Clean Clothes Campaign calls on Uniqlo to pay £5.5 million severance pay owed to former Jaba Garmindo workers as COVID-19 crisis pushes them further into financial precarity
“Former Uniqlo garment workers vulnerable due to COVID-19 restrictions on fifth anniversary of factory closure”, 22 April 2020
. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) calls on Uniqlo, operating under parent company Fast Retailing… to … [pay] the full $5.5 million owed [2000 former Jaba Garmindo workers] under Indonesian law …
Since the sudden loss of their jobs, these workers have been forced into profoundly vulnerable situations, compounded by the current COVID-19 outbreak and restrictions. A large number have been unable to … work … [They] … will not be covered under the Indonesian benefits system or COVID-19 related funds …
Uniqlo has manifestly failed … in its clear moral responsibility towards these workers. International standards dictate that companies must address and remedy adverse human rights impacts of their business practices …
The CCC also calls upon UN Women … to take active steps with their global programme partner Uniqlo to address the suffering being faced by these former garment workers …
Organisations, individuals and brands who are conducting business relationships with Uniqlo are strongly urged to step up and call upon Uniqlo to protect the former … workers …
“The 2,000 workers of Jaba Garmindo have been waiting for five years and are now living in extremely perilous situations with no income or means to support themselves under COVID-19 restrictions. Uniqlo … must immediately … pay up ... We also call on UN Women to fulfil the aims of their partnership with Uniqlo by taking an urgent stand for women’s rights in the garment sector … Anything less is a contradiction of their aims,” said Ilona Kelly, Urgent Appeals Coordinator, Clean Clothes Campaign.