Corona Pandemic: Job of Millions at stake

Desk Report: The coronavirus pandemic is threatening the jobs of more than a million factory workers in Bangladesh. It is the world’s second-largest garment and textile producer after China, and the industry drives the country’s economy. For many of the 4.1 million workers in this industry, their income from stitching clothes for customers, which include some of the world’s largest fashion companies, can be critical to survival.

Already a huge number of workers have lost their job as the fashion companies have canceled or suspended their orders in Bangladesh due to the coronavirus crisis, according to a report by Penn State University’s Center for Global Workers’ Rights and the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent labor-rights monitor. The numbers only look set to rise, and don’t count workers in Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other countries facing similar situations.