Dressed in red and holding three fingers up in the air, garment workers in Myanmar are at the frontline of protests in industrial zones in Yangon, the country’s capital. They are fighting for democracy; they are fighting for their livelihoods; and for survival.
My doctoral research which focuses on how work in global garment production shape women’s lives and livelihood strategies, is based in Myanmar. Just before the military reclaimed power by staging a coup on the 1st of February, we interviewed 25 garment workers together with Myanmar-based organization Aung Myin Hmu. The women told us about how they moved to Yangon and started working in the garment industry to have career options, something they lacked in their hometowns. Many of them spoke about how working with friends, women they might know from back home, was an important factor in choosing where to work. Most of them identified themselves as the main income provider for their family – something they were very proud of. All that they work for is now under risk of being pulled away from them with the military coup driving brands to stop sourcing from the country and garment production coming to a halt.
The garment industry is the backbone of the Myanmar economy and women’s employment
The garment industry has grown rapidly since the final removal of sanctions in 2016. In 2018 it accounted for 30.8% of all exports from Myanmar, worth 4.59 bn USD and exports to the west are growing. A majority of garment exports were directed to China, South Korea or Japan and other Asian countries in 2018, with European countries accounting for over 45% of total garment exports from Myanmar with Germany and the UK being the top two destinations. Exports to the United States enjoyed a 78% annual growth between 2015 and 2019. Total U.S. goods imports from Myanmar totalled USD $821 million in 2019, up 65.7% ($325 million) from 2018, and up 955,354% from 2009. Big global brands such as H&M, Inditex, Primark, New Look, Bestseller, Next and Tesco produce in Myanmar.
Over 90% of the garment workers are women, with the majority being between 16 and 23 years old. Most of them come from smaller cities or rural village and move to Yangon for the opportunity to work in garment production and earn an income. They work up to 11 hours a day, six days a week and most of them live in dormitories with other garment workers and send parts of their salary home to provide for their families.
While the media often depicts garment workers as ‘oppressed’ and ‘downtrodden’, our research shows the importance of garment employment to this female workforce in terms of their role as breadwinners and the transformation of their position in Burmese society. It is true that wages are so low as to not constitute a living wage, something that BHRIGHT Director Shelley Marshall makes clear in her book ‘Living Wage’. As consumers we should all be deeply concerned this. However, in interviews, women spoke to us of the empowerment that garment employment has provided for them, and this is at the heart of my concerns as I watch the coup unfold.
COVID plus coup spells catastrophic consequences for women
The garment industry has already been hard hit by the pandemic. Most of the women we interviewed in January had been laid off for long periods in 2020. At the start of 2020, 700,000 workers were employed in apparel production in Myanmar, in the first Covid-19 wave 60,000 workers lost their jobs and 350,000 workers were threatened by layoffs. The garment industry was predicted to grow to employ 1 million people by 2020, but that did not occur. Then, on top of that comes the military coup.
The military coup is threating the safety of women garment workers. As they mostly migrated to Yangon from other parts of Myanmar, they are also particularly vulnerable to being stranded in big cities without the ability to return home to their families and are easy targets for the military in their dorms in the industrial district. Women who choose to join the protests have also reportedly been threatened with losing their jobs and harassed by factory management.
The military has a history of particularly targeting unions and union leaders. Last time the military, from 1962 to 2011, was in control many union leaders went into exile in neighbouring countries as they feared for their safety if staying in Myanmar. This is now happening again, with large number of unions and labour groups are proclaimed by the military junta as illegal, worker organizers are harassed, hunted, arrested by the military.
If the military retains power, I am also concerned that the actions of states against the regime will have dire effects on women. The previous time the military was in control in Myanmar this led to sanctions by the world’s two largest markets, the US and the EU. The economic sanctions they implemented then were wide, with the US banning all imports from Myanmar. At that time, in 2003, 80% of the US imports from Myanmar was garments. The immediate effects of the sanctions were devastating for garment workers. More than half of the country’s garment factories closed, and some hundred thousand workers lost their jobs. It resulted in women turning to precarious work and sex work, with an increase in HIV in women. While strong action is needed against the military junta, I am concerned that wide economic sanctions will be catastrophic for women.
I fear history is about to repeat itself if the democracy protests are not successful.
