minimum contractual pay
before tax withholdings and social security contributions
Footwear CCNL for industrial operator – 2013-2015, with gradual wage rises
(13 monthly payments) (*)

Monthly pay 2015 Monthly pay 2015

Monthly pay 2014 €
Worker category Job (simplified) (January) (July)
before taxes € before taxes € before taxes

Hemming/cutting/
4 1.563,50 1.626,50 1.649,50
pre-assembly - high quality

3S Cutting/stitching/pre-assembly 1.529 1.590 1.612

3 Sewing/soles/heels 1.495 1.555 1.577

2 Simple processes 1.420,50 1.477,50 1.498,50

(*) to be added to the above minimum values:

• individual rises relating to length of service in the same firm;

• any payments set down in company agreements;

• €200 before taxes per annum for all employees from firms
not entering into a company agreement.

24 36 Trade union source, August 2014.

Table 7
Craft-based clothing-footwear sector: overview of
minimum contractual pay before tax withholdings and
social security contributions
Textiles Clothing Fashion CCNL for craft firms – 2014-2016,
with gradual wage rises (13 monthly payments)

Monthly pay unchanged Monthly pay 2014-2016 Monthly pay 2014-

Worker Job (simplified) vis-à-vis previous CCNL (*) € before taxes 2016(*) € before taxes
category 2010-2012 € before taxes Textiles-clothing Footwear

1.311,75 (Textiles-Clothing)
4 Workers, complex tasks 1.319,20 (Footwear)

Workers, medium 1.283,03 (2014) 1.290,56 (2014)

3 difficulty tasks 1.323,03 (2016) 1.330,80 (2016)

2 Workers, simple tasks 1.203,47 (Textiles-Clothing)

1.211,67 (Footwear)

(*) the renewal of the contract in July 2014 provided for a €65 rise per
annum for level 3 workers. To be added to the above minimum values:

• individual rises relating to length of service in the same firm;

• any payments set down in company agreements.

25
 Company bargaining Less favourable
Company bargaining (or geographical bargaining if employment contracts
defined, for example, and more rarely, in terms of
industrial district) is used to conclude contracts that are Wages paid to workers in the fashion industry, which are
valid for three years, like the collective agreement, and, generally among the lowest in the manufacturing sector,
in economic terms, seeks to reward workers with wage are threatened by the existence of collective labour
rises as they attain pre-determined productivity and agreements which, being recognised as valid and binding
efficiency goals (results-based or productivity-based at a national level (subject to limitations, described in
bonus), depending on the firm’s ability to generate more detail below), have passed under the radar, but
profits. nonetheless represent a serious and concrete danger
were they to be widely adopted by manufacturers,
Worker pay resulting from level II agreements is, and not only those most exposed to product price
therefore, a variable component of the pay structure. To competition.
encourage more widespread use of company bargaining,
incentives are subject to tax and social security relief. While there are no definite numbers, there are thousands
of workshops and micro-enterprises in Italy, and primarily
In the Italian fashion sector, only about 10% of firms, in southern regions, operating in the garment-making
or 25%-30% of workers, enter into level II agreements37 sector that perform standard production activities with
(compared with 22%-25% in 1998/99, and only 5% in minimal diversification, often working only for one client,
2006 for larger companies)38.This can be explained by the on behalf of leading fashion brands. These are firms that
substantial percentage of small firms in the total, often employ a limited number of workers, often fewer than
with limited economic leverage, and with little trade ten, and operate by sailing very close to wind, in terms
union presence. of legality.

The company agreement can govern other non-economic In the late 1990s, attempts were made to remedy
aspects: according to a recent trade union (CISL) study39 these illegal situations through so-called ‘re-alignment
on supplementary agreements concluded in the period contracts’, trade union agreements that permitted a
2009-2012 across all manufacturing industry categories, gradual adjustment over some years in terms of pay levels
the areas most frequently addressed are, in order and regulations envisaged by national agreements, for
of importance, wages, crisis management (earnings enterprises that wanted to escape from the underground
supplement fund, solidarity contracts, restructuring), economy and legalise their undeclared labour situations.
trade union rights, working hours, supplementary welfare Our survey does not extend to an examination of the
payments and vocational training. The question of equal results achieved through this initiative. It is unfortunately
opportunities languishes, with other less important evident that illegal employment, or employment subject
issues, towards the bottom of this list. to varying degrees of illegality, has not been defeated
in this sector, while numerous small firms forming part
of the supply chains of leading companies in the sector,
which were operating legally, have been forced to leave
the market.

Rather than attempting to use negotiating power

and representation to combat the excessive power of
sourcing companies that unilaterally set the conditions
and prices for orders (according to a representative of an
employers’ association; entering into a less favourable
contract ‘at least 50% lower than what it should be’),
which made it necessary in 1998 to promulgate a law
establishing certain obligations for sourcing companies
(contract in written form, known prices, payment within
60-90 days, no abuse of dominant position), some small
associations of contractors have made efforts in recent
years to impose reduced wage and labour protections
for their employees, by means of collective labour
agreements.

The first such labour contract to be recognised as

37 Trade union source, August 2014. a national agreement, being less favourable than
38 International, European and national report on negotiating and agreements concluded by the most representative
social dialogue activities: research project promoted by Ministry of Em-
ployment and Social Policy, [2010], p. 107. employers’ associations and trade unions, was concluded
39 CISL, Industrial relations in times of crisis: OCSEL data on level 2 in 2005 along the lines of agreements known as ‘pirate
26 bargaining in years 2009-2012, 2013.
contracts’ introduced in the late 1990s. This contract, and may discourage businesses from adopting the new
which cut pay and reduced acquired rights, expired one, thus limiting its spread, is the fact that the national
in 2009, but, because it was never terminated by the social security agency (INPS) has not so far granted social
signatories, it remains in force. security contribution relief to signatory enterprises,
due to reservations about the representativeness
We have not been able to quantify the number of of the contract. This may lay the foundations for an
businesses that have adopted this agreement, but it administrative dispute with the Government, which, if
could be in the hundreds, according to a representative resolved in favour of the signatories of the contract, would
of one of the signatory trade unions, who claims that in pave the way for widespread forms of ‘social dumping’ in
the province of Lecce (Apulia region) alone, an area with the sphere of contracts and unfair competition among
a high concentration of subcontracting workshops, 80% enterprises.
of firms continue to apply this text.
The agreement reached by the Italian leading trade
In 2013, a new agreement was entered into by ANPIT/ unions with Confindustria, the leading manufacturers’
LAIF on behalf of employers and CISAL for independent association, in 2011 on trade union representativeness,
trade unions, one that was more structured and cohesive by which only trade union organisations representing
than the previous agreement but still less favourable, as more than 5% of workers in the sector are allowed to sign
can be seen from the table below on minimum pay: national collective agreements for that sector, should in
theory clear the way for the renewal of agreements that
attempt to introduce less favourable labour conditions.
Table 8
Whatever the future of agreements such as this one, they
Subcontracting work: overview of minimum contractual are nevertheless a clear manifestation of an unhealthy
pay before tax withholdings and social security contribu- situation, the practical consequences of which are felt
tions most by the workers. This is a situation that requires
sourcing companies to be responsible for the operation
CCNL employees of subcontracting firms 2013-2016 (13 monthly payments) of their own supply chains, wherever they are located.

Percentage compared
Monthly pay 2013-2014 Monthly pay 2015-2016
Worker category Job (simplified) to most representative
€ before taxes € before taxes CCNL

3 Tailor/Couturier 1.150,00 1.190,00 69%

4 Cutting 960,00 995,00 60%

5 Complete garment making 870,00 900,00 56%

6 Simple garment making 810,00 835,00 56%

no comparison due to
7 Simple processes 760,00 782,00 lack of similar function in
national CCNL

This contract is also less favourable than those in place in

terms of trade union rights, working hours, overtime pay,
and supplements for illness, maternity and injury.

