Treat employees fairly!

Large fast fashion companies claim to have the best interests of their employees at heart, but time and again research shows that, despite treaties, despite agreements and quality marks with strict requirements, at the bottom of the production chain, where no one is watching, workers work under inhumane conditions for a pittance. The fact that there is no transparency about this is problematic, and part of our first demand: be honest.

And pay fairly. Make sure that every worker who is dependent, directly or indirectly, on a fashion company for their income, receives a fair salary for fair work. Companies bear a responsibility for the health and safety of all workers throughout the production chain.

In France, a bill has been passed by the National Assembly, which would fine unreasonably cheap clothing that is bad for the climate. That law should favor local production and make it impossible to sell fast fashion cheaply. We also want to see this in the Netherlands, but we place the responsibility for this directly with the companies.

Things are not going well in the Netherlands either: work in the retail sector is, according to Statistics Netherlands, one of the worst paid jobs a Dutch citizen can have. From 2017 to 2025, employers can use the Low-Income Allowance (LIV) and the youth-LIV, which has been dubbed the “Primark premium” for a reason: this subsidy motivates employers not to pay employees over 10% above the minimum wage, even if they’ve been working for their employees for years. It’s therefore unsurprising that there is a high rate of churning, which means that few people build up a connection with the company. Nevertheless, new workers are cheaper for the employer, and at the same time the inflow and outflow ensures that employees don’t get to know each other, which doesn’t allow for the collegial atmosphere necessary to unionise.
The Dutch retail sector is also known for its lack of employment conditions. Obvious things like a travel allowance, for example, are unheard of for employees in clothing stores.

Together with other sectors, fashion companies keep lobbying for low minimum wages and minimum youth wages, benefitting the CEOs and shareholders of megacorporations, at the expense of the privileged part of workers who cannot be exploited outside human rights treaties.

We believe that fair treatment of employees is achieved when the following points are met:

• transparency about working conditions at home and abroad,
• discontinuing collaborations with raw material and production companies if it cannot be established with 100% certainty that no exploitation is taking place,
• a fair wage and minimum employment conditions that would be considered common in the Netherlands, for workers throughout the entire production chain at home and abroad,
• an end to the lobby for keeping the minimum wage and the minimum youth wage low,
• investigation into all artificially low wages and all dismissals that took place in the period of 2017 to 2025 in the context of the LIV and the youth LIV,
• compensation for all employees and former employees who have been financially disadvantaged by the implementation of the LIV and the youth LIV.