Pandemic-era severance theft across the global
apparel supply chain very likely exceeds
half a billion dollars.
binding agreement obligating them to make regular payments into a Severance Guarantee
Fund that will step in to make workers whole whenever there is a case of large-scale nonpayment of severance.10 Such a system, backed up by an enforceable contract between brands
and labor unions, is the only viable means to bring an end to the unconscionable reality, and
the devastating human consequences, of chronic severance theft in the fashion industry’s
supply chain.
In this report, we:
• review the history of severance
theft in the global garment industry, prior to the pandemic;
• provide details of the 31 confirmed cases of severance
theft we have documented
during the pandemic and list
the brands responsible;
• discuss in more detail our
broader data set of factory
closures and mass worker dismissals and the implications
of this data for estimating the
overall incidence of severance
theft during Covid-19; and
• further outline recommendations for corrective action.
Brilliant Alliance Thai Global workers gather on March 10, 2021, after
receiving notification that the factory will close the following day.
Photo: Noo Roong
WRC
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Fired, Then Robbed
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