A report from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRCC) says that nearly 5,000 job losses in garment factories in Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India are linked to union membership. While the garment industry has taken a hit during the pandemic due to decreased orders from retailers, workers say that the dismissals have been targeted towards union membership and organising, while using Covid-19 as an excuse. One worker at a factory in Yangon was beaten by four men, leading to his two-day hospitalization, due to his role in helping coworkers campaign for better working conditions. Prior to the attack, 29 union members were terminated; one female worker who had been fired noted that the work atmosphere towards women was abusive, while others noted lax fire safety. In Myanmar, 107 garment workers making clothes for Inditex, Primark and US chain Bestseller were fired three days after they registered a new union.
See "Fashion brands fail to stop garment manufacturers from using Covid-19 as an excuse to terminate union-dominant factories, report claims", Harriet Grant and Joshua Carroll, The Guardian, August 7, 2020