In the preamble to the document, the signatory

organisations explain their point of view:

‘The single, real problem for contractors, arising from a

lack of contractual power, is that clients impose the price
for processing of the ‘order’, which makes it impossible
to organise efficient planning within the firm and actually
pushes firms towards various forms of illegal operation,
adopted by firms in the sector in order to reduce their
labour costs.

It therefore follows that the ‘subcontractor system’

does not feel the need to apply a simple contract
of employment, but rather to apply a contract for
employment’.

What has made it difficult to apply the previous contract,

27
 CHAPTER 5
The actual
wage situation

Wages broken down

by firm and job
Our field survey, which was limited to the regions of
Veneto, Lombardy, Tuscany and Campania, shows that
wages in the first three of these regions are essentially in
line with the national average. The situation in Campania
is more precarious, as it is dominated by small enterprises
being crushed by the crisis.

Our survey also noted that wages in factories run directly

by top brands are generally higher than in those making Table 9
up the rest of the supply chain. The factories run by
major brands are also those in which company bonuses Average monthly pay (net) of factory workers and
are most frequently applied, and where supplementary office workers in the Clothing sector for some Ita-
pay benefits are provided, making these wages
lian regions. 2010
significantly higher than average wages earned in other
establishments. Source: INPS data processed by us

Region Total workers Average wage Total workers Average wage Total workers Average wage

M M F F MF MF

Factory workers
Lombardy 6.007 1.264 16.264 1.140 22.271 1.169

Veneto 6.493 1.168 17.850 1.099 24.343 1.116

Emilia-Romagna 4.596 1.165 10.979 1.227 15.575 1.211

Tuscany 10.337 1.008 14.906 1.081 25.243 1.054

Marche 2.329 1.244 8.170 1.172 10.499 1.186

Campania 4.418 1.196 7.124 1.067 11.542 1.116

Apulia 2.579 1.248 11.266 1.066 13.845 1.106

Total Italy 41.457 1.176 106.797 1.126 148.254 1.139

Office workers
Lombardy 1.955 2.374 6.127 1.773 8.082 1.925

Veneto 2.527 2.339 6.209 1.735 8.736 1.914

Emilia-Romagna 1.219 2.211 4.712 1.742 5.931 1.841

Tuscany 1.034 2.230 2.856 1.721 3.890 1.859

Marche 435 2.303 1.013 1.632 1.448 1.835

Campania 572 1.834 882 1.279 1.454 1.506

Apulia 619 1.494 1.012 1.223 1.631 1.328

28
Total Italy 10.655 2.200 28.024 1.700 38.679 1.841
Wages in tanneries are also slightly higher than the
average. Workers in this sector, however, are exposed to
more exhausting and more unhealthy working conditions,
and to fluctuations in orders, and thus are employed
more frequently on fixed-term contracts. The situation is
different in the network of small and micro-enterprises
that operate primarily doing subcontracting work. In
this case, the wage structure in Tuscany is basically in
line with the national average, with some differences
between industrial firms (€1,200) and craft firms (€1,100).
The biggest differences are associated with jobs such as
assembly, where wages are up to around €2,000, while
apprentices rarely earn more than €900.

Table 10
Average monthly pay (net) of factory workers and office
workers in the Footwear sector for some Italian regions.
2010
Source: INPS data processed by us

Region Total workers Average wage Total workers Average wage Total workers Average wage

M M F F MF MF

Factory workers
Lombardy 4.381 1.580 4.958 1.292 9.339 1.429

Veneto 11.047 1.704 9.012 1.251 20.059 1.507

Emilia-Romagna 2.186 1.604 3.408 1.253 5.594 1.390

Tuscany 14.928 1.654 16.074 1.281 31.002 1.465

Marche 12.773 1.468 12.358 1.238 25.131 1.358

Campania 7.957 1.333 4.654 1.086 12.611 1.251

Apulia 3.398 1.361 1.803 1.136 5.201 1.296

Total Italy 59.175 1.556 55.184 1.245 114.359 1.410

Office workers
Lombardy 1.060 2.621 2.322 1.949 3.382 2.172

Veneto 2.216 2.725 3.078 1.688 5.294 2.134

Emilia-Romagna 385 2.454 1.088 1.733 1.473 1.922

Tuscany 2.385 2.636 3.948 1.830 6.333 2.142

Marche 1.612 2.159 2.577 1.492 4.189 1.755

Campania 613 1.872 734 1.276 1.347 1.564

Apulia 378 1.716 287 1.244 665 1.528

Total Italy 9.228 2.456 14.972 1.699 24.200 1.997

29
 Many workers, especially women, would like to change
Focus on Veneto job:

I would really like to change my job. The first thing

Monthly wages for the vast majority of factory workers in I would do is change my wage, although it would
the Veneto region are around €1,100-€1,300 after taxes be better to work fewer hours and receive the same
in industrial firms and €1,000 in craft firms. In 2007, the wage, especially for a woman.
average net wage was about €1,140 for factory workers
and €1,600 for office workers. Apprentices took home (woman worker in footwear sector, 2013)
no more than €730 a month, while home-based workers
were making around €850. On the other hand, top
management figures earned about €8,500 a month.

According to data gathered and interviews conducted

with male and female workers and key stakeholders, we
can estimate that 70%-75% of personnel in the footwear
sector in Riviera del Brenta receive a wage of €1,000-
1,200, or in any case not above that figure, as in the case
of apprentices. 10%-12% of workers, primarily standard
office workers, earn between €1,200 and €1,500. 8%-
10% of workers hired as skilled factory or office workers
earn from €1,500 to €2,000, while 4%-5% of workers earn
more than €2,000 a month. Some workers also receive
family allowances, which increase their monthly wage by
a few tens or at most a few hundred euros.

Men’s wages are higher because of the types of job for

which they are employed, such as assembly or cutting, for
which they often receive extra allowances over minimum
pay, enabling them to earn a decent and, in some cases,
quite high salary. For a particularly skilled cutter with
some management responsibilities, the average wage
can be around €1,900. On the other hand, initial wage
levels for apprentices are around €800, increasing to
€900 after a few years.

At the beginning, I was getting €700-€750 as an

apprentice, now I get €1,100-€1,150 ... I’ve always
done the same hours. I left school early. I worked as
an apprentice, but I was doing practically the same
things. I began by gluing soles, now I put nails in
heels, and remove pieces from the mould... I’ve been
working here for seven years, and I’ve done three-
four jobs, it’s not so much. Simple tasks in any case
... I work on the conveyor belt, the work is quick, very
quick. Now it’s quicker, before you could say it was
normal.

(Bangladeshi footwear worker, 2013)

The wages of foreign workers are usually lower, because

they work more often in small enterprises. In any case,
some of these workers have developed good professional
skills, and some years of service. An immigrant worker
with fifteen years’ service at level 4, for instance, claims
he receives a wage of €1,400, plus €200 for family
allowances for his dependent wife and children. The
range of wages is quite marked in large enterprises.
Levels relate not only to job type, but also to experience
and readiness to meet production needs.

