GLOBAL – A statement issued by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) says the coronavirus pandemic has created “a new level of despair among workers” and warns that “if brands don’t step up to help stanch the human damage the pandemic and their own practices are doing across the globe, the suffering will be enormous”.
Authored by the CCC’s campaign and outreach director Christie Miedema and the WRC’s executive director Scott Nova and crisis response director Liana Foxvog, the workers’ rights bodies have laid responsibility firmly at the feet of apparel brands and retailers.
They say brand-backed initiatives such as the Call to Action – kick-started by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at the start of the pandemic to provide financial aid within key manufacturing nations – are failing to mobilise finances to truly improve workers’ lives.