Global fashion brands are leaving Myanmar
Many fear that the military coup will spell the demise of the thriving garment industry, in the same way as occurred after the last coup. Even without economic sanctions being put in place internationally, brands that produce in Myanmar are starting to pulling out as factories have closed down for protests and the political uncertainty placing orders at threat. H&M who has 45 direct suppliers in Myanmar announced that they have paused orders to the country, but are saying that they refrain from taking any immediate action regarding our long-term presence in the country,
This is, of course, a complicated situation for fashion brands to navigate. The military coup and the protests create significant disruptions for brands sourcing from Myanmar. Production in Myanmar is not able to take place with normal speed and efficiency, and the logistics of shipping and delivery are highly disrupted. As a result of nationwide shutdown of factories some workers are reporting that their wages are withheld There is widespread concern amongst labour advocates that quick exit strategies by brands will be detrimental to women garment workers. Brands need to make sure that they exit Myanmar responsibly.
US labour advocates, the Solidarity Center and US student organisation, United Students Against Sweatshops, along with Global labour advocates, the Clean Clothes Campaign have urged brands to support the continued employment of protesting garment workers, ensuring that their jobs are not lost because they are standing up against the military regime. They have called on garment brands, retailers and manufacturers to make these commitments public, to share them with their direct and indirect suppliers in Myanmar and with relevant business partners.
Garment worker union leaders taking central roles in protests
Women garment workers have a lot to lose. The military coup threatens their livelihoods, for themselves and their families, and their identity as capable income earning women. The military coup will spell an end to their capacity to shape their own futures. The development of women’s and union movements in Myanmar have been closely linked to the struggle between the military regime and opposition groups, often of ethnic-basis. I believe that the size of the current protest is the result of the coming together and growing confidence in this broader movement.
Women have good reason to follow union calls to protest, as such calls have been beneficial for women in the past. Although the garment industry labour force is largely unorganised, some research data suggest as low as 3% union membership, unions have played a significant role in shaping working conditions for women garment workers and have a history of being able to organise mass strikes to create change. Mass strikes and union demands led to the establishment of a minimum wage in 2015. These union efforts gained support from European and US brands, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, H&M, Primark and Gap. In 2020, garment workers were highly vocal in protesting the pandemic being used as a smoke screen for union busting. By protesting and negotiating from April to July in 2020, workers at the Rui-Ning factory, producing for Inditex (Zara), Mango, Bestseller and Swiss brand Tally Weijl, reached an agreement between the union, factory management and Inditex, for workers to be reinstated and re-hiring following union-busting.
A chance for brands to show authentic commitment
The nature of the fashion industry as a consumer-facing, global industry makes it particularly well suited for big brands in western countries to take a stand and take responsibility for the future of workers that make our clothes and their profits. Garment workers and union leaders are using this traction to draw attention to the protests but also to ask for protection. They are asking global brands for their support and solidarity in protesting for the democratic future of Myanmar, the survival of their jobs, and ultimately the garment export industry in the country.
All brands, whether they source from Myanmar or not, should publicly condemn the coup and show their solidarity with garment workers that have left their factories to protest. This is the time to acknowledge that fashion is a global, interconnected industry and support workers’ rights.
As consumers, we can support these brave women
What can we as consumers do to support garment workers in Myanmar? First, we can ask of all our favourite brands to use their voice and platforms to call for human rights to be respected and support the people’s protests and the Civil Disobedience Movement. Go onto their social media sites and ask them to do this right now. Secondly, we still don’t know exactly which brands source from Myanmar, the nature of global garment production’s many layers of suppliers make it an often very non-transparent industry. The problem with this lack of transparency is highlighted in crises like COVID-19 and military coups. Ask your favourite brands where your clothes come from. If you can’t find a supplier list on the brand website, ask them why they don’t display this. Thirdly, the Clean Clothes Campaign are urging us to also put pressure on our governments to take targeted actions against the military junta by going on social media and tagging our respective country’s embassy in Myanmar.
Fashion brands spend billions of dollars on marketing campaigns every year. We can’t think of a better billboard to showcase authentic commitment to social responsibly throughout their supply chains than the mass of women garment workers dressed in red t-shirts, raising their three fingers, being able to keep their jobs as they fight for democracy.
This piece was originally published on the RMIT Business and Human Rights Centre Blog. Visit the Blog here.
Sara Todt - Graduate School of Business and Law
