Maggie’s Organics: Fair Trade Certified Ruched Scarves
RePEat Bamboo Utensil Set (Seriously, I love these!!)
Hemp Shayma Street Fair Bag (by Taraluna)
Recycled Silk Sari Bucket Bag (by Taraluna)
Red Alpargatas (by Working World)
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Check out more fair trade products from Taraluna (bags/accessories & home/kitchen), Working World (shoes & clothing), Maggie’s Organics (clothing), and Gaiam (artwork & decor)…just to name a few good ones!! :)
Fair Trade is an alternative approach to conventional trade that is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. It provides better terms of trade and ensures the sustainability of production and trade, even in times of economic instability. The Fair Trade standard aims to correct the imbalance of power that has been created through trading relationships and to redress the injustices of conventional trade.
For producers, Fair Trade means prices that aim to cover the costs of sustainable production, an additional Fair Trade Premium, advance credit, longer term trade relationships, and decent working conditions for hired labour. (www.fairtrade.net)
Fair Trade rewards and encourages farming and production practices that are environmentally sustainable. It also encourages producers to strive toward organic certification. Producers are required to:
- Protect the environment in which they work and live, including areas of natural water, virgin forest, and other important land areas as well as dealing with problems of erosion and waste management.
- Develop, implement, and monitor an operations plan on farming and techniques that reflects a balance between protecting the environment and good business results.
- Follow national and international standards for the handling of chemicals (there is a list of chemicals which are prohibited).
- Avoid (intentionally) using products which include genetically modified organisms (GMO)
- Monitor what affect their activities are having on the environment then make and implement a plan for how to lessen the impacts.
FAIR TRADE STANDARDS
There are two distinct sets of Fair Trade standards—one set applies to smallholder producers that are working together in cooperatives or other organizations with a democratic structure. The second set applies to hired labors/workers whose employers pay decent wages, guarantee the right to join trade unions, ensure health and safety standards, and provide adequate housing where relevant. The standards also cover terms of trade, which most products having a set Fair Trade Price, which is the minimum price that must be paid to producers. This price aims to ensure that producers can cover their average costs of sustainable production. It provides a safety net for farmers when the world markets fall below the sustainable level and protects against vulnerability. When the market price is higher than the Fair Trade minimum, the buyer must pay the higher price.
Producers also receive a Fair Trade Premium, which is an additional sum that producers use to invest in their communities. The money goes into a communal fund for workers and farmers, which is used to improve social, economic, and environmental conditions. The use of this money is decided upon democratically by productions within their farmers organization or by workers on a plantation. It may be invested in education, healthcare, farm improvements to increase yield or quality, or processing facilities to increase income. The broader community outside the producer organization often benefits from these improvements as well.
Fair Trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system. If fair access to markets under better trade conditions would help them overcome barriers to development, they can join Fair Trade.
Trade operators can join Fair Trade if they are committed to supporting these Fair Trade objectives. This standard should be viewed as the minimum requirement on traders for demonstration of their commitment to Fair Trade.
Companies trading Fair Trade products must:
- Pay a price to producers that aims to cover the costs of sustainable production (i.e. the Fair Trade Minimum Price)
- Pay an additional sum that producers can invest in development (i.e. the Fair Trade Premium)
- Partially pay in advance when producers ask for, thereby providing advanced credit.
- Sign contracts that allow for long-term planning and sustainable production practices.
For a full list of Fair Trade Standards, visit Fairtrade Standards.
For more information on where to find Fairtrade products, visit Fairtrade Products.
At a Nike shoe factory in Jakarta, workers are currently paid 1,243,000 Rupiah (about $144) per month. That is about $4.75 per day.
Along with their salary, workers at this factory receive transportation to and from the factory by one of two means—there is a company bus provided for those who live along the route. For workers who do not live on the bus route, the factory provides a transportation allowance of 10,000 Rupiah (about $1.15) per day. Workers also generally receive one meal at the factory or if a meal is not provided, they receive a meal allowance of 4,500 Rupiah (about $0.52) per day.
Through a company promotion system, some workers can earn marginally more. But even at the highest level of payment, an operational worker can only earn 1,333,000 Rupiah (about $154) per month—about $5.05 per day. According to Team Sweat, workers at this level work in groups of 250 and produce 900 shoes in 8 hours—that’s 112.5 sneakers per hour or 1.875 sneakers per minute.
I hear a lot of excuse from defenders of Nike and other corporations exploiting the local workforce in poor communities around the world. The biggest one is that “these workers are making more working for Nike than they would otherwise,” or “their wages are better than not getting paid at all.” Fantastic. I am so glad we are using slave labor as our standard by which we judge these corporations [please note this statement is dripping with depressing sarcasm].
When it comes down to it, these workers are NOT being paid a living wage. Using information provided by the (amazing) organization Team Sweat, we are going to break down the cost of living for these workers in Jakarta. First, let’s take a look at three major spending areas per month:
Rent = 200,000 Rupiah ($23.18)
Transportation (beyond work-related) = 600,000 Rupiah ($69.56)
Clean Drinking Water = 110,000 Rupiah ($12.75)
With these three expenditures, totaling 910,000 Rupiah ($105.50), workers at the highest payment level have 423,000 Rupiah ($49.04) remaining for the rest of the month to cover the remaining basics like food, soap, clothing, education for their children, and anything else they might need or want per month…including medical costs should anyone in their family require medical care at any point (Source). I suppose these workers are just supposed to pray that none of their children get sick, that no one has an accident or an injury, and that they don’t develop health problems as a consequence of the chemicals and materials they work with in the Nike factory.
