Response from Asics

Proposal D3: Ensure prices are sufficient to pay a living wage.

ASICS will not commit to determining whether the prices it pays to suppliers are sufficient to allow suppliers to pay wages that meet basic needs. The company says that factories determine wages independently and that ASICS does not pay workers directly.

Full response

Factory is independent firm and they decide the wage from their viewpoint of factory management. We do not pay directly to workers. Factory has a number of clients and we are just one of them. We think even they have various clients, their worker should be paid the same amount of payment if they work the same thing. It becomes common sense to assume that pricing is basically the negotiation issue between supplier and buyer. We do not organize any talks about wage standard including NGOs yet. Asics requests factory pay employees at least a) the minimum wage required by the applicable law or b) the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher. In addition, we implement verification audit to factories. In case of the intervention by Commission for Industrial Relations will lead the evaluation that the factory management is lack of capability of management. We expect the wages talks should be reach to agreement in a sound collective bargaining from developed and harmonized labor relationship.

Response Key

The brand claims to implementing all components of this proposal or has agreed to implement them within Play Fair's proposed timeframe.

The brand is currently implementing or has agreed to implement some of the essential components of the proposal but has refused to implement, has overlooked, or has raised issues with one or more important components; or, the brand agrees to implement the proposal but not within Play Fair’s proposed timeframe.

The brand has refused to implement the essential components of the proposal.

The brand has misunderstood or failed to comment on the proposal; or the brand is considering the proposal, but has yet to make a decision.