30
 Yes, they also told me that have made
Focus on Tuscany workers temporarily redundant and…
Yes, they get them to work off the books. Yes, that
The wage structure in Tuscany is basically in line with happens too. Every Wednesday, we have a meeting,
the national average, with some differences between and every Wednesday we say the usual things,
but ... where we have found out about alleged
industrial firms (€1,200) and craft firms (€1,100). irregularities, we have acted to remedy the situation.
The biggest differences relate to jobs such as assembly, Where workers have talked to us, we have said to
for which wages can be up to around €2,000, while the firm: ‘either you put your house in order, or we
will report you’. In those cases, the firm has paid the
apprentices generally do not earn more than €900. The workers and straightened things out. It is workers
entry of the big names of fashion has, however, changed that have told us, you cannot do it yourself.
the pay scene: in the district of Scandicci, for example,
wages are around €1,500 a month after taxes for (trade union representative, Prato, 2013)
entry-level employment, and around €3,000 for skilled
workers, compared with monthly average pay after Workers may also be hired as apprentices, but doing level
taxes of €1,235 earned by employees in Tuscany in 2012. I or II tasks and working the whole day. And there is also
Hourly rates are thus around €8.80, which is basically in the common practice of undeclared payments.
line, and even a little above, the Italian average. Despite I used to work in a textile firm, I had worked there for
this, the instability of demand, the small size of firms 11 years. It was a terrible beginning, I was working
and the pressure of competition have led to cost cutting from 6 in the morning to 8 at night, with a half hour
and the use of illegal labour or, in any case, forms of break.
undeclared work. This is compounded by the entry of
foreign operators, above all Chinese, acting both within 14 hours?
and outside the law. These form the basis for comparison
Yes, absolutely! If I wanted to work ... as an
used by many Italian firms to determine costs. However, apprentice! Not usually, but it was that or nothing.
probably the most interesting fact in this context is not so
much the spread of undeclared work as the presence in You joined as an apprentice?
many businesses of both legal and undeclared work, the
latter of which takes different forms. For example, this Yes
includes workers made temporarily redundant and then
called back to the firm to work in the usual way alongside Were you paid?
workers not affected by redundancies, as a trade union
representative from Prato recounts: Yes, there was a normal pay packet, then an
off-book payment.
The spread of undeclared work? Pretty much everyone tells me similar
In the clothing sector, yes, with the Chinese. In fact, things. Did you always receive off-book
everywhere, also in Italian firms. Relations are ‘going payments in those 11 years?
Chinese’.
No, only for the first six years, then there was an
incident in the firm, someone was making money
out of it.
They are... ? Going Chinese? What do you mean?
Yes, because in this phase of the crisis, people do
what they can to get by, if you don’t have a job, you Well. It’s true [directed at trade unionist] he took
do moonlighting. Some workers have been offered practically ... it is said the owner knew nothing about
jobs working for €2-€3 an hour, Italians! Working in it. I had 600,000-700,000 lire in my pay packet, and I
spinning units, twisting units, in craft firms! They also received 1,200,000, 1,300,000.
say to you: ‘well, you’re out of work, you can come
and work for €2 or €3’, i.e. what the Chinese pay in So you were earning about 1,800,000?
production.
In the end I was earning 4,000,000! But it was all ...
we were working from 6 in the morning to 9 or 10
o’clock at night.
They are lowering the cost of labour.
Yes, through moonlighting! A worker might be So no set working hours.
getting something from the earnings supplement
fund, working zero hours, and then goes to Yes
moonlight somewhere else, to do another job, and
they give him ... say, with the unemployment benefit (textile worker, Pistoia, 2013)
he gets €4, and then he gets another €4 off the
books. You see? This is happening. Nobody says it in
so many words, but everyone knows.

31
 For workers being made redundant and paid welfare
Focus on Campania support, pay levels are lower, and home-based work is
prevalent, often at the request of the worker. Piecework
Wages in Campania are not generally very high, partly is based on individual bargaining, with a few exceptions,
because wages in the region are very low to begin without any sort of contractual relationship, and is
with and also because of the widespread practice of characterised by very low pay levels.
undeclared wages. Larger firms, too, pay lower wages
For undeclared workers in the footwear sector, pay is
than those in Northern Italy, because of the absence of
generally fixed on a daily basis. The average pay is €40
company bargaining and because the contractual levels
a day, but this rate can be higher for skilled workers.
laid down by national collective labour agreements are
For the productions of uppers, pay is around €30/€35.
not recognised (the phenomenon of classification in a
This type of work also depends on the period, as this is
lower work category). These differences can be seen to
a sector that experiences production peaks at certain
a certain extent in comparisons with other production
times of the year. In the winter, work is concentrated on
areas. While pay in Campania is undoubtedly lower for
production for the summer, and so on. With regard to
factory workers in the footwear sectors compared with
home-based work (preparation of uppers and in some
Veneto and Tuscany, wage rates in the clothing sector are
cases cutting as well), the CCNL sets a pay rate halfway
practically the same. The same gender differences exist
between piecework and the conditions in place for
in terms of pay levels as in other regions. In a context that
factory workers, but this figure is purely indicative, given
is extremely varied, due to the co-existence of both legal
the fact that this work is very often performed illegally40.
and undeclared work, with differences even in the sphere
of off-book labour, the comments made by one of the
workers interviewed are quite revealing when he talks
about real pay levels, with reference to work regulated
by contracts:

The wage you actually earn is never what is declared

in the pay slip, it’s either less (bogus pay) or higher
(e.g. overtime paid off the books, one-off payments,
etc.)
(cutter in clothing sector, 2014)

In firms operating as subcontractors, pay is even lower.

In subcontracting firms, wage levels and working hours
vary enormously depending on the degree of legality of
the contracts: these range from workers hired illegally at
a rate of €700-€800 a month who often work more than
eight hours a day, to those hired under so-called ‘non-
standard’ contracts, often in ‘grey’ employment, earning
€1,000 or more a month working hours well beyond the
limits laid down in the corresponding contract.

Workers hired without contracts usually receive ‘day-

based’ pay, in other words, they get paid at the end of the
day, and rates are set according to the working needs of
that day or period. Their pay also depends on age, gender,
experience and professional status (e.g. temporarily laid
off and/or redundant workers).

The four people employed without a contract are

paid a daily amount of €55, but for newcomers,
the entry-level pay in hand falls to €20. For skilled
workers working without a contract, the agreed pay
is generally €60-€70 an hour. This is called day-based
pay, because ‘hires’ are never for a fixed period of
time, but are more based on completing a production
batch (...). Recently, a temporarily redundant worker
said he was willing to work as a cutter for this level
of pay, and to do some of the work (or all of it) at
home, still a very widely used method of production,
especially in the winter, when the footwear produced
changes to products like boots, which require the 40 For footwear production, people working at home are paid by
piecework according to the number of pairs they make, and pay also
binding of heels and insoles. depends on the pattern. Pay varies from €2 to €5, but €5 means that
(shoe cutter, 2014) fewer than 10 pairs are made a day, as it means the shoe takes longer to
make. In the case of footwear, as we have already noted, the most com-
mon tasks outsourced to home-based workers and paid on a piecework
32 basis are those of hemming.
The extent of Some final considerations
off-book payments Despite all the anomalies resulting from illegal work
and off-book payments, the table below shows that,
It is difficult to define actual wage levels when the generally speaking, the average wages declared by
practice of paying overtime off the books is so widespread, workers interviewed with valid employment contracts in
and, in any case, there is often no correlation between the three regions under review do not differ significantly
contract types (including in terms of working hours) and from those calculated for 2010 based on figures made
corresponding pay, as we can see from the very common available by INPS for factory and office workers in the
situation of workers employed under part-time contracts footwear and clothing sectors. These pay levels are
but working eight or more hours, or personnel being basically uniform, and should be considered net of
hired with a different pay grade so as to keep pay levels overtime hours and bonuses or one-off payments, such as
down, even for specialist job tasks: attendance bonuses, extra allowances above minimum
levels, production bonuses or family allowances. The
A medium-skilled factory worker usually earns €900
differences between wages in the clothing and footwear
a month, which increases to €1,500-€1,800 for
quality control workers. However, these are often
sectors are due to the presence of more skilled workers in
hired as secretaries if they are women. Off-book the latter sector.
payments are a very common practice.

