Under the guise of the Kovid epidemic, the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees’ Union says that the apparel industry is continuing to make profits, curtailing the rights of many workers in the apparel industry.
This was stated by the Co-Secretary of the Association Anton Marx in a statement.
The union points out that by February 2020, Sri Lanka’s export apparel and footwear industry employed at least 27,5000 workers, representing 40% of the country’s total exports.
The Free Trade Zones and Public Service Union estimates that garment workers lost about 40% of their average salary in March, April and May 2020, equivalent to $ 24 million, in the wake of the Covid epidemic. The clean garment business estimates that jobs have been lost.
The union points out that the factory owners’ failure to act at a time when workers’ rights and protections are needed is now taking their problems to the international arena, stressing that the Forum of Brands and Joint Apparel Associations should immediately begin discussions with workers’ representatives.
For example, employees of Brutex in Katunayake have launched a protest against this due to the annual allowance. Factory owners are still trying to keep their production process to a minimum.