Will Cambodia’s garment sector rebound after ‘horror year’?
Kandal Province, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation Lon Vanna has been working around the clock for months but she doesn’t sew clothes anymore – she guards the machines in the abandoned garment factory in Cambodia where she once worked. Vanna believes the sewing machines are her only hope for saving her home and land, which she put […]
“Going hungry”; garment workers cut back on food as pandemic hits wages
Phnom Pehn, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation Garment workers stitching clothes for major fashion brands are “going hungry” and taking out loans to feed their families due to pay cuts imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, according to global labour rights advocates. Among workers who have held onto their jobs, one in five experience hunger on a daily […]
Indian garment workers cover bosses’ lockdown losses
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation From unpaid overtime to wage cuts, Indian garment workers say they are being made to compensate their bosses for the food, shelter and salary provided in the coronavirus lockdown. But it is a steep price for a workforce that was already juggling low pay and poor conditions before the pandemic shuttered […]
Pandemic seen rolling back conditions in Asia garment factories
Phnom Penh, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation The pandemic risks triggering a race to the bottom that could push tens of millions of Asian garment workers into greater hazard on the factory floor, with women hardest hit, the International Labour Organization said on Wednesday. About 40 per cent of workers furloughed or laid off by the COVID-19 […]
Fashion brands accused of exploiting workers at risk of layoffs
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Millions of garment workers could lose their jobs as global brands are demanding price cuts and delaying payments to suppliers who are desperate for orders to survive the new coronavirus pandemic, US researchers said on Friday. Suppliers have been asked to make their prices an average of 12 per cent cheaper […]
Garment workers seen losing up to $US5.8 billion in wages during coronavirus
London, UK/Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Garment workers supplying global fashion brands have been underpaid or not paid at all during the coronavirus crisis, with lost wages potentially amounting to nearly $US6 billion, researchers said on Monday. With the pandemic leading to store closures and falling sales, many retailers cancelled orders or demanded discounts from suppliers, […]
Bangladesh unions urge factories to do more to protect workers from coronavirus
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Garment manufacturers in Bangladesh are failing to meet their own safety guidelines set up to protect workers from the coronavirus as factories reopen, union leaders have warned. Bangladesh extended a nationwide shutdown on Thursday after daily reported deaths from the virus hit a new high, but restrictions on the garment sector, […]
Garment industry: As fashion sales fall globally, big brands leave Asia’s garment workers in limbo
KIERAN GUILBERT, NAIMUL KARIM and ANURADHA NAGARAJ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report…
Bangladesh unions urge government to act as garment workers lose jobs
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation At least 10,000 garment workers have been sacked in Bangladesh as Western brands hit by coronavirus lockdowns cancel orders, union leaders said on Tuesday, urging the government to step in. More than $US3 billion-worth of orders have been cancelled or suspended, according to factory owners in Bangladesh, one of the world’s […]
Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers ordered home as factories stay closed
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers were ordered home on Sunday voicing concerns about loss of income after arriving at work to find factories remained shut after the cancellation of Western orders due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although official numbers were not available, labour leaders said the majority of the workers they […]