Millions of garment workers face destitution as fashion brands cancel orders
This piece was first published by Ethical Corporation.
The scale and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic grows each day. And so does its impact on business and for the rights of workers and communities that depend on those businesses for their livelihoods.
In the US, 10 million workers have registered as unemployed in two weeks, while the UK Institute of Fiscal Studies reports that the low-paid, women, and young workers are seven times more likely to work in UK sectors that have now been shut down.
Less obvious to those suffering from the pandemic in the West is the devastating impact the economic slowdown is having on the supply chain factories of Asia and Latin America as developed market economies.
At BHRRC we’ve been looking in depth at what is happening in the apparel industry supply chain, where an estimated 60 million low paid and mainly female workers have had their livelihoods put at risk as major brands and retailers have scrambled to minimise their losses by shifting the financial burden of the crisis down to the bottom of the supply chain. ...
For more information on the impact of COVID-19 on business and human rights, head to our in-depth area.