(former sales manager, Naples area, 2013)

I make €50 a day, so about €1,000 a month, but if I Table 11

work on Saturday morning, I get €50 for the whole
day. In any case, I formally have a part-time, fixed-
term contract, but I’ve been working with this firm Average wages declared by factory workers
for six years full-time, it’s as if I had an open-ended interviewed in the three regions covered by the survey
contract. Source: our direct survey

People working in a sole factory usually get around

€850 a month, although pay varies according Factory
to skills and age; the younger you are, the less Factory Skilled workers
workers-
experience they think you have, so the less you get Region workers - (e.g. assemblers,
industrial
craft firms shoe-makers)
paid. (...) In this sector, three out of four workers firms
who have an open-ended contract never get what it
says on their pay slips, either because they get less,
or they get more, with off-book payments. Here, Tuscany € 1.100 € 1.200 up to € 2.000
we have workers, especially younger ones, who
are unable to read the pay slip, who confuse gross
Veneto € 1.000 € 1.300 up to € 1.900
and net figures, who don’t know whether there is
payment of holidays not taken, and things like that,
basically, they don’t know what a pay slip is, when it
Campania € 900 € 1.300 up to € 1.800
comes or how to read it.

In this sector, there are still workers, especially

inexperienced youngsters, and I’m talking about
Italians, who are still earning (off the books) just €15
a day.

(shoe cutter, Naples area, 2013)

The presence of both undeclared work, but more

often ‘grey’ labour, and legal employment is a frequent
phenomenon in other areas, such as Tuscany, where the
crisis in the sector has seen an increase in the number of
workers temporarily laid off who are called back to the
firm to continue working ‘normally’.

On this basis, it is certainly true that ‘pay uncertainty’ and

contractual volatility are the real factors involved when
measuring pay levels.

33
 and has the benefit of access to networks of families and

CHAPTER 6 friends for support in dealing with family needs. Thus,

many families can rely on grandparents to look after their
children, while in other cases the possibility of growing

A living wage: their own produce can lead to considerable budget

savings.

from the workers’ From the interviews we conducted, workers have

point of view
indicated values for a living wage of €1,400-€1,500 in
Lombardy, €1,400 in Tuscany, and €1,700-€2,000 in
Veneto.

Low wages for One case study

expensive goods from Veneto
Our research has shown that workers have different points Carlo, a worker in the Brenta zone, lives alone in a house
of view about whether their wages are commensurate in the country. Carlo earns about €1,150 a month, plus a
with the cost of living. However, in most cases, they feel thirteenth payment (Christmas bonus) amounting to a
that their pay should be higher than what they actually little less than his monthly wage. Because he is employed
receive. Female workers, in particular, are among those in a large firm in the area, he is paid a productivity bonus
who believe that a pay packet of €1,100-€1,200 after in July or August, related to work attendance and the
taxes is a pittance. achievement of production targets. In his case, the bonus
is about €800.
Two factors, in particular, influence the pay level of each
worker: the value they produce, on the one hand, and all Over a period of about two years, Carlo’s average monthly
of the things they are able to purchase with their wage, expenses can be broken down as follows: food: about
on the other. These two elements are often interwoven, €230, small mortgage: €250, cigarettes: €150, gas, water,
but it is useful to separate them in analytical terms. electricity, waste collection bills and TV licence: about
€120, car (insurance, road tax, fuel, repairs, depreciation):
With regard to the first aspect, it is quite obvious that €110, animal feed, vegetable seeds and related expenses:
production of top quality shoes for leading brands, about €70, clothes and shoes: €50, meals out and other
which are then sold for high prices, clearly demonstrates expenses out: about €70, household appliances: about
the disparity between a worker’s wage and the market €30, healthcare: €10, telephone: €10.
value of a pair of shoes. These are goods that no female
worker could afford, except by resorting to purchases of Carlo’s average monthly expenses are €1,100. In
‘seconds’ within the firm at discounted prices or, as in percentage terms, we can divide this amount as follows:
the case of Armani, thanks to big discounts granted each 33.6% for foodstuffs (including indirect costs, such
year by the company to its employees for the purchase as animal feed); 36.4% for mortgage and housing-
of Armani products. From this standpoint, it is clear related costs (electricity, water, gas and depreciation of
that women workers, who are often hired at very low household appliances); 4.5% for clothing; 1% for mobile
contractual levels and with little likelihood of advancing phone charges; 4.5% for savings; 10% for transport;
in a career, are more often those highlighting the need healthcare 1%; 13.6% for other expenses (cigarettes).
for a higher wage. Their daily physical and mental
exertions, the effort required at work, and the pressure Carlo told us that, in recent years, he has given up his
from their bosses result in a product that has a visible and landline phone, as the cost of about €25 a month was too
high value. At the same time, the purchasing power of much, as well as a newspaper that he regularly bought.
their wages not only remains low, but has actually fallen He can count on informal help from some neighbours
in recent years. who give him stale bread for animals, or second-hand
clothes.
The second aspect refers to the quantity and quality of
goods and services that can be purchased by the wages
of male and female workers. Here, we need to consider
the fact that many workers, in particular women, live in
households in which there are at least two incomes, so
low wage levels can be offset by the total income earned
by the family. Perception of wage levels can in such cases
be less negative than for a family’s breadwinner, having
to rely on only one wage. We should also remember that
34 this workforce resides in small towns or in rural areas,
 to save a part of his monthly pay, as he is aware of the
Case studies from Tuscany fact that his company has reorganised the network of
local contractors, relocating production increasingly
In Tuscany, interviewees showed a certain reluctance eastwards: from Romania, Albania and Bulgaria towards
to declare the exact amount of their wages, due, as Indonesia, Malaysia and China, further cutting costs and
we have seen, to a contractual pay grade that may be procuring raw materials locally.
rather vague, and to the widespread practice of ‘off-
book’ payments. Most interviewees did not commit
themselves, giving responses such as ‘around’ or ‘more
or less’ €1,200. While almost all interviewees stated that
this figure is not sufficient to meet their daily needs, when The typical situation
asked how much they would need to live decently, they
added ‘only’ an extra €100-€200. This figure highlights
in Campania
a somewhat fragile monthly financial equilibrium, Moving on to Campania, the main element of the wage
where the situation could crumble with even a single structure that stands out in this region, as we have
unexpected expenditure, and demonstrates the gradual already seen, is the extensive use of undeclared work and
impoverishment of a broad swathe of the population corresponding forms of pay, and the use of ‘grey’ labour,
and the workforce. When faced by an unexpected which is in some respects even more widespread. This
expenditure or the loss of a job, some families could find represents the most significant distortion in the local
themselves just above the poverty line, and thus in a context, and ultimately has a considerable influence on
very similar position to families who are just below that the actual understanding of income levels. What seems
threshold. fairly certain, in any case, is that, at very low pay levels,
which in the case of totally ‘off-book’ pay can mean €500
From this point of view, a close relationship within the a month (assuming a daily rate of €20 for inexperienced
family group or even extended families living together, workers performing basic activities, a sort of entry-level
as was described in many interviews, becomes essential: wage), corresponding levels of consumption are very
My wage was adequate only because I own my own low. In the area of Naples, in some traditional working
home, and I live with my mother, who has a pension! class areas where undeclared employment is rife, we
So we can talk about a decent standard of living. must also consider that the total income of family units
is often indistinguishable in terms of family or individual
(textile worker, 2013) consumption, as is shown by the frequent existence of
family units sharing the same home.
This is confirmed by Emilio, a factory worker in a
footwear firm in the province of Pistoia, who lives alone Generally speaking, what we have seen from workers
in a privately owned property. Emilio’s wage fluctuates interviewed is a situation in which the only family income
depending on overtime worked (but is gradually falling) is that of the interviewee, with the wife often unemployed
from €1,150 to €1,200, plus a thirteenth monthly payment and with two dependent children. Considering an average
of the same amount and a productivity bonus paid in July, wage of €1,100, which can increase to about €1,200 with
which can vary, according to company bargaining, from family allowances for two underage dependent children,
a maximum of €900 to a minimum of €500 (in any case, the biggest spending items relate to housing (in many
never less than €400). Emilio lives on the outskirts of the cases, rent is one of the biggest costs). On average in the
city and does not have housing expenses, because he situations we encountered, the most frequent housing
lives in the part of the family house built by his parents situation involved rents of around €300. Spending on
and given to him. Emilio eats lunch in the firm’s canteen, food is a similar figure, an average of €100 a month
and spends a total of €130 a month for food, shopping in is spent on house-related bills (gas, water, electricity,
large retail supermarkets and discount stores, depending telephone); €50 for school-related costs; about €100 for
on what specials are available. About €120 a month is clothing (considering a family of four); and an unspecified
spent on house bills, with about €50 for tobacco, which he amount for healthcare spending, often for private sector
has begun to consume to save on the cost of cigarettes. services, considering the difficulties in obtaining access
Spending on his car is probably the biggest individual to public health services, and in some cases the quality
item, with the cost of petrol, car insurance, road tax and of those services. Then there are items like car insurance,
maintenance amounting to about €300 a month. This which, in Campania and especially in the province of
spending partly overlaps with the costs of his passion Naples, is the highest in Italy (annual premiums of €1,500
for hunting, and the cost of the licence, petrol and for small vehicles).
cartridges requires about €70 a month. Emilio believes
he is a ‘lucky’ worker, because his status as a single man Even bearing in mind a lower cost of living in this part of
without children and the use of the home provided by his the country, the incomes earned often provide levels of
parents mean that he can allow himself one or two treats, consumption that are barely sufficient for family needs, and
perhaps a pizza in the evening or visit to a nightclub, their sustainability over time is often made possible only by
at least once a week. He spends about €50 a month on the resources that can be provided by family members or by
clothes, making use of the company’s store, which grants a sort of extended family that is still quite common among
employees a 20% discount. He stated that he manages the working classes in the province of Naples. 35
 The increased use of the earnings supplement fund, in the worker that requests off-book payments in order to
the case of firms operating legally, has also helped to obtain the full sum, without paying any social security
weaken spending power despite price trends that have contributions) and support from family members. The
been weak in recent years for some products, food most common sacrifices reported by workers in ensuring
products in particular (this is not true for other spending that their families make it through the month are holidays
items, such as gas and electricity, or medical costs). and expenses for culture and leisure activities, as well as
medical check-ups and treatment.
It should therefore come as no surprise that most of
the opinions expressed by interviewees regarding pay The interviews also revealed that, in recent years, it has
reflected the view that wages were barely sufficient, or at become increasingly common for workers having to
the limits of sustainability in terms of their family needs. deal with unexpected, high costs, such as for property
This factor should help to illustrate the great readiness renovations and medical treatment (primarily dentistry),
among workers in these situations to do overtime and to to request cash advances from the supplementary
accept off-book payments, so that they can earn as much social insurance fund Previmoda, or similar funds in the
as possible. sector, into which the benefits accruing for the employee
severance fund are paid.

