
The list of resources below provides information on impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on labor risks, sectors, and populations. We will be updating this list regularly.
If you have any questions about this content or would like to provide suggestions for future Verité articles related to COVID-19 in supply chains, please email covid19@verite.org.
Agriculture Workers and Farms
- From Children in the Fields Campaign: Discussion about the health impact of COVID-19 on the farmworker community
- From Economic Policy Institute: Coronavirus and farmworkers: Farm employment, safety issues, and the H-2A guestworker program
- From United Farm Workers: United Farm Workers is advocating for hazard pay and other protections for farmworkers
- From The Guardian: California’s farm workers pick America’s essential produce – unprotected from coronavirus
- From Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.: Report on the H-2A program, Ripe for Reform: Abuses of Agricultural Workers in the H-2A Visa Program
- From Al Jazeera: Without rights for farm workers, EU’s food supplies are at risk
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Perú: ONG denuncian a agronegocios que obligan a trabajar a obreros, mientras autoridades supervisan medidas de protección
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Farm-workers among groups most at risk for COVID-19 infection
- From Equitable Food Initiative (EFI): a library of resources to help protect workers and long-term supply continuity during the coronavirus outbreak
- From Bloomberg: Global Harvests at Risk With Travel Limits Squeezing Labor
- From Chiapas Paralelo: Mexico y sus trabajadores agrícolas frente la pandemia de COVID-19
- From El Heraldo de Mexico: Sólo 5% de jornaleros cuentan con medidas sanitarias ante coronavirus
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Chile: Comentario denuncia grave situación de personas trabajadoras rurales ante el Covid- 19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: ONG pide protección para miles de personas trabajadoras agrícolas de Guerrero que laboran en Baja California y Sinaloa durante la pandemia
- From Bloomberg: Front-Line Food Workers Agonize: Risk Illness on Job or Go Broke
- From The Guardian: Trouble brewing for tea producers as coronavirus lockdown hits harvests
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: India: Trade union submits plea to Supreme Court on behalf of 25000 tea workers over unpaid wages & rations
- From The New York Times: For Some Italians, the Future of Work Looks Like the Past
Smallholder Farmers
- From Confectionery News: Cocoa Industry Pulls Together Offer to Offer More Financial Support to Farmers to Help with COVID-19
Boom and Bust Sectors
Industries Seeing Surges Because Of The Pandemic
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Perú: ONG denuncian a empresas que obligan a trabajar a obreros, mientras autoridades supervisan medidas de protección
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: So. Africa: Employees locked up in a factory to produce masks as demand rises during COVID-1 pandemic
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: UK: Warehouse workers report social distancing concerns & COVID-19 infection risks; Unions call on fashion retailers to prioritise worker safety & close warehouses
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Clean Clothes Campaign outlines demands on brands & govts. to mitigate effects of COVID-19 on workers in global garment supply chains
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Mexico: LEONI factory workers allegedly forced to continue working despite COVID-19 outbreak
- From The Los Angeles Times: The sweatshops are still open. Now they make masks
- From Daily Kos: Los Angeles garment workers switch to making masks, but job conditions, pay remain substandard
Industries Seeing Severe Layoffs/Shutdowns
- From ILO: COVID-19 causes devastating losses in working hours and employment
- From ITUC CSI IGB: ITUC Global COVID-19 Survey: Half of Countries in lockdown as COVID-19 pandemic wreaks health and economic havoc on working people and their families
- From Worker Rights Consortium: Who Will Bail Out the Workers That Make our Clothes?
