In a hard-hitting new research report, Clean Clothes Campaign shows that H&M, Nike and Primark have driven factory workers in their supply chains in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia into desperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews conducted with 49 garment workers in these countries demonstrate that the Coronavirus-induced crisis continues to have a devastating impact on the wages, working conditions, and labour rights of garment workers.
Over half of the workers interviewed for the report, “Breaking Point: wage theft, violence and excessive workloads are pushing garment workers to breaking point during the pandemic”, indicated to the researchers that they experienced wage cuts during the pandemic. Almost 70% of the interviewed workers have endured periods in which they were not paid their normal, pre-pandemic wages. All of these workers were surviving on poverty wages before the pandemic, and now it has become even harder for them to make ends meet. The research shows that this is happening to workers in all three brands’ supply chains.