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 COVID-19 pandemic is putting the world under enormous strain, affecting the lives of everyone. The unprecedented measures adopted to flatten the infection curve include enforced quarantine, curfews and lockdowns, travel restrictions, and limitat...Read More
Human trafficking is the crime of using force or fraud for the purpose of compelled labor or a commercial sex act. The United States considers “trafficking in persons,” “human trafficking,” and “modern slavery” to be interchangeable umbr...Read More
Keeping workers safe needs to be top priority amongst both clothing brands, their suppliers and the worker representatives. To give targeted guidance on how to keep workers safe, we have developed this discussion sheet which, in combination with our...Read More
Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), an Asian labour-led global labour and social alliance, has been monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers in garment-producing countries through ground reports from AFWA partners and allies in Cambodi...Read More
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