H&M slams claims of 'low' Cambodian wages

After an investigative Swedish TV programme claimed H&M paid “low” factory wages in Cambodia, the clothing giant has blasted the show and the claims, explaining that they are in fact working hard to raise local salaries.

• H&M under fire for 'low' Cambodia wages (24 Oct 12)

“We don’t recognize our image reflected in these complaints,” said Camilla Emilsson Falk, H&M’s spokeperson to the Aftonbladet newspaper.

“We also want the wages to be raised, and we’re working hard to promote wages increasing in several countries, including Cambodia, among others.”

H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson also defended the company's practices.

“We are working with one of the world’s leading experts on salaries in countries like Cambodia. We want the salaries to be raised," he told the Expressen newspaper.

"Furthermore, I was in Bangladesh myself recently and visited the prime minister where I put forward our demands that the wages are raised and that they’re increased annually.”

The programme, Kalla Fakta (The Cold Facts), will be aired on Wednesday night in Sweden and makes claims that factory workers are only paid 3 kronor ($0.45) an hour and have suffered from mass faintings due to overcrowding and poor factory conditions.

“We want to be open and we had invited TV4 to the factory, so it’s not correct to say that we tried to prevent the team from visiting. On the contrary, it was us who helped TV4 to gain access to the factory,” he said.

Persson also slammed Kalla Fakta for what he perceived as its one-sided reporting.

“In my experience, I know that it is an unbalanced programme that is very biased, and I think it may be biased this time too,” he said.

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