The Fair Wage Network was created back in 2009, the day after the first Fair Wage Conference organised by the Fair Labor Association in Washington. The organisation, founded with the aim of regrouping “all actors of the supply chain” and those involved in the field of CSR, who are willing to commit to striving to “promote better wage practices”, has developed a methodology and survey expertise that enables companies – increasing numbers of which are taking the issue of decent wages seriously – to look more closely at the pay practices of their suppliers and subcontractors. Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead, one of the founders of the Fair Wage Network, talks to Planet Labor about this ambition.
How did the idea of creating the Fair Wage Network come about?
Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead. I realised while working at the European Commission and the International Labour Organization on the subject of supply chains that companies lacked the tools to get an overview of wage practices and how to improve them. Shortly before the Fair Wage Network was established, I had spoken about the matter with the president of the Fair Labor Association who confirmed that, as far as supply chains were concerned, the major groups were mainly looking at what was related to legal conformity, compliance, in other words adhering to the legislative standards on minimum wages, of course, as well as working hours, etc.
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