Money Heist: COVID-19 Wage Theft in Global Garment Supply Chains

Page 111

• Concentrated in the most poorly paid and hazardous jobs in the garment and textile industry, with many garment factories hiring Dalits from the most historically stigmatised communities for only janitorial work like cleaning cotton waste from factory floors, cleaning toilets, etc. • Relegated to poorer working conditions than non-Dalits including lower wages, longer working hours and higher chances of sexual harassment. • Discriminated against promotion or being considered for higher positions in the industry. • Discriminated against services provided by employers including access to social security, employer provided housing and trainings.

• This systemic discrimination against Dalits was accentuated during the Covid-19 lockdown period in terms of wage theft, with Dalit workers facing the highest fall in wages when compared to every other social category. While the wages of OBC workers dipped by 55%, and General category workers by 57%, the wages of SC workers dipped by 79%.

However, while the wages of SC workers climbed to almost pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020, the wages of General and OBC workers remained below prepandemic levels. This is because the latter are concentrated in tailoring roles where they depend significantly on overtime pay which was now reduced due to low orders from brands in 2020. Figure 6.6: Trend in wages by social category, 2020 General

OBC

SC/Dalit

ST

150

Monthyl Wages in USD

In the pre-pandemic period itself, Dalit garment workers, including those in our sample, were earning significantly lower than workers from other communities (Figure 6.6). They faced bigotry at multiple fronts as they were:

120

90

60

30

0

ary -Febru

January

-May

March

ctober

June-O

cembe

ber-De

Novem

r

Source : Primary data, n = 433

Contract And Casual Labour Worst Affected By Covid-19

“My contractor did not even pay me for days I worked in March. He switched off his phone and disappeared. My family was left starving with no work or money for two months. We took 10,000 INR (135 USD) as debt from a money lender at 10% interest. We ate only rice porridge for two months.” - Ashok, a contract worker at a Walmart supplier factory in Tirupur

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11. Conclusion and Way Forward

13min
pages 190-196

Table 9.2: Cascading effect of brand actions on suppliers’ employment practices

2min
pages 170-171

in Global Garment Supply Chains

1min
page 168

8. Bangladesh

2min
pages 148-149

Figure 8.10: Trend in monthly household consumption, 2020

1min
page 162

Figure 7.18: Percentage of workers who received Covid-19 support from various sources

3min
pages 145-147

Figure 6.20: Percentage of workers who received Covid-19 support from various sources

3min
pages 123-125

7. Cambodia

1min
pages 126-127

Figure 6.6: Trend in wages by social category, 2020

3min
pages 111-112

Figure 6.5: Trend in monthly wages by gender, 2020

6min
pages 108-110

Figure 6.3: Trend in RMG exports from India - 2019 vs. 2020

2min
page 105

5. Indonesia

1min
pages 76-77

Table 5.2: Cuts in bonus payment by region, 2020

2min
page 92

Figure 5.20: Percentage of workers who received Covid-19 support from various sources

3min
pages 97-99

Figure 5.7: Monthly wages by contract type across minimum wage regions, 2020

2min
page 87

Figure 4.18: Percentage of workers who received Covid-19 support from various sources

2min
pages 73-75

Figure 4.12: Trend in wages, consumption and debt, 2020

2min
page 68

6. India

2min
pages 100-101

4. Pakistan

2min
pages 55-56

2. Methodology

1min
page 24

Table 2.2: Summary of key concepts and variables

5min
pages 28-31

Wage Theft in the Supply Chains of 15 Global

0
page 23

Typology of Managerial Practices and Wage Theft

1min
page 22

Table 2.1: No. of factories and workers surveyed across 6 countries

6min
pages 25-27

3. Sri Lanka

2min
pages 32-33

1. Introduction

15min
pages 14-21

Figure 3.19: Percentage of workers who received Covid-19 support from various sources

3min
pages 51-54
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