2. Methodology

Methodology

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) joined with garment workers’ unions across six major garment production countries in Asia to study the impact of the Covid-19 pandemicinduced recession and resultant actions of global apparel brands on the employment relationships of, and consequent wage theft experienced by, garment workers employed in the supplier factories of these brands.

Research Objectives

• Document, analyse and report the extent and forms of wage theft experienced by garment workers employed in the supply chains of major global apparel brands during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced recession in 2020.

• Develop a theoretical typology of forms of managerial power and wage theft in global garment supply chains.

• Recommend strategies for strengthening the governance of global garment supply chains to prevent the harmful actions of brands that lead to extreme wage theft and human rights violations of garment workers.

• Propose a pathway towards transformative shifts in global garment supply chains that enable the re-distribution of power and profits captured by brands to workers, suppliers and production countries.

Research Questions

questions:

• What were the adverse shifts in the employment relationships of garment workers employed in the supplier factories of major global apparel brands as a result of the pandemic-induced recession?

• What was the extent and forms of wage theft experienced by garment workers as a result of the adverse shifts in their employment relationships?

• What was the impact of wage theft on garment workers and their households’ access to basic human rights and a minimum standard of living?

• What were the coping strategies employed by garment workers to tide over the crisis, and its short and longterm consequences on workers and their households?

Sampling

Sample Size

The study was conducted among:

2185 garment workers employed; across

189 factories; located in

6 countries – Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Cambodia and Bangladesh; where

15 major brands source their garments