First, in January, when the transportation of raw materials from China to other garment producing countries was suspended, many factories were forced to close temporarily. The next wave hit as the pandemic spread to Europe and the United States (US). In response to a sudden drop in consumer demand for apparel, brands cancelled and refused to pay for shipments of completed and in production orders. As a result, factories were forced to close and dismiss workers in mass. Each time factories were forced to close, workers were often sent home without notice or pay from their employers. For example, in Bangladesh, 72.4% of furloughed and 80.4% of dismissed workers were sent home unpaid in March 2020. The third wave of devastation continues, as the virus itself spreads in garment producing countries. At the time of writing this report, many factories remain closed and millions of workers remain unpaid.
The 21-day lockdown has inadvertently exposed the extreme vulnerability of migrant workers in India. The construction sector contributes to around 9% of the country's GDP and employs the highest number of migrant workers across India with 55 million...Read More
COVID-19 is a test of societies, of governments, of communities and of individuals. It is a time for solidarity and cooperation to tackle the virus, and to mitigate the effects, often unintended, of measures designed to halt the spread of COVID-19. ...Read More
Since 2011, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the OECD, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have been collaborating to organize the Annual Roundtable on Labor Migration in Asia. The 10th anniversary of this event was marked in...Read More
This briefing builds on the understanding that labour exploitation is part of a spectrum ranging from labour compliance through to labour law violations, culminating at extreme exploitation in the form of forced labour. Research by FLEX and others s...Read More
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