January 2022 COVID blog

31 January

Bangladesh: Media report on research revealing female garment workers in Bangladesh were extremely vulnerable during the height of the pandemic with suggestions for a fashion watchdog to hold retailers accountable for the way suppliers and employees are treated.

The qualitative research conducted by University of Aberdeen's Professor M. Azizul Islam, in collaboration with non-profit organisation Traidcraft Exchange, found female garment workers in Bangladesh had to contend with tougher production targets and no overtime payments due to cancelled retail orders during the pandemic.

In an interview with Just Style, Professor Islam suggests rather than blaming suppliers for the way the female employees were treated due to cancelled retail orders, there needs to be a mechanism that holds fashion retailers accountable.

Media report on workers protesting against the closure of a garment factory in Kunia Barbari area, under Gachha police station, in Gazipur city.

The workers of Liz Apparels started the protest around 8:30 am on Saturday. After the police dispersed the workers, the situation came under control.

Factory quality control officer Sharif Hossain said there is a rule to increase the salary of workers by 5 percent at the end of each year. In this regard, from the beginning of January, the workers repeatedly demanded the factory authorities to increase their wages, but there was no response.

Moreover, a fire broke out in the factory on Wednesday (January 26). At this time the workers left the work place in panic and took position in the factory compound.

Myanmar: Myanmar lost about 1.6 million jobs in 2021 amid the combined shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and military coup, the International Labour Organization said.

The Southeast Asian country saw hours worked fall an estimated 18 percent in 2021 compared with the previous year, an amount equivalent to the time put in by 3.1 million full-time workers, according to the UN agency.

28 January

Bangladesh: Media report on why the Bangladeshi garment industry is still in a COVID crisis.

Women working in the Bangladesh garment industry have borne the brunt of the devastating impacts of the COVID health crisis, according to new findings.

A study published by researchers at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and trade justice charity Traidcraft Exchange UK, unearths the truth around who is being hit hardest by the pandemic.

The research reveals the repercussions of COVID-19 and consequent actions taken by Western retailers - such as cancelling orders, refusal to pay for work in progress and demands for discounted prices.

It also shows how vulnerable women workers have been disproportionately affected by rising levels of gender violence, abuse and economic hardship.

Sri Lanka: Media report that rising numbers of Omicron infections are being reported throughout Sri Lanka indicating that the country is on the edge of a massive surge of the highly-infectious coronavirus variant. Hospital authorities are reporting increased hospitalisations and greater demand for intensive care beds and oxygen.

Increasing numbers of infections are occurring in factories, particularly at the garment plants in the free trade zones and elsewhere. An infected worker from the Smart Shirt plant in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone told the World Socialist Web Site last week that many workers in the zone, including at her factory, have been infected.

USA: Media report on the issue of workplace safety and COVID-19 vaccination. It has been largely absent from the national conversation, drowned out by noisy protests over vaccination rules. Now the task of re-centering workplace safety has fallen to an unlikely source, the longstanding family-owned workwear company Carhartt.

Earlier this week the company reaffirmed its vaccine requirement for employees, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a national mandate ordered by President Biden.

26 January

Global: Media report on why human rights due diligence must extend to all workers in the supply chain.

The world is still reeling from the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with economic recovery unfolding as a stark, two-speed story of the Global South and Global North. Supply chains that were brought to a grinding halt by lockdowns are still limping along, with recent studies showing garment sector workers remain some of the world’s worst affected.

This crisis has compounded the pre-existing exploitative conditions commonplace before COVID-19. This is why it is critical, ahead of a Directive which could transform this broken industry, that workers from Asia, “the garment factory of the world” are heard.

Indonesia: IndustriALL union announces a significant bigotry for Indonesian unions, of a minimum wage hike of 5.1 percent in the capital region of Jakarta for 2022. Nack in December, the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI), organized a nation-wide demonstration to reject the proposed increase of provincial minimum wages by 0.8 per cent by Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) and 1.09 per cent by the Indonesian central government.

After continuous union protests, the Jakarta governor, Anies Baswedan, announced a 5.1 per cent minimum wage increase for Jakarta for 2022, equivalent to IDR 4.64 million (US$323).

