Take action at CFS+
We are calling on brands at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit online forum CFS+ to commit to the wage assurance and #PayYourWorkers after global brands and retailers refused to pay for $16 billion worth of goods since the outbreak of COVID-19, leaving suppliers no means to pay garment workers.
CSF+ proclaims to focus on “redesigning value,” and creating a more “resilient business model” post COVID-19 by bringing “industry leaders” and “diverse voices” together, but ignores the very people who need to be heard the most: The garment workers who bear the economic brunt of the pandemic, allowing CEOs and brands to profit and grow, while being left behind struggling to survive. The event is presented by Global Fashion Agenda, who proclaim to be the leading forum for sustainability in fashion, while collaborating with brands like Nike and Bestseller, two brands who, besides H&M, have significant numbers of worker rights abuses cases related to COVID-19. Tens of thousands of, mostly women, garment workers in H&M’s supply chain have been waiting since March to be paid their legally owed wages, while the H&M CEO Helena Helmersson presumes to enlighten CSF+ on "sustainability in fashion" from her Swedish summer house.
We plan to disrupt the Summit in any way possible as part of the #PayYourWorkers campaign. We want to draw attention to the current crisis garment workers face while “leaders in the industry” falsely congratulate themselves. We particularly call out H&M, Nike and Bestseller, as brands closely affiliated with the event, but we are calling for ALL brands to commit to the wage assurance and #PayYourWorkers.
We made CFS+ their own magazine with the perspectives from the value chain that they left out of their program.
Tens of thousands of, mostly women, garment workers in @hm’s supply chain have been waiting since March to be paid their legally owed wages, while the CEO preaches “sustainability” from her Swedish summer house. #PayYourWorkers - #RedesigningValue at #CFSPlus - Tweet
Most garment workers can’t imagine a “post-covid-19”, but if they could, they would want job security and wages that cover basic food costs. @hm need to #PayYourWorkers - #RedesigningValue at #CFSPlus - Tweet
Sustainable fashion needs to be sustainable for garment workers. How can the people who make @hm’s clothes survive with nothing to live on? @hm need to #PayYourWorkers. #equality at #CFSPlus - Tweet
Do you want to make a difference for garment worker’s future? @hm need to commit to the wage assurance and #PayYourWorkers -#systemchange at #CFSPlus - Tweet
Is @Nike paying the workers fired from Violet Apparel, shut down due to lack of orders? Over a thousand workers, including pregnant women, lost their jobs and wages with no notice. These workers are penniless in the midst of a pandemic. #PayYourWorkers - #CFSplus - Tweet
Will @Nike commit to the wage assurance and make sure the people who make their clothes are paid for their labour? How can @Nike preach equality when leaving garment workers high and dry. - #equality at #CFSplus - Tweet
Brands like @Nike need to ensure garment workers are paid and commit to the wage assurance, not preach “wellness” from a “sustainability” summit. Your garment workers cannot sustain themselves. #systemchange at #CFSplus - Tweet
Is @Nike “mindful” of the people in it’s supply chain? They are struggling to survive. Turn words into action: Commit to the wage assurance and ensure workers are paid their legally owed wages - #RedesigningValue at #CFSplus - Tweet
What is the "Wage Assurance" ?
Brands have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that human rights are respected throughout their supply chain. However after cancelling more than $16 billion worth of goods since the outbreak of COVID-19, garment workers are now owed between $3.19 and $5.79 billion (USD) for just the first three months of the pandemic alone. Brands must now intervene and help the people that they have relied upon for decades to make their profits; the garment workers who they have abandoned in this crisis.
Despite H&M agreeing to #PayUp for orders cancelled due to the pandemic, the garment workers in H&M's supply chain are still missing wages from March. No wages means no food for thousands of garment workers due to the inhumanely low wages the industry pays them. Before the pandemic, the Swedish fast fashion retailer failed to deliver on it's 2013 commitment to ensure 850,000 workers in it's supply chain would be paid a fair living wage by 2018. Now H&M is involved in several wage theft cases that the company has blamed on COVID-19, but has so far refused and failed to take any kind of meaningful action to ensure that its workers get paid what they are legally owed.
We are calling on H&M and ALL major brands to commit to redistributing value in the fashion industry and #PayYourWorkers. We want brands to ensure not only that workers in their supply chain are paid what they are owed, but also, to establish a fund that will make sure garment workers will never be left jobless without their legally owed severance again. Without severance and pay, garment workers never have a chance at the resiliency and growth that their forced sacrifice has given to those at the top of the fashion industry value chain. It's time to redistribute wealth, and redistribute power in the supply chain.
You can find more information here.