And what about those who make our clothes?

En Dacca, Bangladés, el 5 de abril de 2020 será recordado como el día en que estallaron el caos y la desesperación. El momento en que las consecuencias sociales y económicas de la pandemia de covid-19 se hicieron evidentes, con toda su claridad y violencia. Ese día, miles de trabajadores del sector textil llegaron a la capital, muchos de ellos a pie desde las zonas rurales, para cobrar el sueldo de marzo y volver al trabajo 10 días después del cierre de las fábricas impuesto por el Gobierno para contener el contagio. Sin embargo, el bloqueo se había prorrogado, y “a la mayoría de los trabajadores se les dijo que estaban despedidos o que la fábrica abriría cuando fuera posible”, cuenta Khadiza Akter, vicepresidente del sindicato Somramito Garments Sramik. Las imágenes de los trabajadores que volvían a casa aterrados, una marea humana que invadió el muelle de Mawa asaltando los transbordadores, dieron la vuelta al mundo.

With a textile industry that represents 80% of exports, with about 4.000 factories that use four million people, Bangladés is one of the countries that suffer most from the suspension of orders for the main clothing brands, which are in turn against the ropes for the closure of stores worldwide.According to the latest data (of April 20), of 1.144 factories censored by the Association of Bangladés Clothing Producers and Exporters, in the country orders had been canceled or suspended worth 3.170 million dollars, with a total of 980 million garments and almost two and a half million local workers, unpaid or suspended from the service.In all Asia extends anguish due to this collateral effect of the virus in the textile sector, which uses 60 to 75 million workers and that, even before pandemic, had precarious working conditions.

En Sri Lanka, Anton Marcus, subsecretario del sindicato Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees, lo explica así: "Los empresarios aprovechan la situación para despedir y reducir las prestaciones y los salarios de los empleados, haciéndolos responsables de la cancelación o la disminución de los pedidos de sus clientes.Those who have a contract will be the most affected ".

In Cambodia, the GMAC textile manufacturers association has already informed the government that it cannot cover more than 40% of salaries.The workers will receive only $ 70 per month, instead of the 120 promised, paid both by the Government and the businessmen.In India, the organization of women with informal employment (Wiego) remembers that 90% of employees in the clothing industry work in black, but the government is doing little to prevent them from falling into the most absolute misery.In Pakistan, the Federation of Workers has reported that, since March and only in the province of Punjab, approximately half a million textile employees have been fired, and another million throughout the country is destined to lose its job.In Vietnam a loss is calculated for the sector close to 500 million dollars, which will cause a drop in the growth of the national economy between 4.9% and 7%.And Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia also go through serious difficulties.

What is to come

How did we come to this?Clean clothing campaign activists point out that the textile industry crisis as a result of COVID-19 has developed in three stages.The first, when China, exhausted by the virus, stopped exports of raw materials necessary for the fashion industry.The second, when the virus extended in Europe and the United States: “Fashion companies canceled orders that were already underway without paying them.Supplier factories, which operate with reduced margins, because prices are too low, they have been forced to close and send workers home without pay ”.Finally, the third wave exploded when the virus reached the producing countries: plant closures to avoid contagios, or the opposite, open -up with great risks to the health of workers.

Two Reports of the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Center for Global Workers' Rights of the University of Pennsylvania further investigate the roots of the catastrophe, human and economical, which is being consumed in the supply chains.The authors of the investigation write that brands and distributors are downloading on the suppliers the consequences of demand falling."Clothing companies pay only to delivery, while factories take over general and labor costs, and have the power to decide not to pay orders, even if that supposes, in fact, a contractual violation", they point out.

Therefore, factories run out of liquidity to pay salaries, and in the future, when no more orders are no longer, the worst is expected.In addition, "in the vast majority of clothing -producing countries, social protection mechanisms, such as health insurance, unemployment benefits or guarantee funds in case of insolvency, do not exist or are insufficient," adds analystsClean clothing campaign.“This is due, in part, to decades of downward pressure on the prices paid by the companies that make the commission.Years of inability to take significant measures on wages have left workers without savings and without protection, ”they add.

According to the Center for Global Workers' Rights, when orders were canceled, 72.1% of buyers refused to pay the raw materials already bought from the supplier, while 91.3% did not cover the cost of production.Therefore, the researchers write, "58% of the interviewed factories report that they have to stop the majority, if not all, operations".

Human Rights Watch also conducted an analysis on the matter, interviewing experts in the sector and representatives of the main fashion brands: in several developing countries, producers confirm that very few brands assume corporate risks when ordering.

But what are the brands that are best or worse behaving?The workers' rights consortium (WRC) has created, in association with the Penn State Rights Global Workers Center (CGWR), the COVID-19 Brand Tracker.The tracker provides a regularly updated list of which signatures and retailers are paying their suppliers for the orders that are in production or those already completed and also those that refuse to do so.

Las principales marcas que se comprometen a pagar toda la producción o los pedidos completados son (hasta el 20 de abril): Adidas, H&M, Inditex (dueña de Zara), Kiabi, la polaca LPP, Marks & Spencer, Nike, PVH (que posee Tommy Hilfiger y Calvin Klein), Target USA, Uniqlo y VF Corporation. Los que no se habían comprometido públicamente hasta esa fecha a pagar eran: Arcadia, ASOS, Bestseller, C&A, EWM/Peacocks, Gap, JCPenney, Mothercar, Next, Tesco, Under Ampour, Urban Outfitters, Walmart/Asda y Primark.

This last brand announced on April 7 that it will create a fund to help pay the salaries of the millions of textile workers affected by the corporate decision to cancel orders.With the closure of their stores worldwide, the low -cost Irish fashion giant is losing profits of more than 800 million dollars per month, their spokesmen say.

"Some say they will pay now, but with a discount.Others say they will pay, but in 120 days.Even others say they will only cover the salary component of the worker's final cost (or about 10 or 15% of the total production costs, if we include the cost of the fabric), "says Mark Anner, director of the Center for RightsGlobal workers.Therefore, Anner's predictions are not optimistic: "While buyers face enormous economic stress, the situation of suppliers and their workers is absolutely desperate," he admits."The inability of the main buyers to pay suppliers what they should contribute to their failure, mass layoffs and the inability of workers to cover their most basic life expenses, including food".

At local scale, honest behavior has been seen.In the district of Gazipur, in Bangladés, the unions that represent 10.000 workers in Hop Lun Ltd factories., the Hong Kong brand that manufactures underwear and swimsu19.This is what the American Association Solidarity Center says, which adds that other local brands, such as Natural Denims Ltd.and 4 A Yarn Dyeing Ltd have guaranteed the wages of March.

And at the end of April, in May or June, depending on how long fashion stores in Europe and the United States remain closed, what will happen to those who do our clothes?

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