H&M is the world’s second-largest apparel retailer has improved its purchasing practices by excluding labor costs from price negotiations in support of fair wages. In July, H&M implemented a new wage management system, aimed at better work environments and fair wages at 500 supplier factories representing 50 per cent of its product volume.

H&M plans to create a new mind-set both at its supplier factories and within its own operations. In 2013, the company determined that its strategic suppliers should have pay structures in place to pay a fair living wage by 2018. This was expected to reach around 8,50,000 textile workers in 750 factories, or about 60 per cent of its global garment workforce.

But labor groups say H&M has watered down its initial commitment by trading one measurable target (the 8,50,000 workers) for something less determinate (improving wage-management systems.)

A wave of actions against poverty wages has hit H&M’s largest markets and production locations. There have been street actions and online campaigning in Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Croatia, India among others.