FASHION SECTOR
H&M accused of failing to ensure fair wages in factories
London — Fashion group H&M was failing to keep a "living wage" promise, forcing many employees in its factories to work excessive hours to survive, civil society groups said on Monday. Based on interviews with 62 people in six H&M supplier factories in Bulgaria, Turkey, India and Cambodia, campaigners said none of the workers earned anything near a wage that could cover basic needs. Big brands are under mounting pressure from campaigners and consumers to improve working conditions in global supply chains, and render them free of exploitation and slavery. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) said Sweden’s H&M, the world’s second-largest fashion retailer after Zara owner Inditex, had not met a 2013 commitment to ensure its suppliers paid a living wage to 850,000 textile workers by 2018. "H&M needs to take action immediately to stop the scandal of poverty wages and workers’ rights violations," said Bettina Musiolek of the CCC, an alliance of labour unions and charities. H&M, with more than...
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