Kazi Azizul Islam
Hennes & Mauritz AB, a Sweden-based global retail giant which is a major importer of apparels from Bangladesh, has suggested that the government here should create a mechanism for automatic annual review of workers' wages on the basis of cost of living.
The company considered the recent increase of the wages of garment workers in Bangladesh was a required and positive move.
'While we appreciate this [upward revision of garment workers' minimum wages in August 2010] is a step into the right direction,' read an H&M statement.
'We still request that the [Bangladesh] government creates a mechanism for automatic annual wage reviews to ensure that minimum wages develop in line with living costs.'
The statement came in the annual sustainability report, released last week, by the Stockholm-based retail giant.
Referring to August 2010 increase on the wages of workers by 67 to 81 per cent, depending on job categories, H&M said, 'We regard minimum wages or equivalent standards as competition neutral and these increases can only be regarded as positive.'
H&M categorically admitted that importers and buyers of garments have much to do in ensuring fare wages to the workers. 'Where minimum wages are too low, we can use our influence to demand systematic improvements.'
The company recalled that in January 2010, it, together with a number of other companies [importers and retailers of made-in-Bangladesh garments], sent a letter to the government of Bangladesh requesting an urgent review of the minimum wages of the garment workers.
In Bangladesh, the government does not review minimum wage levels regularly, H&M pointed out. 'And systems for employees to negotiate directly with their employers are generally not sufficient.'
Industry sources said H&M is one of the top five importers of Bangladeshi garments and its sourcing increased rapidly in recent years.
Daily minimum wage of a Bangladeshi garment worker is about $1.5 while it ranges between $2 and $6 in other major apparel exporting countries.
Source: New Age
