Covid-19 pandemic puts 600K workers in PH garment industry at risk – ILO

The Philippines’ clothing industry is among the sectors hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic as decline in exports put at risk livelihoods of workers in the garment sector.

In its study, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said the total combined imports to the US, EU and Japan from 10 major apparel and footwear producing countries in Asia fell significantly between January and June 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

“The largest percentage decreases in exports were observed in China, India, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka,” the ILO said.

In particular, the Philippines’ garment exports to major buying countries were cut by almost 40% “putting the livelihoods and employment of more than 600,000 workers at risk.”

“This research highlights the massive impact Covid-19 has had on the garment industry at every level. It is vital that governments, workers, employers and other industry stakeholders work together to navigate these unprecedented conditions and help forge a more human-centered future for the industry,” Chihoko Asada Miyakawa, ILO regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said.

The ILO study also highlights that major buying countries’ imports from garment-exporting countries in Asia dropped by up to 70% in the first half of 2020, due to collapsing consumer demand, government lockdown measures, and disruptions to raw material imports necessary for garment production.

The study noted that the Asia-Pacific region employed an estimated 65 million garment sector workers in 2019, accounting for 75% of all garment workers worldwide.

“The typical garment worker in the region lost out on at least two to four weeks of work and saw only three in five of her co-workers called back to the factory when it reopened. Declines in earnings and delays in wage payments were also common among garment workers still employed in the second quarter of 2020,” Christian Viegelahn, labor economist at the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, said.

The ILO said that delayed or inadequate payments to apparel workers—both employed workers and those on furlough or unemployed—have led to protests in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines among others.