Many Asian workers working for suppliers to global fashion brands retailers including Hennes & Mauritz, Topshop and Gap, have allegedly received only partial or no wages at all in the three months ending May, according to a report by labor union alliance Clean Clothes Campaign. The average worker in the 50 million strong Asian supply chain for garments has lost about a fifth of pay, representing roughly $5.8 billion in unpaid or lost wages, says the data gathered by the group.

When pandemic lockdowns hit Europe and the US, many of the world’s largest retailers demanded heavy retroactive discounts or refused to pay for orders, as they struggled to sell clothes and revenues slumped. Reports of workers’ pay being withheld began in February, after the pandemic broke out in China and severely hampered the flow of textiles, zippers, buttons and other accessories used in the Asian garment industry. As per Christie Miedema, Clean Clothes Campaign, things worsened after this as Bangladesh manufacturers lost out on more than $3 billion in payments for clothes already produced or sourced, according to the BGMEA.

In March, nearly 1million Bangladeshi garment makers were sent home without any pay at all, with suppliers reporting that the vast majority of buyers refused to contribute to severance pay. In some parts of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the average garment worker made roughly half of normal pay in the three months ending May.

Excluding China, where workers have access to more support from the government, garment workers in Asia have seen their pay drop by more than a third, representing roughly $3.2 billion in unpaid or lost wages, the report found.