News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership) © Daria Nipot - Depositphotos.com 02 April 2020 Economic impact of COVID-19 crisis fatally affects workers in producing countries - textile alliance must show solidarity right now Bonn / Berlin. The COVID-19 crisis affects all actors in the textile supply chain. However, it hits the weakest particularly hard. Fashion brands and retail companies have suffered a blatant loss of sales due to the stagnation of public life in this country. However, the economic pressure is passed on: Orders to supplier companies in Bangladesh or Cambodia are cancelled and goods that have already been completed are no longer accepted or paid for. The suppliers therefore dismiss the already poorly paid workers or close them completely. For workers, the growing risk of COVID-19 infection on the ground in the event of poor health care is combined with extreme economic hardship due to a lack of wages. Immediate support urgently needed "Now is the time for the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles to prove itself. It must respond to such a situation with a spirit of solidarity towards suppliers and their employees," says Gisela Burckhardt of FEMNET. "Workers in the producing countries now need support from a government-backed aid fund, the implementation of which should be supported, as far as possible, by the members of the Alliance. Companies can take on responsibility in many ways. It is also in their own interest to preserve the supply chain.” "Corporate responsibility for the supply chain does not pause in times of crisis", stresses Sabine Ferenschild from the SÜDWIND Institute. ‘Companies that promise their suppliers to accept finished goods and to pay for orders that have already been started assume responsibility. A cooperative approach to suppliers helps business partners to get over the crisis and can help to avoid wage losses for employees. For companies, this should now guide action in line with the recommendations of the Textile Alliance.” Take medium- and long-term measures to avoid future crises "It must also be a matter of avoiding the current catastrophic effects in the future", warns Berndt Hinzmann of the INKOTA network. “Never has it been clearer that the low wages plunge workers directly into existential crises in the event of a crisis. For workers in the producing countries, living wages are just as necessary as social security systems. This includes fair purchasing practices. All of this requires community commitment. The Textile Alliance as an internationally networked partnership of the federal government, industry, trade unions, standard organisations and civil society should now tackle this task. The motto in this crisis cannot be: Everyone is next to himself.” background Alliance for Sustainable Textiles Coalition Recommendations on Dealing with COVID-19 in the Supply Chain This press release was written by the civil society organisations in the steering committee and does not necessarily represent the opinion of all civil society members. The Textile Alliance has 19 civil society member organisations, which are represented in the steering committee by FEMNET, INKOTA-netzwerk and the SÜDWIND Institute. Civil society in the Sustainable Textiles Alliance:Contact persons: Dr. Gisela Burckhardt FEMNET, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel.: 0152 01774080 Dr. Sabine Ferenschild SOUTHWIND Institute, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 01578 9606450 Berndt Hinzmann, INKOTA network, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel.: 0160 94 69 87 70