Sri Lanka: Media report on a delegation meeting on minimum wage issues in Sri Lanka. 

Although the garment industry in Sri Lanka provides an unprecedented number of jobs to women in the rural poverty line of Sri Lanka, contributing to economic growth and positive balance of payments in the country, it has come at a price – and it is the workers who are paying it.

Apparel sector workers in Sri Lanka are paid a basic salary of approximately 120-175US $ (25,000LKR – 35,000LKR) per month including overtime and other incentives which don’t even cover their basic expenses. As sole breadwinners of their families, these workers remit around two-third of their paycheck back to their families in rural villages leaving a bare minimum for their survival in free trade zones, which entails food, accommodation, transportation, and other living costs.

Typically, food accounts for over 50% of the monthly income of low- income groups however there is a drastic change in this pattern observed among apparel sector workers due to hidden costs such as boarding and hostel payments, weekly transportation back to their villages, water bills, electricity, and other utility bills, overtime work, deviation from their family and social life.

24 January

Bangladesh: Media report that as many as 1,700 workers protested against a sudden layoff from an export-oriented garment factory in Fatullah, Narayanganj.

Workers of the Rahimaaziz Knitspin factory in the Volail area of Fatullah staged a street protest on Thursday from 7pm to 9pm. Protests by workers led to long traffic jams on the Dhaka-Munshiganj road in Kashipur and Panchabati areas of Fatullah. Later the police came and calmed the workers.

Media report that a garment factory in Ashulia, Savar has been closed indefinitely in the face of worker demands..

On Sunday (January 23) at noon, an indefinite stop notice was posted in front of the Huizhou Baijia Glove Company factory in Jamgarh, Ashulia.

It is learned that on January 11, workers demanded a 5 per cent wage increase. The factory offered 2.5 per cent. Workers did not accept this and went on strike from January 12 to January 22. The owner later announced the closure of the factory indefinitely.

China: Media report that 21 garment workers came to the Caidian District Legal Aid Center to file a petition on backpay. It turned out that these workers originally worked in a garment factory in Caidian District. 

Near the end of the year, the factory boss did not pay the wages as scheduled, and the people disappeared. The total amount of wages in arrears was 249,714 yuan [$39,369]. 

21 January

Bangladesh: Media report that workers of a garment factory called Mercury Knitwear in Narayanganj's Sonargaon staged a sit-in protest on the highway demanding payment of wage arrears.

They staged a protest in the Kanchpur BSCIC industrial area on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. At this time a traffic jam was created on both sides of Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

It is learned they have been in arrears for three months. The owners have promised to pay their dues at different times but they are not paying their dues. Today was the day to pay their dues. But when they came to the factory, they found out that the owner had started paying excuses. Later, around 3:30 pm on Monday, more than 400 workers started protesting inside the factory.

Thailand: Media report that workers’ rights organisation IndustriALL has written to the Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayut Chan-o-cha, urging his government to support the former staff of a garment factory which unexpectedly ceased operations last March. 

More than 1,300 workers at Brilliant Alliance Thai Global Ltd – which supplied the likes of Victoria’s Secret – lost their jobs and subsequently went without overtime, holiday or severance pay.

Tunisia: Media report that The ITUC has expressed serious concern over acts of anti-union repression by the authorities under the control of Tunisian President Kais Saied.

The country has faced a growing crisis since Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and seized absolute power last year, with growing poverty and unemployment along with mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 25 July, Saied has banned parliament from sitting and assumed legislative power himself.

Sharan Burrow, ITUC general secretary, said: “The hope that sprang from Tunisia’s revolution is being dashed by the autocratic behaviour of the president. Having refused repeated requests from the trade union centre UGTT to work together on the problems facing the country, he has resorted to violent repression.

19 January

Bangladesh: Media report that leaders of readymade garment (RMG) workers have demanded food ration facilities for RMG workers as the prices of daily necessities continue to rise.

They made the demand at a meeting with the leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) at the BGMEA complex in Uttara on Monday.

They demanded garment industry owners provide daily commodities including rice, pulses, and cooking oil to garment workers at low prices.

Global: Media report on how how the pace of fashion and textile production picks up, but fundamental problems remain unsolved.

