Amid COVID-19, Garment Workers Are Asking Employers to #PayUp

While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down many sectors of the economy, online sales have spiked—as well as the vulnerability of many laborers working with little to no safety net. 

Sweatshop workers mass producing fabrics for below average wages. Marissa Orton. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Since the beginning of COVID-19 lockdowns, e-commerce has reaped significant monetary benefits. In the United States alone, online sales rose 43% in September, totaling $60.4 billion. Though online shops gained countless new customers, not all in the industry were celebrating.

Since March, many frontline workers have been laid off. For example, the American startup company Everlane, a clothing line that promises “radical transparency,” came under fire for terminating workers who attempted to start a labor union amid the pandemic. Despite founder Michael Preysman’s statement that the layoffs were “the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make,” non-management employees called them out. Those who held leadership positions in the company retained most of their salaries.

Across the globe, COVID-19 has weakened both the bargaining power and socioeconomic mobility of garment workers. Its consequences have been especially devastating for those in developing nations. In India, the closure of schools has led around 80,000 children to begin working as laborers. If unaddressed, the pandemic could set the country back decades on child exploitation. With limited options, families are often strong-armed by traffickers into believing their children will lead better lives in the big city. Many never see their families again.   

As a European Trade Union Institute article reported, COVID-19 did not break labor rights; it only revealed how broken the system already was. In Leicester, England, predominantly female and migrant sweatshop workers from Eastern Europe, Bangladesh and Pakistan faced wages as low as $4.50 an hour, received threats and humiliation, and were even denied bathroom breaks.. A June report from Labour Behind the Label found that online fashion retailer Boohoo’s Leicester factory was operating at 100% capacity despite lockdown orders. In the same month, the company projected that its shares had increased by 22%.Some feel that fast-fashion workers are stuck in a lose-lose situation. A Bloomberg report found that the closure of roughly 1,090 garment factories in Bangladesh amounted to an economic loss of $1.5 billion. Workers were not entitled to unemployment benefits, rendering them even more vulnerable in the face of pandemic uncertainties. A Solidarity Center article found that because of social distancing measures, workers’ ability to unionize and collectively bargain for their rights was severely limited.

Not all hope is lost, however. COVID-19 has created opportunities for critical change. As online sales have gone up, so has social media usage. In March, after notable labels such as Nike, Gap and Levi’s had canceled billions of orders, the nonprofit organization Remake revealed the plight of garment workers through the #PayUp movement. Stores like H&M and Zara were pressured into compensating their suppliers for orders that had already been produced, passing that money on to workers. While the fight is far from over, garment workers’ future may become brighter as consumers take a longer glance at the fast-fashion industry

How To Get Involved:

  • The Awaj Foundation is a woman-led organization based on addressing gender-based violence in the garment industry. It supports workers from Bangladesh. For more information on ways to support it, click here.

  • Based in Los Angeles, the Garment Worker Center aims to restore agency and dignity back to workers currently strong-armed by sweatshop conditions. To learn more, visit its website here.

Rhiannon Koh

Rhiannon earned her B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning from UC San Diego. Her honors thesis was a speculative fiction piece exploring the aspects of surveillance technology, climate change, and the future of urbanized humanity. She is committed to expanding the stories we tell.

Polish Leaders Reject Criticism of LGBTQ+ Policies 

50 ambassadors and international representatives published an open letter pressing Poland to work for the tolerance of LGBTQ+ people. Polish leaders responded by saying that the rights of LGBTQ+ Poles are not threatened.

A sign reading, “Tolerance is not enough, we want equality!” Annaspies. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Polish leaders denied that the rights of LGBTQ+ citizens have been restricted after an open letter from 50 ambassadors and international representatives expressed concerns over the policies of President Andrzej Duda’s government. 

The letter, posted on Sept. 27, asserts that Poland needs to work for “nondiscrimination, tolerance and mutual acceptance,” particularly in the education, health, social affairs, public service, public documents and citizenship sectors. It goes on to say that “human rights are universal and everyone, including LGBTI persons, are entitled to their full enjoyment” and affirms that “this is something that everyone should support.” 

Poland’s LGBTQ+ community has dealt with persecution from a number of sources, including the Catholic Church, local communities and the government. This summer, President Duda won reelection after campaigning against LGBTQ+ “ideology,” which he labeled as “more destructive” than communism. During his campaign, Duda agreed with another politician who claimed that “LGBT is not people,” but an ideology that threatens the young and those in traditional families.  

