Not only could they push the burden of the recession on suppliers and their workers, but they could do so confident in the knowledge that suppliers and workers would return when required. This dramatic episode, a twenty-first-century tragedy, demonstrated the power of the garment brands. Suppliers re-opened factories and workers came back. ![]() Over the next few months, brands revived their demands and contracted new production. As detailed in the AFWA report Money Heist, there was a massive wage theft-one that pushed more than 80% of garment workers in six countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) into poverty (AFWA 2021). Workers who were indirectly employed through labour contractors found that some contractors even switched off their phones and disappeared. Most workers were not paid, even for work they had already done. In India and other garment-supplying countries of Asia, such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Pakistan, when the cash flow stopped, suppliers closed factories and laid off workers. These actions were taken even as governments in the Global North began pouring in money to shore up their firms and stock markets and to support their workers. Many brands went beyond that and refused payment for supplies already delivered to them, supplies that had been completed and were in the process of being shipped, and contracted supplies for which suppliers had purchased fabric and other inputs (Anner 2020 AEPC 2020 AFWA 2021). Garment suppliers in Asia ended up with the largest number of cancelled orders. ![]() In March 2020, as the COVID-19-pandemic-induced recession struck many parts of the world, garment brands from the Global North took action to protect their cash reserves and share values.
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