FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing face mask and face shield to help curb the spread of COVID-19 checks surgical gown at a packing session of a garment factory at Industrial Zone in Yangon, Myanmar on May 28, 2020. MITO, Japan: The COVID-19 pandemic has slammed the apparel industry, leaving many of the 65 million Asian garment factory workers struggling as factories close or cut back on wages, and the International Labor Organization urging the industry to do more to protect them.
Ensuring a better safety net for garment factory workers who have scant support to fall back on when they lose their jobs in countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar is vital, the ILO researchers said.But the industry needs to do more to improve basic things such as power supplies, logistics and communication and should also try to become more environmentally friendly.
The ILO report assessed conditions in 10 major garment exporting countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The region accounts for three-quarters of all garment factory jobs, it said.
Even those still employed are facing smaller paychecks or delays in getting their wages, said Viegelahn.