"They Make Clothes for H&M. Pandemic Lockdowns Pushed Them Deep Into Poverty."

...Imran Ali and some of his fellow garment workers assembled outside the iron gates of a denim factory in the southeastern city of Karachi, Pakistan...They were protesting against the factory’s alleged refusal to enforce the government’s fixed minimum wage.

... two vans arrived on the scene, and three men in plain clothes started ruthlessly beating up the workers with sticks...

Garment workers in Karachi’s industrial area claim that Denim Clothing Company, a supplier for global fashion brands like H&M, has not been paying them the statutory minimum wage of $144 per month fixed by the provincial government. The demonstration...called out the factory for alleged inhumane working conditions, routine intimidation, lack of social security, and arbitrary dismissals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic...

According to a spokesperson for H&M, the company is currently looking into the allegations against their Denim Clothing Company. “We are in contact with the supplier as well as the global trade union IndustriALL. H&M Group requires that all suppliers pay at least minimum wage, and according to both third-party verification and our own assessment, all workers employed at the supplier referred to have been paid legal wages and in accordance with agreements,”...

...workers arrested during the protest ended up in jail for six hours, where they received further beatings from police...

The workers said they were released only after they were forced to sign a document stating they would not protest against the company again.

“The management has told workers that if any of them attend another protest, they will be removed from the face of the Earth and no one will ever find out,” Yaseen Jhullal, the chief organizer of the Sindh Renaissance Labour Federation, told VICE World News...