Some conclusions
The interviews we conducted revealed that, at current
wage levels, the majority of workers manage to live an
acceptable life only if they own their own home, with
no mortgage to pay, but they are unable to put money
aside to cope with any unexpected expenses. Factors
that are crucial as an addition to income, in particular for
single-income households made up of two adults and
one or two children, are overtime (where possible, it is

36
 CHAPTER 7
The living wage Food basket
threshold according The food basket includes a set of foodstuffs, sufficiently

to Istat
available on the market and widely used, that are able to
41 provide adequate nutrition. In addition to all nutrients
(proteins, vitamins, fatty acids, amino acids, etc.) needed
for the human organism to develop and stay healthy,
the basket also includes those compounds that are
useful for improving health through protective actions

Benchmark items (e.g. bioactive molecules such as antioxidants, plant

sterols and plant oestrogens, which can be found in large
quantities in fruits, vegetables and legumes).
Albeit for different reasons, Istat has already determined
calculation methods very similar to those used by the The nutritional needs of the individual, which vary
Asia Floor Wage Alliance, which can be used to define a according to gender and age, have been identified as
minimum living wage for Italy. This forms part of studies those officially summarised in recommended dietary
conducted into absolute poverty, defined as ‘a situation intakes (RDI) for Italians, which relate to healthy
in which the lack of resources is so severe as to represent individuals who do not have specific needs deriving from
a serious threat to life’. illnesses, special therapies or special diets.
In order to define the level of income required to To obtain a monetary valuation of individual combinations
attain a standard of living deemed to be the ‘minimum of foodstuffs, the data for consumer prices obtained by
acceptable’, Istat prepared a standard basket of essential Istat in the current year were used.
goods and services and calculated their value.
The monetary values for food combinations for men
Three macro-categories were defined: food, housing and and women in the various age groups show modest
other items, which essentially include adequate nutrition, differences. The gender difference was therefore
the availability of housing (of a size commensurate with eliminated, with the weighted average of values being
family size, heated and equipped with the principal calculated for men and women, by geographic region
utilities, durable consumer goods and accessories) and and age group.
the possibility of purchasing the minimum necessary in
order to be clothed, communicate, be informed, move Furthermore, based on the inconsistencies observed at
around, be educated and stay in good health. different ages, Istat decided to limit the age classification
to just six groups (0-3, 4-10, 11-17, 18-59, 60-74, 75+),
calculating the weighted average in each geographic
region for values relating to the age bands included in
each of the six groups.

41 Unless otherwise stated, the content of this chapter comes from

Istat, La misura della povertà assoluta, 2009. 37
 Table 12 PRODUCTS
FOOD
NAME DESCRIPTIONS
Comparison of foods included in the new absolute poverty
Potatoes Potatoes (all varieties)
basket and products included in the basket adopted to me-
asure consumer prices - 2005 Bread type 00 Bread
Type most sold in each
store (specify in variety).
Source: ISTAT Specify size
500 g packs, most
Durum wheat requested standard
PRODUCTS Durum wheat pasta
pasta format specifying variety,
FOOD excluding special formats
NAME DESCRIPTIONS
Polished rice Rice 1000 g packs, not parboiled
Milk Fresh milk, full Pasteurised, 1 1itre
Egg pasta Egg pasta Fettuccine in 250 g packs
UHT milk Semi-skimmed, 1 litre
Carrots Carrots
Sugar Sugar Granulated, 1 kg
Lettuce ‘Cappuccia’ lettuce
Grana cheese Grana padano cheese
Salad Romaine lettuce
Pecorino romano Pecorino cheese
cheese Salad tomatoes (all
Salad tomatoes varieties)
Mozzarella cheese ‘Fior di latte’, cow’s milk One piece
Chard Swiss chard (all varieties)
Mild or strong; pack or by
Caciottina cheese Provolone cheese weight (specify in variety) Oranges Oranges (all varieties)
Pack or by weight
Gruyère Apples Apples (all varieties)
(specify in variety)
Pack or by weight Pears Pears (all varieties)
Groviera francese Gruyère (specify in variety)
Bottle 1 litre, excluding mill
Cleaned, gizzard removed, Olive oil Extra virgin olive oil and vitamin-rich oils
head and feet removed,
Whole chicken Fresh chicken cat. A: whole or in pieces Olive oil Bottle 1 litre
(specify in variety)
Tin or plastic bottle 1 litre,
Cow liver Adult cows liver (a) Seed oil Sunflower seed oil specifying variety
Lean pork Fresh pork, boneless Lean meat Tin or plastic bottle 1
litre, specifying variety,
Corn oil
Fresh pork, with bone Flank steak excluding vitamin-rich
and diet
Boneless. Steak with fillet,
Adult cow, fresh meat, Butter Butter 250 g packs
Tender beef flank, rump, thick flank,
first cut topside
100 per cent vegetable,
Boneless. Shoulder, neck, Margarine Margarine 250 g pack or tray,
Adult cow, fresh meat, excluding special types
thick rib, fore rib (stewing
second cut steak)
Adult cow, fresh meat, First choice minced meat
minced
Turkey breast Turkey breast Sliced

