H&M Group and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have expanded their partnership to jointly promote improved working conditions in the textile and garment industry supply chains. The new agreement expands an existing partnership, and continues the longstanding, close collaboration between H&M Group and the ILO that aims to strengthen work in the group’s supply chain on sustainability. The new partnership will include more H&M Group business functions than before, making it even broader.
The flagship Better Work Programme of the ILO, jointly managed by the International Finance Corporation, will play a key role in implementing activities under the agreement. The Better Work Programme operates in seven countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Nicaragua and Viet Nam) working with about 1,600 factories that employ around 2,200,000 workers.
H&M Group and the ILO have been working together since 2001 in countries such as Cambodia and Bangladesh. They have specifically addressed a range of issues including wages, work quality, productivity, and the documentation and recognition of workers’ skills.
Both parties acknowledge that systemic changes are needed in terms of labor relations by working with governments, trade unions and employers’ organisations.
