Won't "clean clothes" be expensive?
No, clean clothes won't be more expensive. Although sourcing
companies may well say that they will be, as a tactic to avoid
implementing the labour standards that are included in the CCC
code.
Actually, this claim is ridiculous. Total wages are never more
than 5% of the total cost of an article of clothing. That means
in an extreme scenario, if wages were to double and the cost of
this were passed along to consumers, a pair of jeans that now
costs 41 euros would then cost 43 euros. And there's certainly
an argument that these costs should be borne not by consumers
but by e.g. the brand name or retailer who take the lion's share
of the profit (at 33% and 50% respectively in the case of a US$100
sports shoe made in Indonesia).
At some point there may have to be improvements beyond increasing
wage levels to the living wage standard, such as better lighting,
ventilation, meeting safety regulations, etc. but this still should
not mean that 'clean clothes' will be expensive.
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