'Garment workers' unions and rights groups support TRIPS waiver', 17 May 2021

The global supply chains of international brands and retailers are spread across low-and-middle-income governments including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Central America and Mexico, and employs at least an estimated 35 million workers. Since the onset of Covid-19, the garment and textile industry, and especially its poor workers have suffered huge losses. Demonstration in Pakistan during the first wave of the pandemic.

The latest surges of Covid-19 cases in India and other parts of South Asia are deeply concerning, and have once again impacted workers’ health and livelihoods.  Low and middle-income governments whose economies depend on garments and textile exports, will experience significant delays in economic recovery unless we achieve swift widespread vaccinations globally.  These governments are between a rock and a hard place, trying to balance economic needs and people’s lives, health, and occupational health and safety...