abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

这页面没有简体中文版本,现以English显示

新闻稿

2021年3月10日

Fashion brands bring US$10bn in pandemic profits as thousands of their garment workers face wage theft

Shutterstock (purchased)

Garments workers block a road demanding their due wages during the lockdown amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 15, 2020.
  • More than 9,800 garment workers not paid in full for work at eight factories supplying 16 fashion brands including H&M, Nike & Levi’s
  • Combined, these brands have recorded profits of at least US$10 billion in the second half of 2020 alone.
  • In seven of the eight cases, workers have still not been paid what they are owed. This in spite of policy commitments from all fashion brands to ensure workers are paid for making their clothes.
  • Cases include 1,200 garment workers protesting over unpaid wages and benefits at the Violet Apparel Factory in Cambodia. Nike claims it does not have a relationship with the supplier, however order forms and photographs taken by workers suggest otherwise.
  • Our research found the minimum wage in 12 major apparel exporting countries is, on average, over four times less than the wage workers need to live on.

London, UK: A year into the pandemic, fashion industry profits are booming again while almost three quarters of garment workers face hunger. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) investigated eight factories supplying 16 major fashion brands and found nearly 10,000 workers fighting for wages and benefits legally owed. In the last six months of 2020 alone, the brands they produced for brought at least US$10 billion in profits combined.

At the start of the pandemic, fashion brands cancelled their orders with supplier factories and demanded discounts of up to 90% on clothes already made, to protect their bottom line. This had a direct impact on suppliers’ ability to pay their workers even for work already completed. A year on, and the destitution faced by workers who have lost their jobs is worsened by not being paid what they are owed. In many cases workers – the vast majority women – have been owed wages for several months and are left struggling to support themselves and their families.

Factories were located in Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, and supplied: Carter’s Inc., Hanesbrands, H&M, Levi Strauss & Co., Lidl, L Brands (Victoria’s Secret), Matalan, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Next, New Look, Nike, PVH (Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger), River Island, Sainsbury’s, s.Oliver and The Children’s Place.

Thulsi Narayanasamy, Senior Labour Rights Lead at BHRRC, said: “Our research exposes an unfair industry rigged to favour brands at the expense of women workers who make our clothes. A year into the pandemic, with growing profits, and after witnessing the utter destitution of workers, brands don’t have an excuse for failing to protect the basic rights of garment workers. It’s not optional to ensure legal wages and benefits are paid in your supply chain.

“The crisis now facing garment workers stems from years of precarious work and poverty wages. Our research shows that the normal wages workers receive are on average, over four times less than the wage they need to live on. Yet even that poverty wage hasn’t been paid to women workers. Destitution could and should have been avoided – if only they had been paid a fair, living wage.

The business model of fashion brands and the structure of global garment supply chains is built on an extreme inequality of power that creates and sustains poverty wages for garment workers. To then have so many cases of not even paying workers during such a vulnerable time is excruciating.

“We can’t talk about a just recovery from the pandemic for garment workers without guaranteeing that a living wage will finally be paid to workers across the fashion supply chain. A wage that you can live on is a fundamental human right. After decades of failed initiatives, it’s time to make it happen.

“Payment of living wages as an industry standard would level the playing field for fashion brands and be transformative for workers – not only for a just recovery from the pandemic, but also to prevent the scale of crisis from repeating again.”

//ENDS

Media contacts: 

Priyanka Mogul, Media Officer, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, mogul@business-humanrights.org

Thulsi Narayanasamy, Senior Labour Rights Lead, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, narayanasamy@business-humanrights.org

Notes to editor: 

Read the full report: Wage theft and pandemic profits: the right to a living wage for garment workers

BHRRC released research in August 2020 on attacks on unions and freedom of association on garment workers during the pandemic: Union busting and unfair dismissals

For more about how fashion brands are responding to the pandemic visit the BHRRC COVID-19 Apparel Tracker.

隐私资讯

本网站使用 cookie 和其他网络存储技术。您可以在下方设置您的隐私选项。您所作的更改将立即生效。

有关我们使用网络存储的更多信息,请参阅我们的 数据使用和 Cookie 政策

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

分析 cookie

ON
OFF

您浏览本网页时我们将以Google Analytics收集信息。接受此cookie将有助我们理解您的浏览资讯,并协助我们改善呈现资讯的方法。所有分析资讯都以匿名方式收集,我们并不能用相关资讯得到您的个人信息。谷歌在所有主要浏览器中都提供退出Google Analytics的添加应用程式。

市场营销cookies

ON
OFF

我们从第三方网站获得企业责任资讯,当中包括社交媒体和搜寻引擎。这些cookie协助我们理解相关浏览数据。

您在此网站上的隐私选项

本网站使用cookie和其他网络存储技术来增强您在必要核心功能之外的体验。