Fashion Brands Offered Turkish Suppliers ‘Bare Minimum’ Following Earthquakes
Just two out of 16 brands, namely C&A and Marks & Spencer, claimed to have acted responsibly in the aftermath of Turkey’s devastating earthquakes earlier this year, both with respect to order delays and aid to suppliers, according to new research from the Worker Rights Consortium, or WRC.
In fact, while nearly every brand assessed by the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group said that their sourcing teams did not bargain for lower prices on any post-disaster orders—save for Boohoo Group, which said that its test-and-repeat model means that it always negotiates when it rebuys based on increased volumes—half of them admitted to diverting from their original payment schedules, suggesting that suppliers that were forced to deliver late were also paid late, “exacerbating their financial situation” even as they dealt with the widespread damage and mounting death toll.
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And when asked whether they had, in the case of delivery delays, adopted a policy to pay suppliers on the originally agreed upon date had on-time delivery been achievable, only seven—Benetton, Bestseller, C&A, Marks & Spencer, Next, Calvin Klein owner PVH Corp. and Primark—said yes.
At the same time, just six out of the 16—C&A, Inditex, Kiabi, Marks & Spencer, Tchibo and The North Face parent VF Corp.—said that they offered any form of direct assistance, such as accelerated payments, improved payment terms on new orders or low-interest loans or grants. Only four—Bestseller, C&A, Kiabi and Marks & Spencer—said that they provided financial assistance to the families of Tier 1 and Tier 2 workers who had been killed in the earthquake. (Boohoo said that the question was moot because its suppliers did not report any fatalities, while Primark said it hadn’t received an explicit request for such support.)
The worst performers—i.e. brands that neither maintained their original payment dates for delayed orders nor offered any extra assistance to suppliers—included Boohoo, H&M Group and S.Oliver, the WRC said.
The organization came to its conclusions based on responses to a recent questionnaire to brands from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, additional information provided by brands to the WRC, and the results of a survey of more than 200 impacted Turkish garment and textile producers by researchers from Middle Eastern Technical University.
The twin earthquakes, which shook southern and central Turkey, along with northern and western Syria on Feb. 6, were the region’s worst in nearly a century, killing more than 50,000 people and injuring another 100,000. A total of 9.1 million were affected, including 3 million who were displaced. Some 350,000 people, comprising one-third of the entire sector’s workforce, worked in the roughly 1,600 companies and 1,300 textile mills across the 11 worst-hit provinces, which in turn made up 15 percent of Turkey’s garment and textile industry. Support to Life, a humanitarian organization that published an update on conditions last week, estimates that 90 percent of the people who lost their homes still reside in temporary settlement areas.
Both the Ethical Trading Initiative and the Fair Labor Organization, multistakeholder organizations to which many of the brands belonged, urged their member brands at the time of the earthquakes to play a role in their suppliers’ recovery, including extending delivery deadlines, advancing payment for goods received, lending financial assistance, helping ensure structural safety and refraining from seeking discounts on future orders.
The group of brands that the WRC looked at consisted of Benetton, Bestseller, Boohoo, C&A, Esprit, H&M, Zara owner Inditex, Kiabi, Marks & Spencer, Next, Primark, PVH Corp., S.Oliver, Tchibo, Varner and VF Corp. Among them, Benetton, Bestseller, Boohoo, H&M, Inditex, PVH Corp., S.Oliver, Varner and VF Corp. were identified by the polled suppliers as buyers.
The university survey generated a more dismal picture of Turkey’s sourcing landscape following the earthquakes, with less than 2 percent of suppliers agreeing that their customers “supported workers and producers after the quake,” although it’s unclear if the discrepancy is due to a mismatch with the 16 brands’ self-reporting or because it involves a larger pool of buyers.
The impact of the disaster—and, according to the WRC, insufficient brand support—on production, however, was undeniable. Nearly half (46 percent) of the respondents said they lost at least four weeks of working days, less than half (48 percent) said that they were able to pay workers their full salary, and almost one-third (33 percent) said that they were forced to place workers on unpaid leave during temporary closures.
Though all 16 brands tolerated delivery delays without imposing penalties, according to the WRC’s findings, this wasn’t a universal move. Some 35 percent of respondents said that their buyers did not extend production deadlines after the temblors.
A full 69 percent reported that they did not hear from their buyers after the disaster, while nearly half (48 percent) said that they had their order volumes reduced in its wake. A mere five of the 202 respondents said that brands offered them and their workers any support.
“The brands working with producers of this region have failed to demonstrate their declared responsibility and solidarity in the aftermath of a major earthquake,” said Derya Göçer, an assistant professor in the Department of Area Studies, and Şerif Onur Bahçecik, an associate professor in the Department of International Relations, at the Ankara-based institution.
S.Oliver said that it stayed in constant contact with its affected suppliers following the earthquakes, “acting to the best of our knowledge and providing them with the support they had asked for and that was needed the most during this difficult time.” It said that it donated relief supplies, such as food, warm clothing and hygiene kits, while acting upon the suggested steps of its partners at the Fair Wear Foundation.
“We are taking this very seriously and recognize that there is always more that could be done,” a representative for the German purveyor said. “Therefore, we remain committed to the trustful partnership we have with our suppliers in Turkey and will continue to support them in the future.”
