"Garment workers in H&M, Primark, and Nike’s supply chains need their full wages during a pandemic", 28 September 2020

Millions of workers in garment supply chains world-wide have not been paid their full wages during the pandemic or have lost their jobs without adequate financial compensation. Today the Clean Clothes Campaign network starts a campaign calling upon brands to take responsibility for the workers that make their clothes and ensure that workers are paid what they are owed...

In a report... Clean Clothes Campaign calculated that just for the first three months of the pandemic garment workers in global supply chains are owed between 3.2-5.8 billion USD in unpaid wages, legally owed bonuses, and compensation... [and] urges apparel brands and retailers to commit to a wage assurance: a public commitment to ensure, by the most efficient means, that the workers in their supply chains are paid what they are owed and to enter into negotiations to establish a fund that will make sure workers can no longer be left jobless without their legally owed severance. The “Pay Your Workers” campaign launched today focuses on H&M, Primark, and Nike - three of the brands that most frequently appeared in reports from workers about worker rights violations during the pandemic -, but the call to take responsibility is directed at all garment brands and retailers with outsourced production. Over a dozen brands have already committed to ensuring their workers are paid in full during the pandemic, including Nile, Kuyichi, Taiyo, and Known Supply. It is up to bigger companies to follow suit...