Plaice Frozen plaice fillets Plain, 400 g pack

Mature Parma type, to be
Cured ham Cured ham sliced at the counter
Without polyphosphates,
Cooked ham Cooked ham - leg first choice, to be sliced at
the counter
Mortadella Mortadella 1st choice Pure pork
Whole, in slices, or fillets,
Hake Frozen hake providing the same type is
selected
Pack of 6 eggs, category A,
medium sized, 53-63 g
Eggs Hen-eggs (as per EEC Regulation
(EEC) No 1511/96)
Beans Tinned beans, boiled 400 g tin
Petits pois in cardboard or
Peas Frozen peas plastic pack, 450 g
(a) as from 2002, adult cows liver is no longer in the basket of consum-
Small peas, plain, er prices: the minimum national average price for 2005 was accord-
Tinned peas ingly calculated based on the minimum national average price of adult
400 g tin net weight
cows liver for 2001, plus an amount calculated using the percentage
38 variation of the NIC consumer price index referring to fresh beef.
 Rent costs were also estimated based on data from
Housing the household consumption survey, because the price
unit archives did not provide sufficiently detailed
The evaluation of housing needs was based on the information for this item. For each dwelling size class
assumption that families need to have a roof over their defined in terms of needs, an estimate was obtained, as
head, a dwelling commensurate with the size of the a minimum affordable price, by geographic area and size
family, with suitable heating and equipped with the of the municipality of residence, taking into account the
principal utilities and durable consumer goods. Given features of the dwelling and the type of rental contract.
the difficulties facing families in finding subsidised-rent
The monetary value of essential durable consumer
accommodation or, in any case, a rent lower than market
goods corresponds to the rate of depreciation of
rates, minimum housing needs were considered to be
individual goods, obtained, by geographic area, as the
rented accommodation at market prices. With regard to
ratio of their minimum affordable price, taken from the
the size of the dwelling, the standard was established on
consumer prices survey, and their average life span,
the basis of the provisions contained in the Ministerial
based on estimates supplied by Mobiliare Assicurazioni e
Decree of 5 July 1975, which is still in force and is used by
Previdenza.
local health authorities as a parameter for the granting of
habitability certification. Electricity costs, relating to each family size class, were
calculated by applying the rates in effect in 2005 to the
As with the previous methodology, it was assumed that
corresponding energy needs.
essential durable consumer goods must include those
most commonly used by families, namely a refrigerator, For heating, too, the monetary value was obtained
washing machine, television set and gas cooker. from data on fuel spending taken from the household
consumption survey. The estimate took into account the
Energy needs were defined on the basis of a study
number and age of family members, broken down by
conducted by the electricity authority, taking into
geographic area of residence and dwelling size class.
account the size of the family and the combination of
household appliances owned thereby.

With regard to heating, the initial assumption, which

sought to take into account the climatic zone, degree
day, size of the dwelling and associated legislation, would
have required specific information that is not always
available, for instance the rates applied by different
power companies or for different housing conditions,
and in particular the level of insulation of homes. As this
information was impossible to obtain, this method was
abandoned, and data from the survey on household Table 13
consumption were used, with needs being determined
according to the size of the dwelling, family type and Monthly monetary value of rent by family size,
zone of residence. geographic area and type of municipality (euros)
Source: ISTAT

North-Centre South
FAMILY SIZE
Metropolitan Large Small Metropolitan Large Small
area municipalities municipalities area municipalities municipalities
1 member 317,61 284,74 246,78 228,27 210,23 178,84

2 members 354,92 315,26 270,28 246,47 225,38 189,09

3 members 386,16 340,39 289,20 260,62 236,91 196,48

4 members 437,22 380,63 318,69 281,68 253,58 206,35

5 members 474,67 409,49 339,19 295,56 264,16 211,96

6 members 508,49 435,08 356,89 306,97 272,56 215,92

7 members 539,33 458,01 372,34 316,46 279,29 218,64

8 members 567,69 478,73 385,98 324,42 284,71 220,43

9 members 593,92 497,61 398,09 331,14 289,08 221,50

10 members 618,32 514,89 408,92 336,84 292,59 222,00

39
 As regards spending on education and healthcare,
Other items only the expenses normally incurred by families were
considered. With regard to school up to upper secondary
All other needs, required to protect families from forms level, the needs to be met by families from their own
of social exclusion, form part of the third group of items. pockets were thus limited to exercise books, stationery
Families must be able to purchase the bare minimum and other sundry materials (e.g. satchels and pencil
needed to furnish and maintain the dwelling, clothe the cases). In terms of healthcare, on the other hand, and also
family, communicate, be informed, move around, be taking into account national health services, expenses
educated and stay healthy. For other items, therefore, incurred by the family were limited to: dentistry and
the individual goods and services required to meet the gynaecology costs, medicines, medical and treatment
above essential needs were identified, although specific devices, and care for the disabled and elderly.
quantities were not defined. This last step was indeed
Spending on other items depends significantly on the
rather arbitrary, because it was not possible to refer
individual traits of family members, in terms of both
to specific legislation (for instance, provisions used to
quantity and composition, and is less sensitive to the
determine the adequate size of the dwelling), regulatory
effect of economies of scale than spending on housing,
measures (such as those used to regulate energy
heating, utilities and the purchase of durable goods. As a
consumption) or reference scientific standards (such as
result, it was assumed that spending on other items was
the RDI used to define dietary intakes) that might permit
affected by family composition in a similar way as for
a definition of how many pairs of shoes or how much
foodstuffs.
movement around the geographical zone is/are needed
to prevent a state of absolute poverty. On the basis of the observed connection, within families,
between spending on food and spending on other items,
as revealed by the household consumption survey, we
estimated multiplier coefficients which, when applied to
the monetary value of the food component, provide the
value of the ‘other items’ spending component.

Examples of incomes needed to attain a ‘minimum accepta-

ble’ standard of living in Italy based on 2012 prices42

NORTH

Number of family members Metropolitan area Large municipality Small municipality

2 adults 1.112,12 1065,76 1013,19

2 adults + 2 children 1648,04 1581,90 1509,50

CENTRE

Number of family members Metropolitan area Large municipality Small municipality

2 adults 1067 1017,24 960,75

2 adults + 2 children 1566,32 1495,26 1417,47

SOUTH

Number of family members Metropolitan area Large municipality Small municipality

2 adults 844,42 820,62 779,66

2 adults + 2 children 1275,12 1243,39 1190,09

42 Tables obtained from calculation performed, from the page

http://www.istat.it/it/prodotti/contenuti-interattivi/calcolatori/soglia-
di-poverta. A family of four persons is made up of two adults + one
child of 4-11 and one child of 11-17. Metropolitan area is taken to mean
cities bigger than 250,000 inhabitants in size: large municipalities are
from 50-250,000 inhabitants; small municipalities are below 50,000
40 inhabitants.
 Table 14 CLOTHING
Men’s clothing
Goods and services included in ‘other items’
Women’s clothing
Source: ISTAT.
Children’s clothing

