Garment worker wage gap could be close to US$6bn

AMSTERDAM – New research by Clean Clothes Campaign and the Worker Rights Consortium has highlighted the devastating financial impact of coronavirus on garment workers. The report states that millions of garment workers around the world have not received their regular wages, or have not been paid at all, for months since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The research analyses non-payment of wages to garment workers during the months of March, April and May resulting from order cancellations by apparel brands, unpaid leave, and state-sanctioned wage cuts during the Covid-19 crisis.

The researchers estimate that across South and Southeast Asia garment workers have received 38 per cent less than their regular income. In some regions in India, this number rises above 50 per cent. Extrapolating these findings to the global garment industry, the researchers claim a conservative guess of wages lost by garment workers worldwide for the months of March, April, and May would amount to between US$3.19bn and US$5.79bn.