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Moral bankruptcy during times of crisis: H&M just thought twice before triggering force majeure clauses with suppliers, and here’s why you should too
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Honduras: La crisis sanitaria pone en riesgo a personas trabajadoras con despidos masivos y violaciones de derechos laborales
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Chile: Multinacional estadounidense de alimentos suspende contratos de trabajadores por tres meses
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: Alsea, operadora de marcas como Starbucks, Domino’s Pizza y Burger King, es criticada por su programa de ausencia voluntaria de 30 días sin goce de sueldo; la empresa comenta
- From The Times of India: Many companies take 90-day no-layoff pledge
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Perú: Minera Antamina anuncia que hará un pare “estratégico” por causa de la pandemia
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Honduras: Más de 50 mil personas trabajadoras, sin incluir el sector informal, fueron despedidos en el contexto de COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Colombia: Empresa Bundy suspende contratos de trabajadores durante la pandemia del COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Honduras: 500,000 personas desempleadas como resultado de las medidas tomadas para controlar la propagación de Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Cambodia: Garment workers protest unpaid wages as COVID-19 disrupts supply chains
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Central America: Unions call on govt.s & brands to provide humanitarian support for 80,000 garment workers during COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: El Salvador: Reportan que empresas de todo tamaño se cierran por la crisis sanitaria, despidiendo a personas trabajadoras, sin pagarles sus salarios
Child labor Impacts of COVID-19
- From Children in the Fields Campaign: Discussion about the health impact of COVID-19 on the farmworker community
- From Human Rights Watch (HRW): COVID-19’s Devastating Impact on Children
- From the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI): How Will the Covid-19 Crisis Affect Children in Cocoa-Growing Communities?
- From Reuters: West African countries on alert for child labor spike due to coronavirus
- From Business and Human Rights Resource Centre: Experts warn that COVID-19 outbreak could lead to increase in child labour on Ghana & Côte d’Ivoire cocoa plantations
- From Laureates & Leaders for Children: Joint Statement by Laureates & Leaders for Children
Cocoa
- From Confectionery News: Cocoa Industry Pulls Together Offer to Offer More Financial Support to Farmers to Help with COVID-19
- From International Cocoa Initiative: How Will the COVID-19 Crisis Affect Children in Cocoa-Growing Communities?
Coffee Sector
- From Specialty Coffee Association: News and Resources for COVID-19
- From Bloomberg: Coffee Growers Fret Lost Output In ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Brazil
- From Agro Negocios: Comenzó La Recolección De La Cosecha Cafetera Con Precios Récord Por Saco De 125kg
- From El Colegio de la Frontera Sur: Mexico y sus trabajadores agrícolas frente la pandemia de COVID-19
- From Embrapa: Produtores de café contam com orientações para prevenção do novo coronavírus durante a colheita (Portuguese)
- From the Brazil government Ministry of Agriculture and National Agency for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension: Mapa e Anater lançam cartilha com medidas de higiene para o período de colheita (Portuguese)
- From Peabirus: Sistema FAEMG lança cartilha com orientação para prevenção ao Covid-19 no meio rura (Portuguese)
- From Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC): Cafeteros disponen de nuevos incentivos, alivios y apoyos crediticios (Spanish)
- From the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture: $41.000 millones invertirá MinAgricultura en programa “Alianzas Productivas para la Vida”, para asegurar la comercialización e ingresos de pequeños productores rurales (Spanish)
- From Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC): Protocol available to coffee producers aimed at avoiding the spread of COVID-19 (from the FNC website) (Spanish)
- From the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture: “La cosecha cafetera contará con la mano de obra que se necesita”: MinAgricultura Rodolfo Zea Navarro
- From the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture: Gobierno presenta recomendaciones para proteger la salud de productores del campo
- From Bloomberg: Coffee Growers Fret Lost Output in ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Brazil
Essential Workers
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: USA: Labour groups call on brands & manufacturers to implement essential worker health protection & workers’ rights measures during COVID-19 crisis, in joint letter
- From The New York Times: The Workers Who Face the Greatest Coronavirus Risk
- From The New York Times: The Companies Putting Profits Ahead of Public Health
Call Centers
- From The Times: Coronavirus in Scotland: NHS call centre staff ‘feel unsafe at work’
- From The Herald: Coronavirus: Study lifts lid of ‘nightmare’ of Scots call centre workers refused homeworking
- From The Economist: Britain’s call centres are overwhelmed and overhauling how they work
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Teleperformance es denunciada ante la OCDE por violaciones a derechos laborales en medio de crisis por Covid-19
Delivery/Transport Workers
- From The New York Times: Is Your Grocery Delivery Worth a Worker’s Life?
