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Over 50 organisations across the world have urged Bangladesh government, employers and apparel brands to take immediate action to keep their garment workers safe against Covid-19.
The organisations representing Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi workers and international labour rights groups issued an open letter on Tuesday making the call.
Observing the current situation of garment workers amid the wave of the Delta variant, the letter said, “Garment workers’ lives are put at risk by exempting workers from lockdown measures and making them work at full capacity in garment factories to meet orders of brands headquartered in countries with high vaccination rates.”
The current wave of Covid-19 and the spread of the Delta variant in South Asia are leading to a surge of severe illness and death in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
In August, Bangladesh saw a 20 per cent positive rate and its largest single day death toll to date, while Sri Lanka faced doubling infection and death rates, the organisations observed.
As both countries are key exporters of garments, workers in the apparel industry, who have little access to medical infrastructure or vaccines, have been especially hard hit with little support if they fall ill.
For economic reasons, the governments of both countries excluded garment workers from lockdown measures by categorising them as essential workers; therefore, they must report to work in crowded factories where the virus can easily spread, said the organisations.
The failure to prioritise worker health and safety forces workers to choose between going into a factory without access to necessary PPE, with inadequate social distancing, and with minimal testing and vaccination or to face financial ruin without income or social benefits. “It is untenable that Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi workers must choose between death and destitution,” said the organisations in the letter.
The letter also highlighted some key points for factory managers, national governments, and international apparel brands to mitigate the issue.
It asked to include garment industry in lockdowns to protect citizens from Covid-19 and prevent garment production under the pretext of continuing essential services and expand vaccination and testing of garment workers where workers are working or being recalled to work.
To implement the suggestions, apparel brands must extend lead times on orders during lockdowns to allow for the reduction in the workforce or temporary factory closures needed to keep workers safe.
Brands must monitor their supplier factories to ensure, together with their suppliers, that workers who make their clothes can do so safely and that those workers who are prevented from coming to work to comply with safety measures are nevertheless paid in full.
Factory owners must comply with all new health mandates, including ensuring that workers have access to PPE and can work at a safe distance. All workers must be paid their full wages during lockdowns.
Calling attention to importing apparel brands, the letter said they need to do their due diligence by monitoring the safety and payment of workers during the pandemic in every country they source from, to ensure that workers do not have to risk their lives to complete brands’ orders.
These steps are necessary actions that must be taken by international brands, national governments, and local factory managers to protect the lives and livelihoods of the workers whose labour they profit from, the letter said.
The letter also asked to take immediate action and the steps be implemented without further delay.
Signatory organisations of the letter in Bangladesh are Akota garment workers federation, Bangladesh Centre for Workers Solidarity (BCWS), Bangladesh Garment & Industrial Workers’ Federation (BGIWF), Bangladesh Mukto Garment Sromik Union Federation (BIGUF), Bangladesh Revolutionary Garments Workers Federation (BRGWF), Garment Sramik Sonhohiti Federation/Garment Workers Solidarity Federation (GSSF/GWSF), National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF).
