The Steelworkers Humanity Fund conducted research into the wages and living conditions of Bangladesh’s garment sector, which employs a majority of women, making clothes in factories supplying Canadian brands and fashion retailers... This report demonstrates that Canadian garment companies are no different than other global brands as they seek to minimize the cost of production as much as possible.

... The wages that Bangladeshi garment sector workers are paid in factories supplying Canadian brands and retailers are far from sufficient to cover living expenses, and do not come even close to what is needed for women to escape poverty... Through testimonies, this report lays bare how poverty wages concretely affect workers’ access to food, housing, healthcare, their capacity to provide for their children’s childcare and education, and ability to save for the future. In other words, even with overtime the women and men who make clothes for Canadian brands are not paid living wages — and Canadian brands must take responsibility for that.

... Workers seeking to defend their rights by joining unions also face retaliation from factory management, leaving them virtually unable to organize democratically, thus further enhancing their vulnerability.