Cornell University has launched n new study on alternative models for social protection for garment workers.

Undertaken by the New Conversations Project at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the project lays out the key elements for a global severance fund, namely the need for it to be legally binding and to feature detailed obligations on brands and employers regarding the provision of severance. The fund should not replace the need for government social protection schemes, but rather incentivise the strengthening of such schemes. The findings support the proposal for an enforceable agreement put forward by the Pay Your Workers-Respect Labour Rights (Pay Your Workers) campaign, which is backed by dozens of garment worker unions in major apparel producing countries, as well as labour rights organisations including Clean Clothes Campaign and Worker Rights Consortium.

Both the Cornell research and the Pay Your Workers campaign emphasise the current lack of adequate social protection systems in major apparel production countries, and the responsibility brands have towards workers in their supply chains. Cases of severance theft have grown exponentially during the pandemic, with Worker Rights Consortium estimating that over half a billion dollars in severance has been stolen from garment workers since the pandemic began. Brand inaction has left millions of workers struggling to survive. The Cornell research confirms the need for brands to pay into a binding global severance fund to ensure that workers whose factories close or who are laid off en masse receive their full legally mandated severance when their employer fails to pay.