To Simon Mundy’s analysis of labour abuse in apparel production in Bangladesh (“Bangladeshi labour issues pose important test for global clothing giants”, Moral Money, February 13), I would add two issues — one chronic and slow-moving, one fast-emerging. I would also offer a hint of optimism.
First, wages for apparel workers in Bangladesh are reviewed once every five years in a process long dominated by employers. High inflation has eaten away at the already weak purchasing power of their earnings. And as Mundy’s article shows, wage theft is common.
Second, extreme heat and intense flooding are hitting workers and their families harder each year. Analysis by Cornell’s Global Labor Institute and Schroders shows climate change eating into earnings of workers, the profits of employers and the tax receipts of governments in many of fashion’s favourite production centres such as Dhaka.
Brands and retailers, including most of the UK’s largest, are at both ends of the problem. Fast fashion is driving up greenhouse gas emissions. And buyers largely ignore the effects of the resulting climate breakdown on the people who produce their goods.
Finally, a note of optimism. Bangladesh has a new government committed to improving the lot of workers. This will include, we hope, the way in which minimum wages are set and heat thresholds to protect workers and help families adapt to fast-moving changes in climate.
The (newish) UK government also has a choice to make. After 30 years of private, voluntary self-regulation of fashion production, will the government follow Europe’s lead and require brands and retailers to know what’s happening along their supply chains and hold them liable for harms to workers?
Jason Judd
Executive Director, Cornell University Global Labor Institute
New York, NY, US