- From IHRB: The Invisible Transport Workforce Keeping Supply Chains Moving
- From TIME: ‘If We Don’t Work, We Don’t Get Paid.’ How the Coronavirus Is Exposing Inequality Among America’s Workers
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brazil: Delivery service apps allegedly fail to guarantee protective equipment for deliverers during COVID-19
Domestic Workers/Home Healthcare Providers
- From CNN: Hong Kong asked domestic workers to stay in to stop the spread of coronavirus. But some got infected at home by their employers
- From The New York Times: Undocumented domestic workers: Virus Leads Many to Cast Aside Household Help
- From National Public Radio: ‘Who’s Going To Help Them?’: Caregivers Brace For The Spread Of Coronavirus
Healthcare Providers
- From Business Fights Poverty: Business, Disease and Global Health: Taking collective action on workplace health to create a healthier future
- From National Public Radio: ‘Who’s Going To Help Them?’: Caregivers Brace For The Spread Of Coronavirus
Meatpackers
- CDC report on Meatpackers
- From Bloomberg: news article on the CDC report: CDC Cites Limited Distancing at Meat Plants With Thousands Sick
- From USA Today: Essential worker just means you’re on the death track
- From The Guardian: ‘We’re modern slaves’: How meat plant workers became the new frontline in Covid-19 war
- From Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP): 4,913 US workers in 115 meatpacking plants have tested positive for COVID-19
- From Fox43: UFCW urging for immediate actions to protect meatpacking workers from COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Germany: COVID-19 outbreak amongst migrant workers at slaughterhouse sparks concerns over poor working & living conditions
- From The Guardian: ‘Everyone’s on top of you, sneezing and coughing’: life inside Ireland’s meat plants
- From The New York Times: As Meatpacking Plants Reopen, Data About Worker Illness Remains Elusive
Supermarkets
- From OXFAM Politics of Poverty: COVID19: Safeguarding essential workers in our supermarkets
- From BBC: Coronavirus: The Range staff say social distancing ‘ignored’
- From OXFAM: Politics of Poverty: COVID19: Safeguarding essential workers in our supermarkets
Food Security
- From The New York Times: India’s Coronavirus Lockdown Leaves Vast Numbers Stranded and Hungry
- From Al Jazeera: ‘We’ll die of hunger first’: Despair as Zimbabwe lockdown begins
- From HuffPost: Migrant Farmworkers Feed America — And They’re At High Risk For A Coronavirus Outbreak
- From The Guardian: California’s farm workers pick America’s essential produce – unprotected from coronavirus
- From The New York Times: What Happens if America’s 2.5 Million Farmworkers Get Sick?
- From Al Jazeera: Without rights for farm workers, EU’s food supplies are at risk
- From The Guardian: ‘A disastrous situation’: mountains of food wasted as coronavirus scrambles supply chain
- From CNN: The coronavirus pandemic could threaten global food supply, UN warns
- From Bloomberg: Global Harvests at Risk with Travel Limits Squeezing Labor
Garments
- From GoodWeave: Hidden and Vulnerable: The Impact of COVID-19 on Child, Forced and Bonded Labor
- From Asian Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA): The Emperor Has No Clothes: Garment Supply Chains in the Time of Pandemic
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Moral bankruptcy during times of crisis: H&M just thought twice before triggering force majeure clauses with suppliers, and here’s why you should too
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Bangladesh: Hundreds of garment factory workers protest over unpaid wages amid COVID-19 lock-down
- From The New York Times: Bangladesh Garment Workers Face Ruin
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: La red Campaña Ropa Limpia publica demandas para la protección de los derechos de las personas trabajadoras de confección durante la crisis de COVID-19
- From Raoul Wallenberg Institute: COVID-19: Labour Rights in Global Supply Chains – Impacts and Responsibilities
- From Just Style: Is the Covid Crisis A Catalyst for Sustainable Supply Chains?
