Sustainable Fashion: A Handbook for Educators

88
sustaInaBlE FashIon : a handBooK For Educators

3. Calculate this figure as a percentage of the average
   retail price for a plain cotton t-shirt.
   You will need to use a figure from Student Task 1 to
   work out the percentage.


4. Some estimates of a living wage in Bangladesh in 2007
   were targeting a figure of 4,500 Taka for Grade 7
   although given a hike in food prices this is no longer
   a realistic figure.^2 By how much would the retail price
   of this cotton shirt have to increase in order for the
   retailer of the t-shirt to be paying a living wage as
   defined in 2007?

To cover a threefold increase in the wage, the unit labour
cost element in the Freight On Board (FOB) would need
to be in the order of 12p or 20 cents. Discussion should
focus on how small the actual increase would need to
be. This can then lead into a discussion about consumer
behaviour regarding price sensitivity, consumer education
and mechanisms for transferring increases to the workers
via theFOB to a supplier factory.

BacKground MatErIal

Miller D. and Williams P, (2009) ‘What price a living wage?’,
Journal of Global Social Policy Volume 9 Issue 1

powErpoInt guIdE

Slide 1: Title.

Slide 2: Breakdown of FOB price of a cotton t-shirt.

Slide 3: Changes in FOB prices on t-shirts imported

into the USA 1994-2004.

Slide 4: Some things a buyer would need to know.

Slide 5: Pay scale in the industry in Bangladesh with

some examples of jobs.

Slide 6: How the unit labour cost can be calculated

(alternative method involves timing the

production cost in minutes and multiplying

this by a minute labour cost figure to arrive at

a labour minute value).

Slide 7: Some observations on additional pay

elements in Bangladesh factories making

t-shirts: Obviously earnings can include non-

wage benefits such as a food and/or transport

allowance, and they can be boosted by piece-

work and an annual bonus averaged over

the year, but in many factories none of these

benefits are available.

Slide 8: How the unit labour cost is calculated.

Slide 9: Added value in a clothing supply chain (this

slide should be self-explanatory).

studEnt handouts

ACTUAL MATErIALS GIVEN To STUDENTS

studEnt tasK 1: prEparatIon actIVIty

Please complete this task sheet for the next session. Feel

free to work in pairs or small groups.

1. Find out the typical price of a plain adult cotton t-shirt.
   You may wish do a price comparison on the internet or
   visit some high street stores.


2. For the purposes of this task, we are going to assume
   that our t-shirt was sourced in Bangladesh. How much
   do you think the high street or online retailer paid the
   factory for the shirt?

(^2) Let’s Clean up Fashion, Labour behind the Label, September 2007