Bangladeshi garment workers face ruin as global brands ditch clothing contracts amid coronavirus pandemic

When Fatema Akther arrived for work at the Alif Casual Wear garment factory in Dhaka in late March, she had no idea it would be her last day.
"My line chief came and told me that I didn't have to work anymore," said Akther, 25, who had been employed there for five years. She said the company, which could not be reached for comment, decided to close the factory, leaving her without a source of income past March.
The coronavirus pandemic has led factories to furlough or lay off more than half of the country's nearly 4.1 million garment workers, according to estimates from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Like Akther, most of them are women, and the roughly $110 they earn every month is often their families' only source of money.
"My family runs on my single income," said Akther, who said she provides for her husband and child. "I don't know how my family will survive."
Global lockdowns and unprecedented job losses have caused demand for just about anything that isn't food to evaporate, including clothing. That's led the international apparel brands and retailers who rely on the cheap labor that Bangladesh provides to cancel or suspend an estimated $3.17 billion worth of orders in the country, according to BGMEA.
The loss of business has exposed a rift between those major brands and the factory owners they contract with. Members of Bangladesh's business community say they've been left to pick up the tab, which has put their factories and workers in dire straits.
"It's abysmal, it's unreal," said Rubana Huq, President of the BGMEA, adding that there is little legal recourse in the country for factories to demand that international retailers fulfill the terms of their contracts. "I don't want any grant, I don't want any kind of charity, I just want the bare minimum justice for our workers."
The fallout is also devastating news for the South Asian country's economy, which is disproportionately reliant on the apparel industry to keep its economy humming. Garments make up roughly 80% of Bangladesh's exports, Trading Economics says, and generated more than $30 billion last year, according to the country's Export Promotion Bureau — making it the second biggest exporter of such goods in the world after China. In total, the industry contributes 16% of Bangladesh's GDP.