Shahi Exports, India’s largest garment company which supplies fashion goods to dozens of international brands, agreed to pay nine months back pay worth £3 million to tens of thousands of workers, after refusing to pay minimum wages for two years. Last month the company agreed to pay about 80,000 workers, with further payments expected in the coming months that will increase the total paid back to workers to £7million.
Shahi and other garment companies across Karnataka, which collectively produce clothing for international brands including Puma, Nike, Zara, Tesco, C&A, Gap, Marks & Spencer and H&M, have been refusing to pay an annual cost-of-living increase to the minimum wage set by the courts in April 2020.
More than 400,000 workers were left without their full legal wages for more than 20 months, in what international labour rights groups claimed was the biggest wage theft to hit the fashion industry.
In December, garment workers said that they were going hungry and were unable to feed their children as the cost of living increased. The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), which has been working with the workers union and other labour rights groups across Karnataka, said that Shahi’s decision to pay back missing wages to its workers was a significant step forward.
In a statement, Shahi said that it was still awaiting the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings relating to the full payment of minimum wage but that it was paying workers due to concerns about how long the court process was taking.
