Shoe and Leather workers during Covid-19 Recession

The three-page policy brief summarises the findings of a survey on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Indian workers in the footwear and leather industries and gives recommendations to policy makers in Germany and Europe, German companies and retailers, Indian companies and multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) and business initiatives.

The year 2020 has dramatically demonstrated the vulnerability of workers in the globalized shoe and leather supply chains. The current findings on the suffering of shoe and leather workers in India underline the urgent need for strong remedial action by shoe and leather brands and retailers in Germany and by German and European policy-makers. This remedial action needs to be made through dialogue with workers’ representatives and the relevant industry actors in India. Related business and multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) need to support those efforts, without undermining effective control mechanisms of government agencies. Policy-makers in the German Bundestag and the EU must draft and pass laws clearly emphasizing that human rights due diligence cannot be a voluntary effort, but must be mandatory.

The paper is published by the four organisations CIVIDEP, INKOTA-netzwerk, Society for Labour and Development (SLD) and SÜDWIND.

Further information:

Study: COVID-19 Leather Sector Tamil Nadu

Study: Impact of the Covid-19 Recession

Gefördert sowie durch Engagement Global im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) sowie durch Brot für die Welt aus Mitteln des Kirchlichen Entwicklungsdienstes. Für den Inhalt dieser Publikation sind allein die Herausgebenden verantwortlich; die hier dargestellten Positionen geben nicht den Standpunkt des Zuwendungsgebers wieder.