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Laos: Hundreds of workers strike over unpaid wages at Chinese garment factory & allege company ignored Govt. orders to combat spread of COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Egypt: Thousands of garment workers allegedly forced to choose between losing jobs or working without protective equipment, says Amnesty International
- From Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility: The Collateral Damage of Covid-19 in the Bangladesh Apparel Sector
- From Oxfam: Bangladesh garments: Businesses Want Governments on Stand-by for Coronavirus Relief
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Nicaragua: Suspenden maquilas y despiden a personas trabajadoras por la crisis de Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: May Day 2020: Labour groups & unions call for decent work, living wages, union rights, social protections, & to build back better after COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Labour groups demand garment brands provide humanitarian relief to workers in crisis alongside their existing supply chain obligations
- Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility & KnowTheChain: Global investors urge apparel companies to meet supplier commitments during COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard workers’ livelihoods
- From Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI): ETI endorses Covid 19 call to action to global garment industry, and urges A&T members to sign up
- From ETI: Garment industry coalition calls for urgent action to protect workers
- From The Los Angeles Times: The sweatshops are still open. Now they make masks
- From DailyKos: Los Angeles garment workers switch to making masks, but job conditions, pay remain substandard
- From Clean Clothes Campaign: German brands’ practices force European garment factories to risk workers’ lives amidst a pandemic
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: Los Estados Unidos aumenta la presión para reactivar las maquiladoras a pesar de los riesgos de contagio para las personas trabajadoras
- From The New York Times: Union Garment Workers Fear an ‘Opportunity to Get Rid of Us’
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Cambodia: Employers association appeals to brands to honour payment terms in pandemic, as 180 garment factories suspend operations laying off 200,000 workers
- From Prensa Libre: Coronavirus: Así es el protocolo sanitario que aplican las maquilas de exportación en Guatemala
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: Maquiladora Lear Corporation acusada de no proteger el derecho a la salud de personas empleadas durante la pandemia; la empresa responde
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Honduras: Maquilas vuelven a abrir con protocolos estrictos de bioseguridad a pesar del riesgo del contagio de Covid-19
Gender
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: COVID-19 risks exacerbating social inequalities faced by women who shoulder burden of unpaid care work, finds NGO
- From Women in Migration Network: From Crisis to a New Social Compact: An inclusive, intersectional feminist approach is the only way out of the COVID crisis
- From UN Women: Addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women migrant workers
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: What would gender-friendly actions for homeworkers look like in a post-COVID-19 world?
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: ONG publica entrevistas con mujeres trabajadoras de la confección sobre condiciones laborales precarias durante la pandemia
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Global: Comentario de Naciones Unidas sobre la situación de los y las trabajadores-as frente al Covid-19
Hospitality
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Morocco: Unions negotiate wage guarantees to protect hospitality workers as tourism industry reels from COVID-19 crisis
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Chile: Encuesta revela que un 38% de las empresas del sector de comercio y turismo ha despedido trabajadores
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Argentina: Sector hotelero podría despedir hasta 15.000 trabajadores ante crisis por COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Nepal: Workers stranded in the Maldives await repatriation as tourism industry collapses
Human and Labor Rights Defenders
- From World Benchmarking Alliance: COVID-19 and Human Rights Study
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Outbreak: Human rights defenders & civic freedoms
- From the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner: Covid-19: UN Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and association condemns restrictions on civil society organizations
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Colombia: Siguen ataques contra defensores de la tierra por grupos armados irregulares, usando como “excusa” la pandemia del Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Colombia: Civil society call on govt. to guarantee rights & safety of human rights, land & environmental defenders during COVID-19
- From International Corporate Accountability Roundtable: Silencing Dissent — It’s easier in a COVID world
Human Trafficking/Forced Labor
- From Bloomberg Law: There is No Social Distance in Supply Chains Tainted by Forced Labor
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Perú: ONG denuncian a empresas que obligan a trabajar a obreros, mientras autoridades supervisan medidas de protección
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brasil: Entidades denunciam mineradoras que expõem trabalhadoras/es a riscos durante a pandemia do coronavírus
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Malaysia: Medical glove-makers linked to forced labour allegations see Europe and US orders rise amid COVID-19
- From Responsible Investor: COVID-19 demonstrates the need to address ESG risks in supply chains
- From Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.: Report on the H-2A program, Ripe for Reform: Abuses of Agricultural Workers in the H-2A Visa Program
- From International Labor Organization (ILO): COVID-19 and the world of work, Second Edition, Updated estimates and analysis
