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Report: Top Retailers Pay Poverty Wages

H&M, Gap, others mislead public about plight of garment workers in Bangladesh

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 14, 2007 11:27 AM CDT

(Newser) – On the eve of London fashion week, a new report blasts clothing retailers for turning a blind eye to the poverty-level wages of their workers. Marks&Spencer, H&M, the Gap, and others are singled out for paying garments workers in Bangladesh such low wages that the workers must rely on government food parcels or go hungry, the Guardian reports.

The report, 'Let's Clean Up Fashion,' by two anti-sweatshop groups, also took retailers to task for not coming clean with the public about labor practices: Most clothing companies "continue to hoodwink the public by telling them that everything is fine." Retailers accused in the report countered that they require suppliers to pay workers at least the local minimum wage.

A Gap customer looks at Gap jeans at the Gap store in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007. Gap Inc. is expected to report second-quarter earnings after markets close, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
A Gap customer looks at Gap jeans at the Gap store in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007. Gap Inc. is expected to report second-quarter earnings after markets close, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul...   (Associated Press)
A Chinese  policeman directs traffic outside of the newly opened  the Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) store in Shanghai, China in this April 12, 2007 file photo. Fashion retailer H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, which last month introduced a range of clothing co-designed by pop star Madonna, said Monday, April 16,...
A Chinese policeman directs traffic outside of the newly opened the Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) store in Shanghai, China in this April 12, 2007 file photo. Fashion retailer H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, which...   (Associated Press)
A Cambodian motorcart picks up garment factory workers in front of their factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, June 8, 2007. Cambodian lawmakers approved reduction of night time pay for garment workers Friday, in a labor law amendment the government has deemed necessary for boosting jobs in the industry. (AP...
A Cambodian motorcart picks up garment factory workers in front of their factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, June 8, 2007. Cambodian lawmakers approved reduction of night time pay for garment workers...   (Associated Press)
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