“Gap simply wants to get its clothes produced as cheaply as possible, the advocates argue, and it’s dressing up the move as global philanthropy.” 4 The reason it is so cheap is because they don’t have to pay the workers. How does the Gap violate the child slave labor laws? For instance, only last year, the minimum age to work was raised from thirteen to fourteen years in the new Minimum Wages Law. This competitive advantage is further strengthened by patchy human rights regulation and little enforcement. The labour costs in Myanmar are among the cheapest in the world. Myanmar has a competitive advantage compared to other countries that offer low-skilled factory labour. The reason is that Myanmar is an attractive country for H&M, a company that made it its mission to offer fashion at the ‘best’ price.

H&M started contracting with manufacturers in Hlaing Thar Yar Township only last year, after the European Union lifted many trade sanctions (which were mainly installed for political reasons). To begin, H&M’s interpretation does not hold water at the inter-country level.

Moreover, the interpretation of ‘exclusion of work’ by H&M is neither straightforward at the inter-country nor at the intra-country level. A PIECE OF WORK: H&M’S TAKE ON CHILD LABOUR IN MYANMAR statest that, 2 Even though the age doesn’t fall into the child labor, the hours do.

“They employed anyone who wanted to work,” Zu Zu, one of the girls who started work aged 14, told the authors of Modeslavar, or Fashion Slaves in English. They had kids working there as young as 14, but they were working 12 hours or more a day. How does H&M break the child slave labor laws? H&M is not the only company that violates the child slave labor laws, Gap, Old Navy, Intermix, Hill City, and Athleta. In Myanmar, H&M has kids who are between the ages of 14 and 17 slaving away in sweatshops. “H&M is under fire for contracting with factories that allegedly violated child-labor laws.” 1 H&M is owned by Stefan Persson, Sweden’s richest person.

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