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: 35 empresas modifican operaciones y crean cadena de suministro para producir 15,000 ventiladores en respuesta al Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Africa: 14 workers rescued after being locked in factory & forced to produce face masks as demand rises
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Kenya: Police rescue 29 suspected human trafficking victims abandoned by recruitment agencies following COVID-19 travel restrictions
- From Prince’s Responsible Business Network: Toolkit: Helping Suppliers and Their Workers Through COVID-19
- From Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Five Ways COVID-19 is Changing Global Migration
- From Walk Free Foundation: Protecting People in a Pandemic
- From United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trafficking in Persons: Preliminary Findings and Messaging Based On Rapid Stocktaking
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brasil: La pandemia subraya la urgencia de combatir el trabajo esclavo
Forced Prison Labor
- From the Guardian: Vulnerable prisoners ‘exploited’ to make coronavirus masks and hand gel
- From The New York Times: Cuomo’s Fix for Sanitizer Shortage: 100,000 Gallons Made by Prisoners
Illegal Mining and/or Logging
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brazil: Indigenous leaders fear land invasion by loggers & illegal miners taking advantage of COVID-19 outbreak
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Venezuela: Los impactos del Covid-19 en el Arco Minero del Orinoco
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brazil: Researchers fear smoke caused by Amazon deforestation combined with symptoms of COVID-19 could pose increased risk to health
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Perú: Sindicatos denuncian que hay 238 trabajadores mineros con Covid-19; el gobierno autorizó que las mineras siguieran abiertas, pese al alto riesgo
- From The Guardian: Brazil using coronavirus to cover up assaults on Amazon, warn activists
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Colombia: Comentario sobre relaciones entre extracción de oro y los impactos del Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Colombia: Comunidades afro desplazadas por la minería de carbón desprotegidas ante el Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brasil: Durante a pandemia, desmatamento da Amazônia é o maior em 10 anos
Immigrant Workers in the US
- From The New York Times: Virus Leads Many to Cast Aside Household Help
- From Children in the Fields Campaign: Discussion about the health impact of COVID-19 on the farmworker community
- From HuffPost: Migrant Farmworkers Feed America — And They’re At High Risk For A Coronavirus Outbreak
- From Economic Policy Institute: Nine in 10 farmworkers could be covered by the paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act—but not if smaller employers are exempted
- From Economic Policy Institute: Coronavirus and farmworkers: Farm employment, safety issues, and the H-2A guestworker program
- From United Farm Workers: United Farm Workers is advocating for hazard pay and other protections for farmworkers
- From The Guardian: California’s farm workers pick America’s essential produce – unprotected from coronavirus
- From The New York Times: What Happens if America’s 2.5 Million Farmworkers Get Sick?
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Estados Unidos: Personas trabajadoras agrícolas mexicanas no cuentan con protecciones adecuadas frente al Covid-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Farm-workers among groups most at risk for COVID-19 infection
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: USA: Venceremos, a worker-based organisation in Arkansas, calls on poultry producers to provide paid leave & safer working conditions
- From Bloomberg: Global Harvests at Risk With Travel Limits Squeezing Labor
- From The Wall Street Journal: US Suspends Visa Processing in Mexico, Threatening Businesses Reliant on Seasonal Workers
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Estados Unidos: Trabajadores rurales desprotegidos frente al COVID-19 por inacción de empresarios de agroalimentos
- From Presnsa Libre: Estados Unidos reanuda visas H-2 de trabajo temporal para guatemaltecos
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Estados Unidos: Covid-19 expone las violaciones graves a los derechos laborales de las personas trabajadoras migrantes
- From Bloomberg News: Front-Line Food Workers Agonize: Risk Illness on Job or Go Broke
- From The Guardian: ‘We’re modern slaves’: How meat plant workers became the new frontline in COVID-19 war
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: USA: Workers allege Tyson, JBS & Smithfield failed to provide personal protection equipment against COVID-19 in meat processing & packing plants
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: USA: Imokalee farm workers to receive COVID-19 testing following online petition
- From Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy: More than 4,913 US workers in 115 meatpacking plants have tested positive for COVID-19
- From National Immigration Law Center: Workers’ Rights: Critical Labor Protections for Immigrant Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic (webinar)
- From National Immigration Law Center: Immigrant Workers in Low-Wage Frontline Jobs Need COVID-19 Workplace Protections Now
- From National Immigration Law Center: Understanding the Impact of Key Provisions of COVID-19 Relief Bills on Immigrant Communities
Migrant Workers
- From Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB): Pandemic Prejudice – COVID-19 and Discriminatory Attitudes Towards Migrant Workers (Pt 3)
- From Migration that Works: Migrant workers are at the front lines: they need protections
- From CNN: Hong Kong asked domestic workers to stay in to stop the spread of coronavirus. But some got infected at home by their employers
- From Al Jazeera: Coronavirus lockdown leaves migrant workers stranded in Thailand
- From International Organization for Migration IRIS: COVID-19: Guidance for employers and business to enhance migrant worker protection during the current health crisis
