Case study

RMG workers through the COVID-19 pandemic

Factories around the country closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrenched and unpaid workers demonstrated and blocked roads in the capital city Dhaka to demand payment of their wages for February and March 2020. Awaj Foundation raised funds with our partners across the world to support workers like Salma to help them out of their predicament.

Awaj Foundation in the time of COVID-19

The RMG sector in Bangladesh was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and lost over $1.5 billion worth of business. This, in turn, affected the livelihoods of over 1.2 million garment workers.

Many workers in the sector were not paid from March 2020 to May 2020. Factories laid-off workers, resulting in their loss of livelihoods. Workers faced starvation or death.

Their meagre incomes were barely able to sustain themselves, and they often had no savings to tide them over difficult times. Most workers were uncertain about how they would live in the coming months. They were worried that they would not be able to afford the treatment or medication of coronavirus afflicted family members.

As a grassroots organisation with an extensive network amongst garment workers and their families, Awaj witnessed the impact of the pandemic first-hand and worked on relief efforts, advocacy, and awareness campaigns for the workers to support them and their families. While some factories recommenced operations in April, they opened only partially, as they did not have enough orders to justify a full reopening. Most factories remained closed during this time for the same reason. This resulted in the retrenchment of many workers. Many factories laid off a large number of workers, and most workers were not paid in full.

On 24 March 2020, Awaj Foundation took the initiative to stand by garment workers from the very start of the pandemic. Most notably, the organisation collected emergency relief funds following quick pleas for support from partner organisations and their networks. The immediate response from our supporters made it possible for Awaj to help workers who had lost their livelihoods. Awaj also reached out to a wider network of supporters during this time through our online platforms and was able to raise funds from new supporters. This support was also overwhelming and allowed us to continue supporting RMG workers.

Till June 2020, Awaj reached out to all our partners and networks for funding support and heard back from 8 partners who all agreed to support Awaj’s relief activities.

• Shimmy Technologies, who raised funds through a GoFundMe campaign from individual donors
• Laudes Foundation
• Red Carpet Green Dress (RCGD)
• Fair Wear Foundation (FWF). Individual donors reached out to FWF to donate money to Awaj’s work on behalf of the foundation
• Foundation for a Just Society (FJS)
• Indigo Proof LLC
• Theresa Lankes (Individual Donor)
• Celia Franceschi (Individual Donor)

With the support of these donors, Awaj undertook emergency relief support in Dhaka, Chittagong (Chattogram), Gazipur, and Narayanganj:

• Emergency relief package distributed to 2675 workers
• 338 children of 338 workers received child food package support
• 1,350 workers received free healthcare support including consultation, diagnostic, and medicine support
• 461 workers received free COVID-19 testing service

The funds were distributed, and relief was undertaken, from August 2020, following the approval of the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB).

Overview of relief distribution program:

Awaj’s strategic plan involved the identification of the most vulnerable groups for relief support. The criteria to select individuals falling within these groups included:

• Retrenched workers
• Pregnant workers
• Single mothers
• Widowed workers
• Physically challenged workers
• Child labourers
• Informal workers
• Single breadwinners
• Low salaried workers/those who had been partially paid

Also, under this initiative, according to the plan, Awaj Foundation will distribute relief packages, healthcare support and COVID-19 tests to around 4,600 RMG workers, and distribute food packages to 338 children in Dhaka, Chittagong (Chattogram), Gazipur, and Narayanganj.

Challenges faced

• There was a request for relief from a large number of workers, as so many had lost their jobs. There was immense pressure on the team to meet demands for relief and assess priorities. Many workers in the sector met the criteria, but the funds raised were not sufficient to meet their demands. This issue was somewhat resolved, thanks to Awaj’s close connection to workers. It allowed us to prepare relief plans according to the urgency of needs
• Awaj had to reorganise its strategic organisational plans in order to accommodate this unprecedented relief work
• Many individual foreign donors are asked to donate via PayPal or other international money transfer platforms. Awaj did not have access to any of these and received the support of Shimmy Technologies and Fear Wear Foundation in collecting these donations for dissemination to workers

Lessons learnt

• A well-planned, effective team approach makes the difficult task of relief distribution much easier
• Forecasts of efficient planning upon consideration of challenges and risks would be beneficial in future work like this in order to meet 100% of the goals
• Strong planning and teamwork, along with consistent guidance of the senior management team meant all relief efforts were organised, coherent, and ensured maximum coverage

Awaj says #PayUp to international brands

After apparel brands worldwide cancelled clothing orders worth $40 billion in March 2020, labour activists across the globe joined forces to have them #PayUp. Awaj was a crucial part of the campaign in Bangladesh.

The $40 billion worth of cancelled orders equalled the salaries of Bangladesh’s four million garment workers for the next eight years.

On March 30th, advocacy nonprofit organization Remake stepped up to help mitigate the crisis through the launch of this simple hashtag, and the campaign #PayUp. The idea was to expose the brands that cancelled their orders and never paid for them.

PayUp Fashion and the website is led by Remake and Ayesha Barenblat – founder of Remake, author and #PayUp organiser Elizabeth L. Cine, and garment workers organizers Ashila Niroshi, founder of Stand Up Lanka and Awaj Foundation’s Nazma Akter.

Pay Up comprised a coalition of:

• garment workers
• labour organisers
• researchers
• citizen activists

The coalition believes that workers and the planet are central to the future of fashion.
Through 2020 and 2021, PayUp galvanised citizen and worker action to generate concrete changes in how brands treat manufacturers and workers in the supply chain.
Awaj contacted 780,000 workers for this campaign, of whom 225,339 workers mentioned that they had not been paid during the pandemic. 38,250 workers reported being paid only a portion of their wages. 15,114 of these workers were retrenched. The PayUp campaign was a crucial force in pressuring brands to pay up for all orders, to ensure workers’ livelihoods.
By March 2021, PayUp had secured $22 billion from brands who had initially refused to pay and laid bare the exploitation fundamental to the global supply chain. It was one of the most successful labour rights campaigns in the fashion industry in modern times.
Pay Up is a non-hierarchical coalition. Anyone is invited to participate by signing the petition or supporting the campaign on social media.
Through 2020 and 2021, Pay Up’s main priorities were to focus on 1) ensuring brands remunerate workers, and 2) keep workers safe.
The movement has a number of long-term campaigns planned for other action points. The ultimate goal is to see legal and political reforms in fashion and binding agreements that uphold garment workers’ rights and dramatically improve working conditions.

Pay Up’s 7 action points

• #PayUp
• Keep workers safe
• Transparency in all production processes
• Give workers the centre stage
• Sign enforceable contracts that prioritise workers needs
• End starvation wages
• Help pass pro-worker legislation