Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF) annual conference

NB. This event is organised by PLWF. VBDO acts as the platform’s secretariat. The language of this event will be English.

2025 marks the 5-year countdown to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Implementing living wages in global supply chains is one of the key instruments to achieve most SDGs.

PLWF members annually assess the progress of investee companies in terms of living wages and incomes—a cornerstone of their engagement strategy for the garment sector. The methodology for assessing living wages is aligned with the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework. Similar approaches are used for the agri-food and grocery retail sector. Key insights and aggregated results are shared annually in the PLWF engagement report.

During the annual PLWF conference, we will discuss the platform’s engagement results and provide different perspectives on the theme of living wages. Opportunities for networking will follow the sessions.

Programme

3:00 pm | Opening and Welcome

3:05 pm | Keynote by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) | Patrick Belser, Senior Economist at the ILO
This year, the ILO has made an unprecedented tripartite landmark agreement on the salient issue of living wages. What are the responsibilities of the private sector in the payment of living wages?

3:25 pm | Platform update | Management Committee and Working Group Chairs
The Management Committee and Working Group Chairs will take you through the developments of the PLWF and present the results of this year’s assessment cycle.

3:55 pm | Escalating engagement | Kees Gootjes, Director of De Nieuwe Beurskoers, Martin Buttle, Better Work Lead at CCLA and Rogier Snijdewind, Director Active Ownership at PGGM
What steps can investors take to escalate engagement? Kees Gootjes, Martin Buttle and Rogier Snijdewind discuss the shareholder resolution they co-filed at Nike’s Annual General Meeting in 2024.

4:20 pm | Living Income and the Dutch Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (DISCO) | Mark de Waard, Programme manager Cocoa at IDH
Mark de Waard discusses the multistakeholder partnership DISCO that aims to enable cocoa farming families to earn a living income.

4:40 pm | Living wages: How wage data collection transparency can guide and support living wages | Remedios Arguello, Social and Environmental Director at Adidas
Remedios Arguello speaks about the comprehensive work that Adidas is doing on wage data collection in their supply chain.

5:00 pm | Drinks

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