- From CNN: Chinese workers in the US are losing their visas with their jobs. But flying home to China is too expensive
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Asia: Millions of migrant workers left stranded amid COVID-19 lockdowns & travel restrictions without adequate protections
- Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB): Leadership Group Statement on COVID – 19 impact on Migrants
- Migrant Forum in Asia (umbrella of over 50 migrant worker organisations) statement: Uphold Migrants’ Rights in Times of Crisis Situations
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Migrant workers across Europe vulnerable as COVID-19 crisis highlights lack of social & labour rights protections
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Palestinian workers in Israeli chicken factory reported to have contracted COVID-19 after lacking adequate protective gear; includes co. comments
- From CSIS: Five Ways Covid-19 is Changing Global Migration
- From The Interpreter: COVID forced Singapore to Confront Conditions for its Migrant Workers
- From Bloomberg: Global Harvests at Risk With Travel Limits Squeezing Labor
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Nepal: Supreme Court orders Govt. to protect health needs of migrant workers living abroad & repatriate vulnerable workers
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Lebanon: ILO issues guidance to employers on impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers & recommends practical measures for their protection
- From The Guardian: Australia and Temporary Visa Holders
- From International Organization for Migration (IOM): Rapid Assessment: COVID-19 Related Vulnerabilities and Perceptions of Non-Thai Populations in Thailand
- From Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime: Smuggling in the Time of COVID-19
- From Migrant Forum in Asia: Decent Work for Migrant Workers at All Times: Implement Zero Fees and Employer Pays Model for Recruitment of Migrant Workers
- From Bangkok Post: Migrants see lives upended by downturn
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Nepal: Workers stranded in the Maldives await repatriation as tourism industry collapses amid COVID-19
- From The New York Times: As World Comes to Halt Amid Pandemic, So Do Migrants
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From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: VIDEO: Al Jazeera panel on COVID-19 and migrant workers
- From Human Rights Watch: Thailand Should Free Detained Migrants Amid Pandemic
- From Myanmar Now: ‘I guess we’re just supposed to starve’ – laid-off Myanmar migrants denied wages and trapped by Thailand lockdown
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Russia: Without employment or protections, Central Asian migrant workers face poverty & discrimination during COVID-19 lockdown
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Morocco: Tens of thousands of migrant workers feared to be in “humanitarian emergency” during COVID-19 restrictions
- From KNOMAD: Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep Them Flowing
Migrant Workers in the Gulf/Worker Compounds
- From The Guardian: COVID-19 lockdown turns Qatar’s largest migrant camp into ‘virtual prison’
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: New Report: World Cup & Expo 2020 Construction: COVID-19 & risks to migrant workers in Qatar & UAE
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: NGO coalition calls on Gulf states to protect migrant workers during COVID-19 response
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: UAE: 800 workers allegedly recruited or employed by Sea Bird Supermarket stranded in Dubai
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Migrant workers in Kuwait & Bahrain face disproportionate discrimination & hardship during COVID-19 outbreak, NGO reports
- From The Guardian: Migrant workers bear brunt of coronavirus pandemic in Gulf
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: UAE: Accor workers pushed further into recruitment debt as hotel work dries up, claims report
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Qatar: Campaign to inspect workers’ accommodation records 458 labour violations in just two days
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: South Asia: Migrant workers in the Gulf stranded with no resources, assistance to return home
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Kuwait: Migrant workers left without food, accommodation & financial support from employers during COVID-19 lock-downs
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Tunisia: Over half of all migrant workers lost their jobs during COVID-19 lockdown, reports IO
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Gulf states respond to civil society coalition for COVID-19 protective measures for migrant workers
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: UAE: Gas processing co. Gasco allegedly fails to provide healthcare as police urge employers to meet COVID-19 obligations
Occupational Safety and Health/Personal Protective Equipment
- From World Benchmarking Alliance: COVID-19 and Human Rights Study
- From International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) : COVID-19 should be classified as an occupational disease
- From ITUC: COVID-19 Survey: Global gaps in adequate provision of PPE and preparation of safe workplaces to protect workers from spread of Covid-19 in spotlight
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Seven years on from Rana Plaza factory collapse, garment workers’ lives are still at risk in COVID-19 pandemic
- From The New York Times: Trump Declares Meat Supply ‘Critical,’ Aiming to Reopen Plants
- From Bloomberg: Front-Line Food Workers Agonize: Risk Illness on Job or Go Broke
- From The Guardian: ‘We’re modern slaves’: How meat plant workers became the new frontline in Covid-19 war
- From Fox43: UFCW urging for immediate actions to protect meatpacking workers from COVID-19:
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: USA: Imokalee farm workers to receive COVID-19 testing following online petition
- From Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI): On World Day for Safety and Health, what role do workplaces play in establishing norms for OSH during Covid 19?
