H&M may raise prices to improve factory conditions

Fast fashion companies have a lot to answer for when it comes to buying ethically produced products. Cheap clothes mean cheap labour, and let's not even mention the quality of fabric. As the slogan goes, somebody has to pay the price when

a T-shirt retails for under 10 pounds.

H&M this week stated it may one day raise retail prices in a bid to improve wages to the workers in Asia who manufacture its collections.

The announcement came at a meeting with pressure groups in Stockholm where H&M unveiled plans to improve pay rates for textile workers in countries such as Bangladesh where the minimum wage is less than 50 euros a month.

Higher prices might be a possibility

Helena Helmersson, head of sustainability at H&M, told AFP that higher retail prices "might be a possibility" in the long term but that customers should not expect any price hikes in the near future.

Some analysts saw the acknowledgement as a significant breakthrough.

"It's the first time ever they have said they were willing to raise prices and that consumers were now ready for that," said Viveka Risberg from Swedwatch, which monitors Swedish multinational corporations.

"It's going to take years to get to a living wage in Bangladesh but I'm more hopeful now they have opened up to involving all the stakeholders -- the unions, the workers the suppliers and the government."

H&M first announced its Fair Living Wage policy in November and said in a statement that "all textile workers should be able to live on their wage" but that progress towards that was too slow in some countries where many workers still live below the poverty line.

Helmersson said the company would use its size and influence with suppliers to push for fairer wages, training for workers and recognition of the role of trade unions in pay negotiations.

She added that H&M was also lobbying governments to raise minimum wage levels, and introduce annual reviews, pointing to the recent hike to 67 dollars per month introduced by the Bangladeshi government as one sign of improvement.

Image: H&M David Beckham