by Bethany Morris

This article was written by Bethany Morris, a content writer for the Immigration Advice Service, a team of lawyers based in the United Kingdom. 

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began, its impacts on public health and the economy have been devastating and well-documented. The virus has created epidemics of its own from redundancies and homelessness to mental health crises and poverty, and with the UK labour market shaping up to be more competitive than ever, the country is staring down the barrel of a long and arduous road to recovery. Although individuals from all walks of life have felt the pinch of the pandemic, the strife of the world's garment workers has often been overlooked.

Across the globe, garment workers have faced issues ranging from financial hardship to unsafe working conditions and with the aid of the pandemic, exploitation has accelerated at an alarming rate. A report by the Clean Clothes Campaign revealed that thousands of garment workers employed by corporations such as Nike and H&M were left without pay and according to the report, workers in countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan are owed between £2.4 billion and £4.4 billion in unpaid wages from the first three months of the pandemic alone. Wages were withheld due to temporary factory closures across China, the US and Europe at the beginning of the pandemic. As the transportation of raw materials ceased and consumer demand plummeted, brands refused to pay for shipments of completed and in production orders causing factories to close their doors, leaving many workers without pay.
Although workers across the whole of the garment industry have been impacted, statistics suggest that female workers have fared worse than men since the start of the pandemic. According to Labour Behind the Label, women comprise around 80% of the garment workforce leaving them disproportionately impacted by factory closures and inadequate. This alarming impact in the workplace subsequently exacerbates “existing inequalities on workload, occupational segregation, distribution of unpaid care work and earnings”. In Haiti, the garment industry accounts for around 90% of the country’s exports and according to the World Data Bank, women between the ages of 15-64 make up around 63% of the labour force meaning that thousands have been laid off with no unemployment insurance and minimal assistance for furloughed workers. Officials have raised concerns over the long-term impacts that the current climate may have on the health of women too and as a result, Better Work Haiti and UNICEF have joined forces in an attempt to ensure female workers can access basic healthcare during the pandemic. Claudine Francois, Program Manager of ‘Better Work Haiti’ states “there are roughly a thousand pregnant or nursing women across our affiliated factories” and has gone on to reassure those concerned that Better Work Haiti are “working with the Labour Ministry to map these workers and include them in the stimulus package the government is offering to vulnerable women”

In recent years societies demand for fast-fashion has increased, along with the abundance of ethical concerns that come hand-in-hand with an industry mired in exploitation. As the pandemic bought our high-streets to a grinding halt, fast-fashion retailers such as Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing still managed to generate some hefty returns, often at the expense of their factory workers here in the UK. An investigation by The Sunday Times discovered that workers in a factory in Leicester who were making clothes for the ‘Nastygal’ brand were still working through their localized lockdown without any additional precautionary or hygiene measures. Big brand ASOS also came under fire, being accused of playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of their workers at their factory in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire after the GMB union alleged that workers reported a total disregard for social distancing measures. Workers were also forced to gather in large numbers and in confined spaces thanks to a ‘complicated’ clocking-in system and poorly organized lunch breaks which saw large numbers of workers forced to eat together despite being provided with inadequate space to socially distance. 

Although fast-fashion may have a future post-pandemic, Covid has exposed the gaping holes in the industry that must be plugged moving forward. Bred from the consumer desire for instant gratification, fast-fashion has often ignored the wellbeing and rights of workers to keep up with demand and has even been branded a ‘ticking time-bomb’. Despite mounting criticism, numerous expose’s and alarming impacts on the environment and workers, the industry shows no signs of slowing. As we come to consider that the prospect of ‘fast-fashion’ is here to stay, it’s important to assess how the industry and its consumers can translate their behaviors into ethical consumption whilst prioritizing worker’s rights. A 2018 study by Washington University proposed alternatives to the current structure of the industry, suggesting that high-income countries could promote health and safety in their global supply chains. Although they will be unable to dictate regulations from outside of these countries, they can still play a significant role in influencing policy by imposing import taxes or capping the quantity of clothes that can be imported from low and middle-income countries.

Even in wreckage of the virus, we can still find ways to improve public health and the economy moving forward. In the midst of the suffering caused by the pandemic, issues in the fashion industry have been exposed and challenged on an unprecedented scale, accelerating a societal shift towards ethical consumption. Collectively, we can use this level of exposition to propel ourselves towards a more sustainable industry that values and protects its workers.