In this call for action, issued on 22 April 2020, employers' and workers' organizations, along with leading brands and retailers, committed to working with governments and financial institutions to mobilize sufficient funding and enable manufacturers to ensure business continuity, including payment of wages, and income support and job retention schemes to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Brands and retailers also committed to a range of measures to mitigate the harmful effects of COVID-19 on their supply chains - paying manufacturers for finished goods and goods in production, maintaining quick and effective open lines of communication with supply chain partners about the status of business operations and future planning, as well as direct support to factories.
This joint call was endorsed by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), IndustriALL Global Union, the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation and major brands and retailers (see the full list).
The ILO convened an International Working Group, coordinated by the IOE and the ITUC, which included brands and manufacturers, workers' and employers' organizations and governments, to set out in greater detail the steps necessary to deliver on these commitments.