While economies in Europe are now growing beyond pre-pandemic levels, with Omicron seemingly little more than a blip on the radar, the demand for products is being passed to regions that are, in some key ways, in much worse shape than when they went into COVID.

Myanmar: A worker at Honor Apparel, a Chinese garment factory in Rangoon's Shwepyithar Township, told media that it had paid compensation for more than three months after the factory shut down for more than six months.

The factory worker said the compensation was paid to more than 400 factory workers and that they were not fully paid for the downtime.

Pakistan: Media report on how Pakistan’s wage struggle shows the fragility of progress in the global garment industry. A government-ordered increase on wages should have been water-tight, immovable. It should have guaranteed workers enough money to feed their families and pay their rent. However, progress in the garment industry is fragile. Now, half a year later, the promised wage increase has still not materialised.

This is particularly prominent in Sindh, one of Pakistan’s two main garment-producing hubs, second only to the Punjab region. The textile and apparel industry is the second largest employer in Pakistan and comprises 60% of all exports. But despite its importance to the economy, wages in the province have historically been at poverty levels. This, combined with high inflation in recent years, rising to 12.3% in December 2021, and significant challenges arising from Covid-19, including unpaid wages, has left many workers unable to afford the basic necessities of life (including food and rent).

“In an industry built on exploitation, the announcement of a significant wage increase in response to workers’ struggle represented hope, not just for the workers of Sindh, but for garment workers everywhere,” says author Ilana Winterstein “It was recognition that the industry norm is unsustainable, a fact not altered by brands’ over-use of the word ‘sustainable’ in efforts to sell more clothes. And if the Sindh Supreme Court ultimately comes down on the side of the factory owners, it will remain so.”

The Pay Your Workers coalition has launched worstwagetheft.org. 

17 January

Bangladesh: Media report that workers at the AJI Group's garment factory in Savar's Hemayetpur-based filmmaker Ananta Jalil's blockade the road demanding arrears of wages.

The agitating workers said that about 7,000 workers of the factory were in arrears for the last month of December. Protests have been staged by blocking roads this afternoon after the factory holidays to demand the arrears.

India: Media report that the Standing Committee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has asked the factory licensing department to submit its updated report on over 2,000 factories, which were sealed before the Covid-19 outbreak due to technical and revenue issues, with officials saying that it will consider de-sealing them.

A senior North MCD official said that the 2,000 factories were listed as “illegal factory clusters”, mainly involved in garment manufacturing, jeans dyeing, plywood work, furniture making, cardboard work and engineering/welding work, in December 2019

14 January

Bangladesh: Media report that workers at the AJI Group's garment factory in Savar's Hemayetpur-based filmmaker Ananta Jalil's blockade the road demanding arrears of wages.

The agitating workers said that about 7,000 workers of the factory were in arrears for the last month of December. Protests have been staged by blocking roads this afternoon after the factory holidays to demand the arrears.

USA\Global: Media say Nike and Columbia Sportswear are doubling down on their vaccine mandates.

According to a Wednesday report in OregonLive, Nike has alerted some employees that it will terminate them by Jan. 15 for failure to comply with the company’s vaccination mandate without receiving a religious or medical exemption.

Media report that TJX Companies, the parent company of Marshalls and TJ Maxx, also followed Nike and Columbia Sportswear in mandating vaccines.

UK: Media report that High street retailer Next has confirmed it has cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff who are self-isolating due to Covid exposure.

The company, which employs around 44,000 people, said all employees who test positive for Covid-19 – regardless of whether they are vaccinated – will be paid in full.

12 January

Cambodia: Media report that the Labour Ministry has drafted standard principles for safety and health in the workplace in accordance with the Labour Law and guidelines released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sri Lanka: Three of IndustriALL’s affiliates in Sri Lanka, The Free Trade Zone & General Services Employees Union, Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya, and the National Union of Metal and Migrant workers in Sri Lanka, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, together with the National Union of Seafarers and the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF).

The agreement contains provisions for bipartite health committees with equal representation from workers and employers in every garment/apparel factory to improve health and safety, mitigate risks posed by Covid-19 and ensure adherence to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health at the workplace.

