As one expert put it, “democracy is sliding, it’s still difficult to join a union and nobody’s earning a living wage.”
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Jyrki Raina, former general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, which represents more than 50 million working people worldwide, can sum up labor conditions in the garment industry in a single sentence: “Democracy is sliding, it’s still difficult to join a union and nobody’s earning a living wage.”
The statement is no less of an indictment of what he says are the “beautiful,” if ultimately hollow, words that make up brand and retailer promises about safeguarding the rights of the people who make their clothing. If Covid-19 helped broker a loss of trust between buyers and suppliers, then the ongoing supply chain challenges caused by volatile consumer demand, geopolitical turmoil, trade issues and mounting regulatory pressures could threaten to damage the relationship irretrievably. Workers, too, are increasingly leery of their employers, who, for their part, see those fighting for greater freedom of association as troublemakers.