VF Corp. said that it worked closely with its affected suppliers to provide support for them and their communities, including making a donation of more than $100,000 through its foundation.
“In summary, we did not penalize suppliers for delivery delays and offered low-interest loans to give suppliers access to funds quickly,” a spokesperson said. “For all impacted factories, we conducted extensive safety checks.”
Bestseller said that the brand has a history of providing favorable and reduced payment terms to suppliers facing crisis situations, but that none of the suppliers it was in close contact with had requested such assistance.
“Our efforts, therefore, focused on ensuring that factories were structurally secure before work was restarted and on assisting communities affected by the earthquake,” a representative said. The company donated “urgently needed” winter outerwear, including more than 10,000 jackets for children, women and men, to AFAD, the Turkish disaster and rescue authority, and provided 200-plus container houses to the affected regions, the representative added.
H&M, too, said that it maintained close dialogue with its suppliers in the affected area to “understand their need for support.”
“Despite the severe situation in the area the majority of our suppliers’ factories were not heavily affected,” a spokesperson said. “Given the difficult situation, we were flexible with deliveries and accepted delays from the very first moment, meaning we have not charged any penalties or re-negotiated prices on placed orders.”
As part of its regular payment terms, suppliers can opt to receive payment approximately three days after sending an invoice, the representative said, adding that this was also applied to affected factories that received payments roughly four days after sending an invoice, though “it is not possible to make a payment without an invoice and the invoice is sent when goods are shipped.”
Similarly, Tchibo said that it contacted all suppliers with active factories in the region after the earthquake.
“We have maintained in regular contact, accepted product shipment delays and provided situation-specific support to the workforce,” a representative said. “For this, we build upon our dialogue-based WE Program that has been running in Turkey for years. WE activities were adopted to the needs that arose after the earthquake, for example offering online sessions on dealing with trauma. One partner asked us to support emergency housing for workers which we provided.”
Primark said that it took the “decision as a business” to accommodate order delays resulting from the earthquake where needed, but that no orders experienced any disruptions. It said that its payment terms remain at 30 days and it will continue to liaise with its suppliers in Turkey on payment and cashflow issues, should they arise. Meanwhile, the retailer has “taken steps’ to assess the structural integrity of its supplier factories within the earthquake region and has plans to roll out its structural integrity program to all facilities in Turkey in the coming months.
“The relationships we have with our suppliers are crucial to our business and to our commitment to ethical trade, and we work hard to nurture these,” a spokesperson said, adding that Primark donated 200,000 pounds ($254,000) through UNICEF. “Following the devastating earthquake in Turkey, we offered our suppliers with a presence in the country our full support, alongside our commitment for this to continue in the months ahead, including taking the decision to accommodate order delays resulting from the earthquake where needed. This remains unchanged, and we remain in close contact with our suppliers to monitor the situation, alongside the ongoing work of our ethical trade team on the ground in Turkey.”
While PVH Corp.’s suppliers didn’t make any requests for aid, the company said that it was and remains flexible on any delivery delays resulting from the earthquake. It also said that it paid the affected suppliers on the same payment schedule as it would have for on-time deliveries. Meanwhile, the PVH Foundation sent a monetary donation to the Red Cross and it worked closely Humanitarian Resources International Foundation to make in-kind product donations, the Tommy Hilfiger parent added.
“PVH is also aware that our suppliers supported the impacted families directly as needed.” a spokesperson said. “Some suppliers opened their undamaged factories to be used as temporary shelters until the workers and their families were able to find a place to stay. Many of our vendors also contributed financially and with in-kind donations to the relief efforts.”
C&A declined to make any further statements, while the other brands named in the white paper did not respond to requests for comment.
The Istanbul Apparel Exporters Association, better known as IHKIB, previously praised the “valuable” support of Turkey’s international partners, several of which have contributed to relief efforts. H&M Group, for instance, donated $100,000 to AFAD, and the H&M Foundation, the philanthropic vehicle operated by the retailer’s founding family, shelled out $500,000 to the Red Cross/Red Crescent and Save the Children. Inditex, meanwhile, doled out 3 million euros ($3.3 million) to the Red Crescent.
But the WRC said brands, particularly those that command “substantial financial resources,” need to do more, including undoing any harm, say, from not sticking to the original payment dates on delayed orders. All buyers, even those that have reported providing some financial aid to workers, should also rethink the level of support they are providing, rising to their suppliers’ levels of need through the disbursements of low- or no-interest loans, higher prices or direct cash aid. Certainly, those that have reduced order volumes need to restore them to pre-disaster levels while offering improved payment terms. They should ensure that suppliers have met—and continue to meet—their legal obligations to workers regarding employment, wages and severance.
Scott Nova, the WRC’s executive director, compared the industry’s Turkey response to that of the Covid-19 pandemic, when retroactive cancelations left suppliers on the hook for billions of dollars in orders—not as bad, but not great, either. Ultimately, very few brands went beyond the “bare minimum.” And as usual, he said, it is workers who are “suffering the consequences.”
“While many leading apparel brands extended delivery deadlines, they could have and should have done much more,” Nova said. “With a few notable exceptions, the world’s apparel brands looked at the calamity in their Turkish supply chains and basically decided to abandon workers to their fate.”
