On 22 December 2012  more than 20 people who were trade unionists, labour activists and CAW members in Sri Lanka met to discuss what actions can be taken to follow-up on the Peoples’ Tribunal in March that called for a Asian Floor Wage for the garment sector in Sri Lanka. The meeting began by an update on the Sri Lankan garment workers sector. It was reported that workers face grave challenges because of present government policy that proposes a new pension scheme that will not work for the interests of the workers. Wage increments have been stalled and protesting workers were beaten and cases pressed against them. There have been retrenchments even in the Free Trade Zone factories. Under such challenging circumstances the meeting planned strategies to get brands to commit to increasing wages and paying a basic minimum wage. There was a brief sharing about some of the successes of garment workers in India and Indonesia in getting brands to improve their working conditions.

The meeting resolved to continue with collecting information about the situation of workers producing for the major international brands. This coupled with active and effective organising of the workers will lend an edge to a strategy of negotiating with the brands for a basic living wage for garment workers in Asia. CAW is actively involved in these struggles of the garment workers in Asia.