The Vietnamese garment workers committed to Australian fashion brands are struggling to meet their basic daily requirements.
This was highlighted in the recently released Oxfam Australia report. The report distinctly showed how little attention Australian brands like Target and Cotton On were paying on the working conditions of apparel workers in Vietnam.
The report exposed the ways in which Australian firms have been driving wages down and imposing harsh working conditions on the workers of Vietnam. What is shocking is that these brands have been consistently going back on their commitment to important fundamental rights at work in their Codes of Conduct.
The brands have been compelling the garment factories to reduce the lead times for orders and jump contracts in between instead of building long lasting relations.
Around 27 per cent of garment workers in Vietnam said there were no changes in their wages with 5 per cent even complaining of their wages being reduced in last 1 year. Lot of them complained of struggling to even afford sufficient food, housing and clean water.
Reportedly, 23 per cent of garment workers even complained of regular verbal abuse at the workplace. Similarly, by law, employers need to pay social insurance premium to workers on the basis of latter’s wages and allowances but in reality their payslips portrayed a different picture.
The report suggested that while the brands should be transparent and fair while dealing with human right abuses, the Government too should make stringent laws to protect the rights of workers.
“We are working to promote the well-being of workers within our supply chain,” said Big W while responding to the report.
The report was based on the interviews conducted in April and July 2018 and of the 88 garment workers interviewed from 6 factories, 13 were male and 75 were female.