10 January

Bangladesh & Cambodia: A new report published by Action Aid details the experiences of garment workers two years on from Covid. This research focused on impacts in Cambodia and Bangladesh and features a case study on one of the affected women garment workers concerning Nike and Violet Apparel. 

It found that workers were forced to put their health at risk due to the high rates of COVID-19 in garment factories. Workers have also been forced to take on more debt just to cover basic household costs. 

Cambodia: Media report that malnutrition is rampant among garment workers and their children because of diet and their desperation to get back to work leading to the replacement of breastmilk with instant powdered milk

7 January

Global: Covid-19 Law Lab is collecting legal documents from the Covid-19 response. The COVID-19 Law Lab initiative gathers and shares legal documents from over 190 countries across the world to help states establish and implement strong legal frameworks to manage the pandemic. They are calling for contributions of legal documents to their database.

Myanmar: Media report that factory managers in Myanmar are suppressing workers’ rights, with mandatory overtime and late payment of wages now routine.

One worker at a foreign-owned garment factory in Yangon told RFA she now works 11 hours a day but receives no pay for overtime work. Managers have now “taken the upper hand” in their dealings with employees, she said.

“They’ll give you overtime pay, or they may not. This is the sort of situation that we’re in,” Hnin Hnin said. “A typical work day is eight hours, and if we work for 10 hours, those extra two hours should be overtime.

USA: Media report that the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Friday to determine if the Biden administration can enforce a vaccine-or-testing requirement for large employers as well as a vaccine mandate for most healthcare workers.

If held up, the rule would require companies with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccinations or weekly tests across all staff. 

5 January

Bangladesh: Media report that the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has signed an agreement with online healthcare provider Digital Hospital which will offer ready-made garment (RMG) workers quick access to medical services.

Sri Lanka: Garment worker unions in Sri Lanka have signed a ground-breaking agreement with employer association Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) in which both parties reached an understanding about how to address vital workplace issues for garment workers, especially during the pandemic.

Clean Clothes Campaign, Labour behind the Label, Maquila Solidarity Network, Solidarity Center, War on Want, Workers United welcome the important progress that this union-employer agreement represents.

Through our research, solidarity statements, public reports and letters to brands and factory owners, we have supported the struggle by Sri Lankan unions and worker groups for better working conditions, effective protection for workers during the pandemic, and an end to anti-union harassment.

This historic agreement lays out and confirms joint support for fundamental steps towards improving working conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic and importantly towards respect for freedom of association in Sri Lanka’s garment industry.

3 January

Bangladesh: Media report that on Tuesday December 27, from 9 am to 10 pm, factory workers protested at the Mauna crossroads rural power area on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. The workers left the highway after an hour and a half on the assurance of the police.

Some of the factory workers including Nargis, Sujan and Kamal said that the workers of ASR Group's Golden Times Sweater factory, including the officials, are in arrears for the last three months.

China: A number of districts in Ningbo, Zhejiang, have been listed as medium-risk for Covid-19, including the location of three factories and adjacent dormitory areas belonging to the giant Ningbo Shenzhou (the main enterprise of which is Ningbo Shenzhou Knitting), the largest garment producer in China with clients such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Fila, Champion, and others.

Vietnam: Media report on how Asia’s factory workers at the sharp end of the west’s supply chain crisis. Migrant workers ate and slept in factories swarming with Covid, sealed off from outside world. Each worker had a tent, set one or two metres apart, containing a foil mat, pillow, blanket and a box to store their belongings. No workers were permitted to meet anyone from outside the factory; even speaking to a visitor over the gates was forbidden.

A Covid wave that spread across the industrial areas of Vietnam earlier this year placed intense pressure on the country’s manufacturing sector – just as factories were churning out products destined for shops ahead of Christmas.

Media report an online seminar spotlighting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on textile, footwear and garment workers and trade union activities. It was held by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL)’s Institute for Workers and Trade Unions (IWTU), and the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation in Hanoi on December 28.

According to Linh, although the textile and garment industry recorded growth again after major markets such as the US, the EU, and Japan re-opened, many enterprises, especially those in the southern region, still have to refuse new orders due to lack of labourers, and high costs for production and pandemic control.