U.S. Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher, one of the letter’s signatories, tweeted a link to the letter with the caption: “Human Rights are not an ideology—they are universal. 50 Ambassadors and Representatives agree.” Joachim Brudzinski, of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party, responded that “we in Poland also agree.” Brudzinski followed the statement with a call for a letter in defense of Christians, who he alleges have faced mistreatment. Poland is majority Catholic, and Christians are generally considered to not experience oppression. This summer, Brudzinski tweeted that “Poland without LGBT is most beautiful.” 

The rhetoric of Duda, Brudzinski and other politicians has led to a number of towns in conservative parts of Poland passing resolutions pronouncing themselves free of “LGBT ideology.” These towns, widely known as “LGBT-free zones,” house nearly 32% of Poland’s population, according to an LGBTQ+ rights group tracking the resolutions. 

Bart Staszewski, a Polish activist, protests these resolutions by briefly attaching a sign that reads “LGBT-FREE ZONE” in four languages next to the towns’ signs. He posts pictures of the signs on Instagram, often including an LGBTQ+ person from the town in his shot. Staszewski’s signs are a form of performance art that offers a visual representation of Poland’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies, which Staszweski and other activists say harm an already marginalized community. 

During a news conference in response to the open letter, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called Staszewski’s protests a “falsified reality” that presents LGBTQ+ rights in Poland as under attack. Morawiecki also addressed the ambassadors directly, saying, “To the dear ambassadors, I can only say that tolerance belongs to Polish DNA … Nobody needs to teach us tolerance.” He concurred with the letter’s claim that every person is entitled to the enjoyment of rights, but rejected the idea that LGBTQ+ Poles were being denied these. 

Poland is not particularly LGBTQ+ friendly, despite what its leaders have said in recent days. Members of the community are angry and fearful after Duda’s reelection on an anti-LGBTQ+ platform. Activists are currently advocating for legislation criminalizing hate speech based on sexual identity. The open letter praises the kind of work done by Polish activists, urging the government to support all people’s “fundamental rights.” 

Rachel Lynch

is a student at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY currently taking a semester off. She plans to study Writing and Child Development. Rachel loves to travel and is inspired by the places she’s been and everywhere she wants to go. She hopes to educate people on social justice issues and the history and culture of travel destinations through her writing.

Gender Discrimination Is Nothing New in Poland

Many view the reelection of Polish President Andrzej Duda in July as a further setback for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in the country.

Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland, meets with a leader of the Roman Catholic Church. EpiskopatNews. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

For much of the 20th century, Poland was under the influence of foreign countries, particularly the Soviet Union. This caused communism and its ideologies of censorship and control to direct the Poles’ daily lives. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church provided a safe space for many people to feel freedom. Thus, post-communist Poland has continued to embrace Catholicism, with 93% of Poles practicing it despite the country having no official religion.

A result of the Catholic Church’s widespread influence has been restrictive measures toward women and those in Poland’s LGBTQ+ community. One of the first major impacts seen was the passage of an “anti-abortion law” in 1988. While this law banned most instances of the procedure, many doctors and hospitals did not fully enforce it at the time. 

Abortion is still a topic of debate in Polish political campaigns. In the Catholic Church’s eyes, abortion is seen as murder and a direct violation of God’s will. Thus, any practice which may go against God’s “original intent” is normally frowned upon.

Due to the Catholic Church’s continued influence in Poland, most legislation passed today still follows the Church’s guidance. This includes on LGBTQ+ rights, where as of June nearly 100 locations had declared themselves to be “LGBT-free zones.”. Yet the fight for LGBTQ+ rights has continued, especially since the election of the staunchly-conservative Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

LGBTQ+ activists in Poland. Sakuto. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Additionally, the reelection campaign of President Andrzej Duda painted a narrative that LGBTQ+ individuals are a threat to society. As a part of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, his ideologies align with protecting Poland’s “traditional values.” Duda even went so far as to call the LGBTQ+ rights movement “an ideology worse than communism.” He also tapped into anti-Semitism that has been prevalent since World War II by saying that Jewish interests would become more important than Polish ones if his opponent Rafal Trzaskowski had won.

Two weeks after Duda’s victory in the July presidential election, it was announced that Poland was in the process of withdrawing from a European domestic violence treaty known as the Istanbul Convention. This treaty protected women from any forms of violence and placed responsibility on European states to take appropriate measures to protect women and punish attackers.

As justification for the government's decision, Poland denounced the treaty as an infringement on parents’ rights since it required children to be taught about nontraditional gender roles. Duda claimed that the treaty “contains elements of an ideological nature, which we consider harmful.” Many women have argued that withdrawing from the treaty only legalizes domestic violence in Poland.

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.