HOUSING Underwear

Water Other clothing items and accessories

Condominium administration Buttons, cotton thread, trimming, wool

Furniture Needles, crochet needles, safety pins

Bathroom furniture and accessories Mending of clothes

Repair of furniture and furnishings Men’s footwear

Repair of large household appliances Women’s footwear

Blankets, sheets, furnishing fabrics Children’s footwear

Repair of home fabrics and linen Mending of shoes

Light bulbs COMMUNICATION

Blenders, irons and other small household appliances Telephone bills, mobile phone refills
Repair of small household appliances Telephone cards
Cutlery Purchase of telephone
Glasses, bottles, plates Purchase of mobile phone
Pots and pans Repair of telephones
Tablecloths, paper plates and cups Radio
Kitchen paper, aluminium containers Repair of radio and TV
Brushes, rubber gloves, matches Stamps and other postal costs
Soap powders, wax for furniture, insecticides OTHER
Small utensils and accessories Children’s items
HEALTHCARE Toys, games and videogames
Dentist Electrical equipment for personal care
Gynaecologist Soap, toothpaste, perfume
Medicines Paper handkerchiefs, nappies, toilet paper
Care of disabled and elderly Newspapers, magazines, comics
Spectacles, pressure measuring devices Books other than school books
Prostheses, hearing aids Football pools, lottery and other gaming
Thermometers, syringes, surgical stockings House-moving
Hiring of healthcare devices

EDUCATION
Exercise books, stationery, photocopies

Satchels, folders and bags

Nursery school and other childcare services

TRANSPORT
Tickets and season tickets for buses, underground and trams

Tickets and season tickets for out-of-town transport

Tickets and season tickets for railways

Tickets and season tickets for ferries and other water transport

41
 22%, in exchange for ‘rescue’ funds provided by the

CHAPTER 8 European Financial Stability Facility. This decision was

taken notwithstanding the opposition of both trade
unions and employers, who had jointly requested

Conclusions and that wage levels established by the national collective

agreement be maintained. But the TROIKA did not yield

recommendations
and, again in the name of competitiveness, imposed
the most drastic measure ever inflicted in Europe since
the last world war. These specific cases constitute the
application of a veritable wage compression strategy,
even though wages do not come under the jurisdiction
A decent wage is a basic human right, as stated in the of the European Treaties. But, taking advantage of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in numerous, crisis and the growing dependence of EU countries
important international conventions. Indeed, this right on loans granted by the International Monetary Fund
is ratified in the United Nations Covenant on Economic, and European institutions, reductions in wages and
Social and Cultural Rights, and in other documents, intervention in relation to workers’ rights have been
such as the ILO Constitution of 1919, the Preamble to imposed as part of normal economic policy. With the
the Declaration of Philadelphia (International Labour adoption of the so-called Euro-Plus Pact of 2011, wages
Conference, 1944), the ILO Declaration on Social Justice have officially become the principal adjustment variable
for a Fair Globalisation of 2008, and, finally, the European and, as the European Commission stated in 2011,
Social Charter adopted by the European Union in 1989, labour market reforms are necessary for ‘absorbing
which asserts the principle that workers have the right to macro-economic imbalances and bringing down
fair remuneration. Naturally, taking into due account the unemployment’. The International Monetary Fund
different national contexts, from both an economic and agrees, and sees the reform of the labour market as a
legislative viewpoint, Europe has given itself a charter necessary precondition for beating the crisis43. In other
that stresses the statutory efforts needed to attain words, only the victims have to foot the bill.
a decent standard of living for all European citizens,
irrespective of their country of origin. This is a goal that At the end of the 1990s, the European Commission stopped
is present in and has been historically anticipated by investing in so-called social dialogue, shutting down the
many of the constitutional charters of Member States, sector-based social dialogue committees (SSDC), which
including Italy’s, in Articles 1, 4 and 36. have now been replaced by vague areas of discussion, and
shifted resolutely towards a reinforcement of the Monetary
Yet the winds in Europe appear to be blowing in the opposite Union and new macroeconomic governance in order to
direction. If we look at the events and the policies pursued implement austerity policies. Policies which, as we have
in the years following the major international economic seen, move in the opposite direction to that of strengthening
and financial crisis, the ‘old continent’ appears to have a Social Europe. Instead, those policies are pressuring the
stopped working to safeguard social protection or basic governments of Member States to implement draconian
human rights. In 2011, under pressure from the modern- measures, including wage compression, a more flexible
day TROIKA (the European Commission, European Central labour market, taxation free zones, and cuts in public
Bank and International Monetary Fund), Ireland reduced spending and services.
its minimum wage by 11.5% with the aim of ‘recovering its
competitiveness’. When a new government came to power Italy too is under special scrutiny, and it is no accident that recent
with the promise of restoring the previous minimum wage, measures to reform the labour market, such as theJobsAct I, now
it was forced to offset the new wage rise with an equivalent Law No 78 of 16 May 2014, and Jobs Act II, Law No 183 approved
reduction in social security contributions to be met by on 3 December 2014, are moving towards further increases in
businesses. Again under pressure from the TROIKA, in the insecurity and flexibility in the labour market, reducing social
same year, Portugal had to pledge that it would only raise protection and social buffers and leaving workers increasingly
the minimum wage where there were justified economic alone and exposed to the effects of the crisis. The risk is that
reasons, and only if agreements reached were altered: a this could create a situation that is increasingly unfavourable to
veritable veto imposed by the TROIKA. The Portuguese workers, who can easily be coerced, and who will be increasingly
government was thus obliged to freeze the minimum unable to present collective claims in the future.The result will be
wage for the first time in its history. Again in 2011, Spain a frontal assault on the system of negotiating national contracts.
too decided to suspend the adjustment of the minimum In this way, some influential researchers argue that in Italy, too,
wage in line with cost of living rises. At the same time, the a minimum wage of no more than €800-€900 a month will
European Central Bank, in exchange for the purchase of become established, below the levels set in national agreements
Spanish bonds, requested in writing the introduction of new and below the living wage threshold defined by Istat. In Italy, too,
forms of ‘mini-jobs’ under less favourable conditions and we will have increasingly poor workers, by decree.44
with wages below the legal minimum. This was a genuine
situation of coercion in exchange for new loans. 43 Thorsten Schulten, European minimum wage policy: a concept for
wage-led growth and fair wages in Europe, in International Journal of
Labour Research 2012, Vol.4 Issue 1.
Then, Greece, in 2012, was forced to accept a cut in the 44 Piergiovanni Alleva, Il Governo Renzi ed il Job Act, August 2014,
national minimum wage, imposed by the TROIKA, of and Art.18: va difeso e riguarda tutti. Un lucido disegno contro il lavoro,
42 September 2014 in http://www.dirittisocialiecittadinanza.org/.
Table 15
Comparison of data emerging from the research

Net average Wages deemed

Areas under Average wages Living wage based
wage according to be decent Net monthly wage Level 2
study in the declared by workers on 2012 prices
to INPS data by workers factory worker****
report interviewed* according to Istat***
2010** interviewed
Veneto 1.000 - 1.300 1.116 1.648 1.700 1.453

Tuscany 1.100 - 1.200 1.116 1.566 1.400

Campania 900 - 1.300 1.054 1.275 n.d.

* net figures for 13 monthly payments. Fluctuation declared by non-

skilled factory workers employed in SMEs and industry.

