The COVID-19 crisis caused a number of lost jobs, reduced wages and risk to the physical and mental health of workers in the textile industry. On the other hand, the foreign demand for textile products endangered the liquidity of companies and contributed to the reduction of total net exports that dropped by 300% in 2020 compared to 2019.
These are just some of the findings that were presented at today’s panel discussion on “Industry in Crisis – Challenges of the textile industry before and after the COVID-19 crisis”, which was organized by the Association for Research and Analysis ZMAI.
In the introductory address of the Program Director for Rule of Law and Good Governance, Danče Danilovska Bajdevska, the general conclusion was pointed out – the rights of textile workers are largely violated and that the textile sector is in fact one of the most affected sectors by the COVID -19 crisis. “In this context, the future public policies for improving the situation in the textile industry must be aimed at enabling long-term sustainability and stable return towards growth and development of technologies and economic conditions for employees and employers”, stressed Danilovska Bajdevska.
Viktor Stojkoski, one of the main researchers of the project, noted that the analysis of data from state institutions and local governments show that unemployment in the textile industry increased by 128%, and the percent of people with incomes below the minimum increased by 17.6% in April 2020. These results are devastating and indicate that the textile industry was unstable even before the onset of the pandemic, but with its emergence, these problems came to the fore.
According to the Director of the State Labor Inspectorate, Jovana Trenčevska, it is necessary to consistently implement the legal measures and obligations arising from the Laws and the Decision on preventive measures, temporary measures, ordered measures, purposeful protocols, plans and algorithms for acting to protect the health of the population of COVID-19 infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while workers are advised to adhere to all relevant recommendations and guidelines by employers that should provide safe and healthy working conditions, as well as encouragement to apply any violation of the right to employment or safety and health at work, in the state labor inspectorate.
“In the textile sector during 2020, 1443 supervisions were performed, 173 inspection measures were issued and a proposal for initiating 1 (one) criminal charge was initiated. Intensive inspections will also continue in 2021. In the period January-May 2021, 700 supervisions were performed in the textile sector, while 202 inspection measures were imposed”, pointed out Trenčevska.
“Glasen Tekstilec” was one of the associations that was active and vocal when it comes to advocating for the rights of workers in the textile industry during the crisis.
“I think the corona crisis has drastically set back workers’ and human rights. It turned out that profit is more important than human life, i.e. the existence of the ordinary worker and their whole family. Deviant phenomena that we have managed to eliminate in the past years have returned, such as verbal dismissals, salary payments of 2 denars, return of part of the salary back to the employer, amicable terminations of contracts that the workers testify that they did not sign. What worries us most is the courage of some employers to abuse state aid that was only intended to keep jobs and pay the minimum wage to employees. That courage can only be attributed to the insufficient protection by the institutions in charge of being careful, preventing and punishing unscrupulous work by the employers”, said Kristina Ampeva from Glasen Tekstilec.
You can watch the panel discussion at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1krD-fsI34
The event was organized within the project “Response to the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 by supporting vulnerable groups of low-paid workers, workers who are part of the informal economy and temporary workers”, supported by the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia.
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6 July 2021