Covid-19 and garment workers

Shocks along the chain…

In 2020, Covid-19 disrupted everyone's life. 

Many of you will have seen the impact on fashion retailing here in Australia, with shops closing - some for good. Even big companies are taking a hit, with Nike expecting sales to drop by US$3.5 billion. 

The whole textile and garment value chain has been thrown into massive disruption.

Garment manufacturing has been hit by falling demand as retailers cancel orders or ask for delays in payment. There have been delays in fabrics, and the cotton price has also been hit.

…with human costs

There were reports of losses of tens of thousands of jobs in Myanmar and Cambodia.

In Bangladesh, estimates had 1.92 million workers at risk of losing their jobs as factories received notice of US$2.58 billion worth of export orders cancelled or on-hold. 

Making things worse, many workers in Tiers 1-3 were receiving less than a living wage, defined as the minimum needed to provide adequate shelter, food and necessities. This made it hard for them to plan or save for emergencies. 

Many migrant workers were without funds to return home. 

Even the workers who managed to hang on to their jobs weren't in the clear. Programs set up to improve their working conditions were disrupted.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally-binding agreement between brands and unions set up in the wake of the collapse of the the Rana Plaza factory in 2013 which killed 1,133 people and critically injuring thousands more, had inspections and audits under the program suspended due to the closure of borders.

The problems were cumulative – delays in orders due to interruptions in supplies needed to be addressed when factories scaled back up, creating demands from buyers that resulted in pressure for workers to work unpaid and involuntary overtime, or even worse, subcontract to the informal market, where there is a high risk of human rights violations. 

Shoots of hope

Amid the havoc were some shoots of hope. 

Companies along the value chain were asked to produce and supply medical equipment such as surgical gowns, face masks and materials and elastics. 

Dozens of brands and retailers donated funds and activated their logistics networks to support the effort. 

As orders slowly start returning, cotton and textile associations joined forces in calling for greater collaboration throughout the value chain. Governments announced aid packages for their workers, and the European Union provided an emergency fund to support the most vulnerable garment workers in Myanmar.

Longer term, the supply risks highlighted by the disruption might cause companies along the value chain to diversify their suppliers and even produce locally. 

The crisis has demonstrated forcefully the brittleness of supply chains and the ways in which what we produce and consume affects the livelihoods of those elsewhere in the chain.

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This an edited extract from The Conversation article by Sarah Kaine, Alice Payne and Justine Coneybeer, May 2020.

You can read more about the Bangladesh situation here.