H&M Sustainability Commitment clearly state that our suppliers should adhere to all national laws and international standards in regards to employment, wages and Freedom of Association. Any situation where supplier fail to do so, we would demand and engage to ensure that any such situation is resolved.

 The conflict at Avery Denison involving trade union GATWU has been going on since beginning of this year. H&M together with other brands have had continuous dialogue with the two parties, and repeatedly sought to find a solution to the conflict. Despite those efforts no solution was reached, therefore several brands asked Ethical Trade Initiative as a neutral organisation, to step in and help with mediation.  Below is the latest report from the meeting between ETI representative, Avery Denison and GATWU. We are positively optimistic that this will  lead to  resolving of the conflict. We will closely follow the process.

“Meeting between GATWU/NTUI and Avery Dennison in Bangalore took place the 16^th August. The objective of this meeting was to see if there was enough common ground and a willingness by both parties to undertake a structured mediation process to resolve the issues raised by NTUI/GATWU.  The meeting went ahead and both parties agreed to a structured mediation process. Furthermore they have agreed to work quickly to address these issues which have been ongoing since the beginning of the year. The issues revolve around four interlinked issues – 1) Regularisation of contract workers, 2) Equal pay for equal work, 3) minimum wage for contract workers and 4) Recognition of GATWU union and whether they have reached the threshold for formal recognition.”