Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA)

What Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) does

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) is a non-profit, Asian labor-led global alliance founded in 2007, operating across seven garment-producing Asian countries — Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — plus solidarity networks in the USA and Europe. It is governed by an International Steering Committee of trade unions and labor rights organizations, with a core staff of approximately 16 employees, and is funded entirely through donations and grants. Its mission is to build regional unity among Asian garment unions to overcome the fragmentation of country-based labor struggles in global production networks and to hold global fashion brands accountable for wage, gender, and freedom-of-association violations.

AFWA's core deliverables are research methodologies, advocacy frameworks, and campaign programs rather than commercial products. The flagship 'product' is the Asia Floor Wage (AFW) living wage benchmark — a cross-border, PPP-denominated wage formulation for Asian garment workers that accounts for food and non-food costs including unpaid household and care work, and is converted into local currencies for each country. The second core methodology is the Safe Circle Approach, a bottom-up framework for preventing gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) on production lines, engaging victims, bystanders, and perpetrators in small-group processes consistent with UN Women and ILO recommendations. AFWA also publishes a joint-employer-liability legal framework and runs the Wage Forward, Fight the Heist, Violence Out of Fashion, Garment Me Too, and Justice for Jeyasre campaigns, alongside the Worker Shop Floor Monitor program, National People's Tribunals on Living Wage (2011–2014), Worker Action Delegation tours, and a multilingual digital platform (11 languages). Notable enforceable precedents include the 2021 Dindigul Agreement with Natchi Apparels/Eastman Exports and the 2025 Central Java Agreement.

Commercially, AFWA does not sell products or services. Its revenue model is exclusively donation- and grant-based, sourced from labor rights allies, solidarity groups, and supporters (a donation portal is hosted via Neon CRM for migrant worker relief and general operations). Its customer or stakeholder base is threefold: the women garment workers it organizes and serves directly; the global fashion brands it holds accountable (including Nike, H&M, Gap, Walmart, Levi's, VF Corp, Adidas, and Columbia Sportswear); and the international labor bodies, federations (ITUC, IndustriALL, ITF, IUF, UNI), and NGOs (Clean Clothes Campaign, GLJ-ILRF, APWLD, ILO) it partners with on campaigns and standards.

Name

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA)

Legal name

Asia Floor Wage Alliance

Website

https://asia.floorwage.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) is an Asian labor-led global alliance founded in 2007, coordinating 20 garment worker unions across seven Asian producing countries and solidarity networks in the USA and Europe. It advances living wages, gender justice, and supply chain accountability through campaigns, enforceable brand agreements, and worker organizing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Labor Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Professional Employer Organizations (561330)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Labor, Social Protection & Occupational Safety Standards Cooperation (BPADANAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Workforce Compliance & Employment Law Risk Management (Local Labor Law, Tax, Statutory) (BPACAHAH)

Keywords

• Living wage advocacy
• Garment worker rights
• Supply chain accountability
• Gender-based violence prevention
• Labor union organizing

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: AFWA operates as a non-profit labour rights organization funded through donations and grants from solidarity groups, labour rights allies, and supporters. The organization receives donations through its website platform for migrant worker relief and general operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

AFWA is an Asian labour-led global alliance that builds regional unity among garment worker unions across Asia and advocates for living wages and gender justice in global garment supply chains. Its core offerings include the cross-border Asia Floor Wage (AFW) living wage benchmark, the Safe Circle Approach methodology for preventing gender-based violence, and campaign-driven advocacy targeting global fashion brands for wage theft and supply chain accountability.

Product overview

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) is a labor rights organization, not a technology product company. Its core offerings consist of advocacy campaigns, policy frameworks, and research methodologies rather than software products. The organization's primary offerings include: the Asia Floor Wage (AFW) living wage benchmark calculation system; the Safe Circle Approach methodology for preventing gender-based violence; the Wage Forward Campaign advocating for enforceable brand agreements; the Fight the Heist Campaign against wage theft; the Violence Out of Fashion Campaign for GBVH accountability; the Garment Me Too Campaign; the Worker Shop Floor Monitor Program; National People's Tribunals on Living Wage; and the Worker Action Delegation program. These offerings are advocacy initiatives, legal strategies, and research frameworks aimed at improving labor conditions in global garment supply chains, not commercial software products or technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Asia Floor Wage (AFW) Living Wage Benchmark AFWA's flagship cross-border living wage formulation for garment workers in Asia, serving as an internationally recognized wage standard that accounts for food, non-food costs, and unpaid household and care work.
• Safe Circle Approach A bottom-up prevention methodology for addressing gender-based violence and harassment in garment factories by engaging women workers as agents of change through small group face-to-face engagement processes.
• Wage Forward Campaign Campaign for enforceable binding agreements between brands and trade unions on payment of living wages, modeled after the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the Fair Food Program.
• Fight the Heist Campaign Global campaign to stop fashion brands from profiting from wage theft of Asian garment workers during COVID-19, calling for repayment of stolen pandemic wages involving 20 garment worker unions across 6 countries.
• Violence Out of Fashion Campaign Campaign spearheaded by AFWA-WLC and Global Labor Justice to amplify women garment workers' voices, expose endemic gender-based violence and harassment in garment factories, and call for binding enforceable solutions from fashion brands.
• Garment Me Too Campaign Campaign to spotlight gender-based violence that women garment workers face daily in supplier factories across Asia, demanding concrete changes from global brands like Adidas.
• Worker Shop Floor Monitor Program Program where trained worker monitors identify and prevent harassment on production lines before it escalates into severe forms of gender-based violence and harassment.
• Joint Employer Liability Legal Strategy Legal framework arguing that global apparel brands are joint employers of supply chain workers, activating local labor law enforcement to hold brands accountable for labor rights violations.
• Worker Action Delegation Program Program enabling Asian garment workers to travel to consumer countries (USA) to advocate directly with brands, policymakers, and the public for worker rights.
• Publications and Research Reports Extensive library of reports including wage theft documentation, gender-based violence research, COVID-19 impact studies, and supply chain accountability analyses published from 2009 to present.