** INPS data processed by us.

*** data for metropolitan areas for two adults and two children

**** simulation of payslip of €1,600 before taxes as standard wage,

including 13th monthly payment and additional payment as per the According to UN Principles, and with reference to the
CCNL for Industry, assuming family dependents of spouse and two
children textile-clothing-footwear sector:

- the governments of countries in which multinationals

are based have a duty to ensure that these enterprises
The ideal of a fair and sustainable Europe could, in fact, respect human rights throughout the supply chain,
become a myth, as stated by the Treaty of Lisbon, in wherever it is located, and that includes the guarantee of
Article 3(5), concerning EU relations with the rest of a living wage for all workers;
the world and referring to the obligations of the EU in
contributing to ‘[...] the sustainable development of the - countries hosting production units and recipients of
Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free foreign investments have a duty to protect their citizens
and fair trade, eradication of poverty and protection of and workers, promoting respect for human rights within
human rights’. their territory and ensuring the adoption of minimum
living wages;
In recent years, however, the Guiding Principles of
the United Nations regarding Business and Human - multinational businesses have a responsibility to pay
Rights have clearly laid down the responsibilities of suppliers a price that guarantees workers a living wage,
governments and businesses, in terms of the obligation through coherent purchasing practices. They are also
to protect and respect human rights at every stage of the responsible for promoting the raising of wages to above
supply chain and in every producing country, be it the a living wage threshold, through government policies
country of origin of the international brand or the hosting and/or collective bargaining.
country of the supplier.

The same Principles define the obligation for businesses

of ‘due diligence’ to prevent negative consequences
of economic activities in relation to human rights, and
to remedy any such impacts. The European Union has
pledged to encourage the adoption of the Guiding
Principles and to cooperate to ensure their enforcement.
Many Member States are drawing up national plans of
action on the subject of business and human rights, and
Italy formally submitted its own plan to the European
Commission at the end of 2013.

43
 Campagna The Italian government:
Abiti Puliti 1. to take all the measures needed to remind

therefore asks
Italian companies of their responsibility to respect human
rights, including through payment of a living wage, in all
phases of the production chain, using as a benchmark the
levels calculated by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA)
for Asian nations and those calculated by Clean Clothes
Campaign (CCC) for eastern Europe and Turkey45 ;

2. to regulate the activities of government agencies

promoting businesses internationalisation (SIMEST,
SACE, INVITALIA and ACE), making the granting of
financial services/loans to companies conditional on a
guarantee of a living wage;

3. to play an active role in getting European

institutions to alter their intervention strategies on the
issues of wages in coherence with the provisions of the
Treaty of Lisbon and the Guiding Principles of the United
Nations for Business and Human Rights;

4. to entrust Istat with the permanent task of

selecting criteria for calculating a living wage and of
publishing the corresponding value every year, taking
due account of any price variations;

5. to adopt the living wage calculated by Istat

as a bare minimum for calculating social security
contributions;

6. to promote the adoption of a living wage within

Europe as a statistical reference valid for every country of
the Union;

7. to promote the harmonisation of social security

contribution rates in all EU countries;

8. to adopt a critical stance in relation to free trade

agreements, assessing the relative social impacts of
such agreements with care and in advance, and to act so
that the European Union freezes negotiations regarding
the TTIP, which would have further negative effects on
employment and on workers’ rights;

9. to implement the Guiding Principles of the

United Nations in Italian legislation and to promulgate
a law making controls on respect for human rights
and payment of a living wage mandatory, and public,
throughout the supply chain, for Italian businesses
operating overseas and for foreign investors operating
in Italy, where many international brands have located
some of their most important production;

44 45 See tables on pag. 46

10. to promote the adoption of legislation
requiring businesses operating in Italy to publish a social
Companies:
reporting, including a complete list of their suppliers,
company policies pursued to check compliance with 1. to publicly pledge to guarantee a living wage in
workers’ fundamental rights, including the payment of accordance with standards proposed by the AFWA and
a living wage, and the results of checks undertaken, in minimum levels set out in the CCC Stitched Up report for
compliance with the European Directive approved by the countries in eastern Europe and Turkey;
EU Parliament on 15 April 2014 concerning the disclosure
of non-financial information on the subject of human
rights and the social impact of production activities 2. to publicly call for the raising of minimum wage
throughout the supply chain; levels in producer countries to the minimum living wage,
committing not to cease trade relations in the event of an
increase;
11. to promote public procurement from companies
that respect human rights, making it mandatory to comply
with Guidelines for the inclusion of social criteria in public 3. to comply with national laws and all international
administration tender notices (Ministerial Decree of 6 conventions, where they constitute improvements in
June 2012), and to include the obligation of respecting ensuring respect for human rights and living wages, in
the living wage among the criteria for the procurement particular through the use of due diligence to prevent
of goods and services to public administration, adapting and mitigate negative effects potentially deriving from
calculation methods for national or foreign products, and their activities in Italy and overseas;
setting prices that can ensure their actual payment;
4. to enter into commercial contracts that
12. to include, in the above Guidelines, compliance include guarantees in relation to the payment of living
wages to workers in supplier factories, as per the
with international protocols introduced on the subject
of labour and human rights – such as the Accord on Fire recommendations of the AFWA for Asian countries and
and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the Memorandum the CCC for countries in eastern Europe and Turkey, and
of Understanding on Trade Union Freedom of Association in recommendations from the trade unions of producer
Indonesia; countries in other parts of the world;

13. to intensify labour inspectorate activity in 5. in keeping with the above commitment, and
order to increase public sector monitoring capacity and in cooperation with trade unions, to establish and pay
promote the identification of undeclared and illegal work a correct price to suppliers, both domestic and foreign,
in the country; that includes a margin such as to allow decent wage
levels, ceasing to impose the processing prices, abusing
their negotiating power with Italian SMEs and foreign
14. to protect trade union activity in the workplace suppliers, and integrating the concept of a living wage
and increase the protection of workers against into company policy;
discrimination for trade union activity and to consider
less favourable wage agreements as forms of contractual
dumping and unfair competition among businesses, to 6. to modify purchasing practices (prices, delivery
be discouraged; times, planning of orders) to allow suppliers to gradually
adjust their workers’ wages and encourage their buyers
to achieve social sustainability objectives;
15. to amend policies and current immigration laws
that drive labour flows to where production is based, in
order to halt the mechanism that currently links illegal 7. to undertake tangible commitments to ensure
immigration status with undeclared work, and thus with respect for trade union freedom of association and
exploitation and inhumane conditions. collective bargaining in international supply chains.

45
 Table 16
The Asia Floor Wage for 2013 is 725 PPP$, and
is shown below by country in the local currency

Bangladesh 25,687 Taka

Cambodia 1,582,668 Riel

China 3,132 Yuan

India 16,240 Rupees

Indonesia 4,048,226 Rupiah

Malaysia 1,566 Ringgit

Sri Lanka 46,168 Rupees

Table 17
Recommended wage rises in the area covered by the
survey conducted by the CCC in eastern Europe and Turkey
(“Stitched-up” report) – standard net values

Net minimum wage 60% of average Estimated minimum

Country in euros46 national wage in euros* living wage [2013]**
Bosnia and Herzegovina (SR) €189 €259 €767

Bulgaria €139 €245 €1,022

Croatia €308 €435 €862

Georgia €5247 €196 €518

Macedonia €111 €208 €790

Moldavia €71 €122 €378

Romania €133 €218 €710

Slovakia €292 €406 €1,360

Turkey €252 €401 €89048

Ukraine €80 €167 €554

* First immediate measure

** Subsequent measure to be reached with gradual increments

46 Exchange rates in all tables as at 1 February 2014,

www.oanda.com; minimum wage as at 1 May 2013.
47 No minimum wage is in force. Contracts often establish 125
GEL/€52 as a basic wage. We have used this parameter to analyse the
gap between the minimum wage and the estimated minimum living
wage.
48 Women workers interviewed stated a minimum living wage of
€890. The Turkish trade union estimated the poverty
46 threshold at €1,095.
47
 www.abitipuliti.org
www.cleanclothes.org

The European Union assisted in the

production of this report. The content is
solely the responsibility of the Campagna abiti
puliti and in no way reflects the views of the
48 European Union.