Primark endorses UN call for fashion supply chain worker support

The UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called for “urgent collaboration” across the fashion industry to shield garment industry workers from the impact that Covid-19 has had on the sector.

The call by the UN follows a coalition of 10 NGOs, including the Ethical Trading Initiative UK, demanding urgent action to protect the “health and livelihoods of millions of garment workers and their families” faced with the prospect of unsafe working environments or losing their jobs as the pandemic continues to damage economies.

Primark followed fashion titans such as H&M and Inditex in increasing its support package for suppliers impacted by coronavirus disruption. This week, the fashion retailer committed to pay £370m of additional orders for product “over and above the £1.5bn of stock in stores, depots and in transit”.

Primark’s ethical trade and environmental sustainability director Katharine Stewart said: “The importance of this initiative led by the ILO cannot be overstated. The manufacturers and their workers in the garment supply chain are in urgent need of funding from global financial institutions and governments in order to protect jobs and get through this crisis.

”In the longer-term, we hope this initiative will also support the introduction or strengthening of schemes many of us take for granted, such as employment protection and health benefits. It will take the collective efforts of all the signatories to make this call to action a reality.”