Since COVID-19 began, not only has the global fashion industry been affected as a whole, but their workers have taken a drastic hit in terms of economic losses and treatment. The pandemic forced the industry into a downward spiral, catalyzing a number of layoffs and subjecting workers to work in cruel and harsh conditions. Brands and retailers cut their prices for garments due to suffering losses from canceled or returned orders. This sparked a decrease in employees’ wages, leaving them in need of food, water, housing, and of course the money that they work for. Because the majority of these laborers work in the developing countries they grew up in, some of which including India, Bangladesh, and Cambodia, they were left to even worse circumstances due to the exploitative nature of working in a supply factor.
Workers are left to work overtime, sometimes receiving a job that is meant for multiple people rather than just one. If the work is completed incorrectly and not in a timely manner, the employee becomes constrained into enduring the oppressive abuse of their bosses. After the pandemic, many of these workers have reported only being able to go to the bathroom once a day at work due to having to finish everything on time, barely being able to take care of their families, and only eating one meal a day due to not having enough money. Brands such as Boohoo, H&M, and ASOS, and luxury brands such as Dior and Saint Laurent have been put under scrutiny for underpaying/giving little to no credit to over-qualified professionals. Through this, these companies are able to maximize their profits as they continue to engage in maltreatment towards their employees.
To overcome this inhumane treatment, human rights organizations have implemented campaigns that push brands to reimburse factories for canceled and returned orders during the pandemic. In addition, the worker’s rights consortium, an independent labor rights organization that focuses on protecting the rights of workers involved in making apparel, has produced a tracker to record brands that have yet to pay what they owe.
In order to help these garment workers, it is critical for people to continue to hold brands accountable and continue to donate funds to organizations that wish to help this cause. This will ensure further equality for low-income workers who dedicate their lives to producing garments as a means to supporting themselves and their families.
Sadly the majority of the worlds largest clothing manufacturers locate their production facilities in under developed countries. It has become even cheaper during COVID for these larger companies to produce using cheap labor that is also with horrible working conditions. Sadly in countries like these it is so hard to reform because government corruption and no incentives to do so.
Hey Nadia! I recently listened to a podcast on this. This whole issue seems to have been catalyzed by the advent of Tiki’s-Tok fast trends that we saw during the pandemic, with hyper fast-fashion brands like Shein becoming cult classics when really calling for horrible, mass produced and continuously changing collections. I’m not sure what the solution to this is but I wonder if the trend of vintage clothing could slightly counteract this moving forwardddd???
I think the problem of labor exploitation in the garment industry preceded the COVID-19 pandemic. The emerging markets that you listed compete with each other to offer brands the lowest manufacturing costs. There are countless exposes that illustrate the impact this has on people who are forced to work for nearly no pay in harsh conditions. Even children are exposed to these labor conditions. I think that these conditions are indicative of the larger issue associated with fast fashion. A huge emphasis is put on catering to new trends, resulting in these marginalized laborers suffering the most.
Most large clothing brands use overseas factories in order to assemble their products, and it is definitely an issue not known about or intentionally ignored in our consumer culture. Its sad, but not shocking, to hear these already poor conditions worsened during the pandemic, and I really hope there is more accountability for countries where this takes place as well as American companies that take advantage soon, I like the ideas you bring up to help remedy this.
I like that you chose not only to write about the problem of worker exploitation, but to cover possible solutions as well. And the solutions you name are ones I hadn't necessarily thought of before (such as the reimbursement model, etc.). Many people don't think about where their clothing comes from, how it's made, etc. (I think this is the case for many products, such as food, etc.).