Quantifiable outcome

• 76% of GBVH grievances resolved within two weeks under the Dindigul Agreement
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Feminist Alliance for Rights (FAR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint publisher of Women on the Rise: Gendering the World of Work policy brief alongside AFWA and GLJ.
• Natchi Apparels (Eastman Exports)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Signed landmark Dindigul Agreement in April 2021 to eliminate GBVH at their factories, becoming the first supplier to sign an enforceable agreement with unions.
• Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Joint endorser of Justice for Jeyasre campaign and Fight the Heist campaign; collaborates on women's rights advocacy.
• Garment worker unions from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri LankaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 201620 garment worker unions from 6 countries form the core of AFWA's Fight the Heist campaign. Listed unions include GSUL (Bangladesh), CATU (Cambodia), TTCU (India), SPN (Indonesia), Muttahida Labor Federation (Pakistan), CMU (Sri Lanka), among many others.
• International Trade Union Congress (ITUC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Represented by General Secretary Sharan Burrow at AFWA's First Dialogue with Global Union Federations in 2014.
• IndustriALLflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Represented by Policy Director Jenny Holdcroft at AFWA's First Dialogue with Global Union Federations.
• International Transportworkers Federation (ITF)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Represented by Assistant General Secretary Stuart Howard at AFWA's First Dialogue with Global Union Federations.
• International Union of Foodworkers (IUF)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Represented by Program Director-Asia Pacific Region Rita Tambungan at AFWA's First Dialogue with Global Union Federations.
• Union Network International (UNI)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Represented by Global Supply Chain Coordinator Ben Vanpeperstraeta at AFWA's First Dialogue with Global Union Federations.
• Permanent People's TribunalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Organized series of National People's Tribunals on Living Wage for garment workers between 2011-2014, with jury members including Permanent People's Tribunal members.
• Global Labor Justice - International Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term strategic partner in campaigns including Fight the Heist, Garment Me Too, Violence Out of Fashion, and Justice for Jeyasre. Co-authors reports and coordinates international labour rights advocacy.
• Clean Clothes CampaigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing collaborator on living wage campaigns, co-authored Route Map to Asia Floor Wage and Wage Forward campaign proposal. Works together on enforceable brand agreements.
• Worker-driven Social Responsibility NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates on Wage Forward campaign to develop enforceable binding agreements between brands and trade unions for living wage payment.
• International Labour Organisation (ILO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFWA participated in ILO's first tripartite discussion on regulation of global supply chains in 2016; contributed to standard setting on violence and harassment; engaged with ILO on living wage operationalisation in 2024.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Fashion Revolution: Fashion Revolution is a global movement advocating for transparency and ethical practice in the fashion industry. While less focused on enforceable agreements, it shares AFWA's target audience (global brands and consumers) and supply chain justice mission.
• Remake: Remake is a fashion accountability organization running consumer-facing campaigns against major brands on worker pay and environmental practices, with overlapping advocacy themes and target brand list to AFWA.

Broad incumbents

• Fair Labor Association: The Fair Labor Association is a multi-stakeholder initiative conducting supply chain audits and certification in the garment sector, sharing AFWA's broader industry accountability focus but operating a fundamentally different (brand-accredited) model.
• Better Work (ILO/IFC): Better Work is a flagship ILO/IFC program improving garment factory compliance and labor standards across multiple producing countries. It overlaps with AFWA's mission but operates with institutional backing rather than independent worker-led advocacy.

Others

• International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC): ITUC is a global labor federation representing trade unions worldwide. AFWA engages with ITUC as a flagship partner, and ITUC provides infrastructure and policy channels relevant to AFWA's cross-border worker organizing work.
• IndustriALL Global Union: IndustriALL is the global union federation for workers in manufacturing, mining, and supply chain sectors, including garment and textile workers. It shares AFWA's target worker population and is a flagship partner in AFWA's Global Union Federation dialogue.

Direct peers

• Clean Clothes Campaign: Clean Clothes Campaign is a global alliance focused on improving working conditions and wages in the garment industry, with shared living wage advocacy and direct co-authorship of AFWA's Route Map to Asia Floor Wage. It is the closest peer in mission, methodology, and target audience.
• Worker Rights Consortium: The Worker Rights Consortium investigates and addresses labor rights violations in garment supply chains for university licensees, sharing AFWA's enforcement focus on enforceable agreements and worker-led monitoring models.
• Worker-driven Social Responsibility Network: WSR Network is a core strategic partner on the Wage Forward campaign and shares AFWA's framework for binding, worker-enforceable agreements between brands and trade unions.
• Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum: GLJ-ILRF is a long-term strategic partner of AFWA, co-authoring key reports on H&M, Gap, and Walmart supply chains and coordinating campaigns including Fight the Heist and Garment Me Too. It operates as a direct peer in US-based garment worker advocacy and OECD complaint strategy.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wefighttheheist
• Instagraminstagram.com/skeletonsinyourcloset_vof
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/asia-floor-wage-alliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA)