Coronavirus Update: Factory Workers Sent Home Unpaid In Bangladesh; Banks Vow To Keep Staff Employed

The COVID-19 situation has led to millions of clothing manufacturing workers not receiving pay as fashion brands call off their orders, the Associated Press reported. Almost six in 10 factories that replied to a Center for Global Workers’ Rights and the Worker Rights Consortium survey said they have shut down most of their manufacturing already. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, for its part, noted that orders worth approximately $2.7 billion have been called off or put on hold as of Friday. Bangladesh is sending law enforcement and military to police a shutdown to slow the coronavirus proliferation.

In other news, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley are vowing to keep their workforces employed in the midst of COVID-19’s broad impact, Bloomberg reported. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said in a memo, according to the outlet, “While long term we can’t be sure how this will play out, we want to commit to you that there will not be a reduction in force at Morgan Stanley in 2020. Aside from a performance issue or a breach of the code of conduct, your jobs are secure.” Citigroup will also reportedly halt any planned reductions to positions.

And other prominent companies are pledging not to conduct major layoffs in the near term, Forbes reported. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said, according to the report, “Salesforce is pledging to its workforce Ohana (the Hawaiian word for family) not to conduct any significant layoffs over the next 90 days. We will continue to pay our hourly workers while our offices are closed.” Frederick W. Smith, the chairman and CEO of FedEx, said in a past televised interview that his firm is not forecasting layoffs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other news, President Donald Trump inked a presidential directive ordering GM to make ventilators and put federal contracts first, according to reports. GM, along with partner Ventec Life Systems, had other publicized intentions to begin making the ventilators “at cost” even though there wasn’t a federal contract. The order was made under the Defense Production Act and occurred during a conflict with GM regarding a contract to make the ventilators.

And Americans who are past due on child support could see their recovery checks impacted, according to a post from U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley. The legislator wrote, “The only administrative offset that will be enforced applies to those who have past due child support payments that the states have reported to the Treasury Department.” But he noted that the bill “turns off nearly all administrative offsets that ordinarily may reduce tax refunds for individuals who have past tax debts, or who are behind on other payments to federal or state governments, including student loan payments.”