According to the Future Minds Foundation, the estimated monthly cost of primary school for students in Indonesia ranges from 30,000 to 100,000 Rupiah ($3.47 - $11.60). For middle/junior high school, the cost ranges from 100,000 to 200,000 Rupiah ($11.60 - $23.20) per month.
A simple meal of rice, vegetables, and chicken at the local food stall costs 8,000 Rupiah ($0.93). A snack of two bananas would cost 6,000 Rupiah ($0.70). And with rising food prices worldwide, paying for basic food items is becoming increasingly difficult in Indonesia. For example, from June to December 2010, the average cost of 5 kg of rice rose 19% in Indonesia (via World Bank). As of March 2011, rice prices remained 17% higher than last year (Source). And in the past year, the price of cooking oil has risen 19% in Indonesia. While these costs have gone up, salaries have not.
So how are the workers at this Nike factory supposed to provide for their families on these meager salaries? How much money should these workers be paid to make a living wage?
According to one worker at the factory, a living wage for a single worker (as of January 2011) would be about 3,500,000 Rupiah per month (about $406). For a worker supporting a family of four it would be 4,500,000 Rupiah (about $522) per month.
In 2010, Nike made $457 million in profit. Orders for Nike brand shoes and apparel scheduled for delivery from December 2010 through April 2011 totaled $7.7 billion.
And they are paying their workers in Jakarta $154 a month? SERIOUSLY?
These workers deserve a living wage! And we, as consumers, should be demanding it and supporting the voices of the workers trying to get it.
Join us in the TEAM SWEAT campaign to get Nike to wake up and start paying a living wage: http://www.teamsweat.org/?page_id=49
Reblog. Learn more. Take Action.
At a Nike shoe factory in Jakarta, workers are currently paid 1,243,000 Rupiah (about $144) per month. That is about $4.75 per day.
Along with their salary, workers at this factory receive transportation to and from the factory by one of two means—there is a company bus provided for those who live along the route. For workers who do not live on the bus route, the factory provides a transportation allowance of 10,000 Rupiah (about $1.15) per day. Workers also generally receive one meal at the factory or if a meal is not provided, they receive a meal allowance of 4,500 Rupiah (about $0.52) per day.
Through a company promotion system, some workers can earn marginally more. But even at the highest level of payment, an operational worker can only earn 1,333,000 Rupiah (about $154) per month—about $5.05 per day. According to Team Sweat, workers at this level work in groups of 250 and produce 900 shoes in 8 hours—that’s 112.5 sneakers per hour or 1.875 sneakers per minute.
I hear a lot of excuse from defenders of Nike and other corporations exploiting the local workforce in poor communities around the world. The biggest one is that “these workers are making more working for Nike than they would otherwise,” or “their wages are better than not getting paid at all.” Fantastic. I am so glad we are using slave labor as our standard by which we judge these corporations [please note this statement is dripping with depressing sarcasm].
When it comes down to it, these workers are NOT being paid a living wage. Using information provided by the (amazing) organization Team Sweat, we are going to break down the cost of living for these workers in Jakarta. First, let’s take a look at three major spending areas per month:
Rent = 200,000 Rupiah ($23.18)
Transportation (beyond work-related) = 600,000 Rupiah ($69.56)
Clean Drinking Water = 110,000 Rupiah ($12.75)
With these three expenditures, totaling 910,000 Rupiah ($105.50), workers at the highest payment level have 423,000 Rupiah ($49.04) remaining for the rest of the month to cover the remaining basics like food, soap, clothing, education for their children, and anything else they might need or want per month…including medical costs should anyone in their family require medical care at any point (Source). I suppose these workers are just supposed to pray that none of their children get sick, that no one has an accident or an injury, and that they don’t develop health problems as a consequence of the chemicals and materials they work with in the Nike factory.
According to the Future Minds Foundation, the estimated monthly cost of primary school for students in Indonesia ranges from 30,000 to 100,000 Rupiah ($3.47 - $11.60). For middle/junior high school, the cost ranges from 100,000 to 200,000 Rupiah ($11.60 - $23.20) per month.
A simple meal of rice, vegetables, and chicken at the local food stall costs 8,000 Rupiah ($0.93). A snack of two bananas would cost 6,000 Rupiah ($0.70). And with rising food prices worldwide, paying for basic food items is becoming increasingly difficult in Indonesia. For example, from June to December 2010, the average cost of 5 kg of rice rose 19% in Indonesia (via World Bank). As of March 2011, rice prices remained 17% higher than last year (Source). And in the past year, the price of cooking oil has risen 19% in Indonesia. While these costs have gone up, salaries have not.
So how are the workers at this Nike factory supposed to provide for their families on these meager salaries? How much money should these workers be paid to make a living wage?
According to one worker at the factory, a living wage for a single worker (as of January 2011) would be about 3,500,000 Rupiah per month (about $406). For a worker supporting a family of four it would be 4,500,000 Rupiah (about $522) per month.
In 2010, Nike made $457 million in profit. Orders for Nike brand shoes and apparel scheduled for delivery from December 2010 through April 2011 totaled $7.7 billion.
And they are paying their workers in Jakarta $154 a month? SERIOUSLY?
These workers deserve a living wage! And we, as consumers, should be demanding it and supporting the voices of the workers trying to get it.
Join us in the TEAM SWEAT campaign to get Nike to wake up and start paying a living wage: http://www.teamsweat.org/?page_id=49
Reblog. Learn more. Take Action.
