Response from Puma

"We are currently following the discussion within the Fair Labor Association on the possibility of the inclusion of the living wage in the FLA Code of Conduct. However, because of the general lowered forecast of global demand for consumer goods next coupled together with the findings mentioned above, we believe that this is not the most appropriate time to strongly campaign for living wages. "In a decision by the U.S. Department of Justice on buyer collaboration to monitor compliance, parameters such as pricing, supply agreement terms and buyer-factory negotiations were identified as data that cannot be shared. Though PUMA is willing to share compliance information to third parties in the spirit of collaboration, these anti-trust limitations have to be considered prior to the sharing of commercial information that maybe accessed by competitors. We are actively looking at the wage ladder methodology developed under the Jo-In pilot project in Turkey to objectively identify the steps or rungs by which worker welfare can be improved. PUMA continues, however, to maintain that this ladder has to be benchmarked against the local industry and local best practices in order to be effective."