By Misty White Sidell
Oct 29, 2012
Th Daily Beast
A new Swedish documentary alleges that the retailer pays its Cambodian workers $.45 an hour.
The
Swedish brand H&M has recently made headlines for its
collaborations with high-fashion designers, such as Maison Martin
Margiela, Marni, and Versace.
But
last week, a Swedish documentary series cast the international retailer
in a new light: as a potential violator of human rights. Kalla Fakta,
or “Cold Facts” in English, recently revealed a segment about H&M’s
use of underpaid laborers in Cambodia. The 22-minute report (that you
can watch with English subtitles here),
alleges that H&M's Cambodian workers are vastly underpaid. It
claims that the brand uses factories that pay their seamstresses a
reported average of $66 per month, representing only 25 percent of a
livable Cambodian wage. H&M disputed the episode’s claims, saying
that the documentary is riddled with inaccuracies – telling WWD that, “The angle in the program Kalla Fakta
is that H&M’s competitors are far ahead of H&M when it comes to
implementation of a so-called living wage…This is not correct.” They
also told the paper that their brand policy requires factories to pay a
minimum wage legally required of their respective country -- just $.45
per hour in Cambodia according to current exchange rates.
But H&M insists that they promote “the ambition that one should be able to live off the salary.” However, the brand rarely lobbies for new and progressive income policies in the countries where they manufacture merchandise.
But H&M insists that they promote “the ambition that one should be able to live off the salary.” However, the brand rarely lobbies for new and progressive income policies in the countries where they manufacture merchandise.
With
nearly perfect timing, a labor strike broke out on the grounds M&V
International, one of H&M’s primary Cambodian factories, when Kalla Fakta
correspondents (and their cameras) tried to pay the manufacturer a
visit. The show captured factory workers peacefully rioting for better
wages. “My worrying is making me sick, I don’t know where I’ll get the
money,” M&V garment worker Deuar Sophon told camera crews when they
visited her decaying home, explaining that she is forced to take out
high-interest loans to purchase food. Sophon works an average of 70
hours per week. “Everything I make goes to paying off my debts,” she
added.
H&M
claims that they’ve “urged” Cambodian officials to raise the country’s
minimum wage. But in Bangladesh—another of H&M’s manufacturing
hubs—the company has formally approached officials to request a change
in policy. “We need to learn more about the conditions in different
countries to see how bad the conditions are there,” Helena Helmersson,
H&M’s head of sustainability told a Kalla Fakta reporter, claiming that 75 percent of Cambodia’s factories are unionized, giving employees a proper outlet to have their voices heard.
The company reacted on Monday,
vowing to ensure better conditions for their Cambodian seamstresses.
“Our ambition is clearly set in our Code of Conduct: ‘Everyone who works
has the right to a just and favorable remunerations ensuring for
himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity’,” the note
read. But considering Cambodia’s current minimum wage requirements, a
dignified existence is certainly still miles away. According to H&M,
they’re working on it. The company claims that rather than involving
government, they’re in direct contact with factory management—although
it still seems that they’re perpetuating the problem rather than
breaking away from it. “Our aim is therefore to influence the wage issue
such that the minimum wage is increased to a level that represents a
living wage," a company spokesperson said.
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