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 exposing just how fragile the protection and prevention framework on modern slavery is, despite progress in recent years resulting from a new focus, marked particularly by a drive toward national anti-slavery legislation. ...Read More
In responding to COVID-19 many have adopted the rallying cry of "we are all in this together." But the stark reality is that we are not. Millions of vulnerable workers do not have access to COVID-19 testing, health care, sick leave or the physical o...Read More
The ILO’s Flagship International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour (IPEC+) has ongoing operations in 62 countries, all of which are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme has developed business continuity pla...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has once again exposed the fragility of global supply chains and the enormous risks to human and labour rights in a highly interconnected global economy that is not governed by the rule of law. With the global drop in dema...Read More
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