- From Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy: More than 4,913 US workers in 115 meatpacking plants have tested positive for COVID-19
- From The Los Angeles Times: The sweatshops are still open. Now they make masks
- From Politics of Poverty: COVID19: Safeguarding essential workers in our supermarkets
- From The New York Times: Job or Health? Restarting the Economy Threatens to Worsen Economic Inequality
- From The New York Times: Protecting Workers From Coronavirus: OSHA Leaves It to Employers
- From The Guardian: Coronavirus plan for returning to work puts employees at risk, says TUC
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: Estados Unidos aumenta la presión para reactivar las maquiladoras, a pesar de los riesgos de contagio de Covid-19 para las personas trabajadoras
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Brazil: Delivery service apps allegedly fail to guarantee protective equipment for deliverers during COVID-19
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: México: Maquiladora Lear Corporation acusada de no proteger el derecho a la salud de personas empleadas durante la pandemia; la empresa responde
- From Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Honduras: Maquilas vuelven a abrir con protocolos estrictos de bioseguridad a pesar del riesgo del contagio de Covid-19
- From The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC): COVID-19 should be classified as an occupational disease
- From The New York Times: Employers Rush to Adopt Virus Screening. The Tools May Not Help Much.
- From The Guardian: ‘Dancing with devil’: people forced back to work fear for health
Race
- From Economic Policy Institute: Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus—racism and economic inequality
Relaxation of Regulations
Seafood
- From Bangkok Post: Frozen seafood exports await thaw
- From Bangkok Post: Famous Talay Thai market faces economic uncertainty
- From Bangkok Post: Migrants see lives upended by downturn
- From PEW Trusts: International fisheries managers pandemic response highlights need to expand electronic monitoring
- From South China Morning Post: Indonesian fishermen who died on Chinese boats faced abuse, 21-hour days, interviews reveal
- From Human Rights at Sea: Release of Captain Michael Lloyd’s Letter to the IMO concerning COVID-19 and Infected Crews
- From Seafood Source: NOAA waives some observer requirements as COVID-19 concerns mount
- From Center for Strategic and International Studies: Covid-19 at Sea: Impacts on the Blue Economy, Ocean Health, and Ocean Security
- From IntraFish: Seafood companies should make coronavirus cases public immediately
- From Walton Family Foundation: Meeting Demand for Sustainable Seafood in a Time of Trial
- From Politico: Fish flourish under lockdown — but fishermen flounder
- From Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions: In the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 20 Sustainable Seafood Organizations Encourage Consumers to Buy Seafood and Support the Industry
- From The Skimmer: How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting marine ecosystems, Part 1: Fisheries and aquaculture
- From Khaosod: Fishing Boats Seek 50,000 Workers as Virus Spurs Migrants to Leave
- From Human Rights Watch: Thailand Should Free Detained Migrants Amid Pandemic
- From Myanmar Now: ‘I guess we’re just supposed to starve’ – laid-off Myanmar migrants denied wages and trapped by Thailand lockdown
- From Seafood Source: COVID-19 outbreak sickens 100 workers in Louisiana crawfish industry
- From New Orleans Public Radio: Unsurprised By Outbreaks At Crawfish Facilities, Experts And Advocates Warn ‘It Will Happen Again’
Sugarcane
- From Chiapas Paralelo: México y sus trabajadores agrícolas ante la pandemia de COVID 19
- From El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR): Protocolo de retorno laboral agrícola: propuesta de incidencia académica ante COVID-19
- From Gobierno de Mexico Comité Nacional para el Desarrollo Sustentable de la Caña de Azúcar: Evita contagios por COVID-19
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