8 September 2020

Philippine garment exporters expect to cut around 21,000 jobs this year as orders from the U.S. plunge, prompting workers to call on international brands, including Adidas and Under Armour, to help avert further layoffs...

Major contactors based in the central island of Cebu have already laid off over 4,000 workers early this month and more job cuts loom, according to Dennis Derige, a coordinator for the Mactan Export Processing Zone Workers Alliance, whose members include retrenched garments workers.

Derige is appealing to international brands supplied by the contractor, including Adidas, Under Armour and Lululemon Athletica, to help avoid further job cuts. "This crisis is temporary, but layoff is permanent. We hope they advise their sub-contractors to put the layoff on hold. They are the buyers, they have a big say in this," Derige [said]...