KARACHI: Workers for international fashion and home goods supply chains in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi face physical and mental strain due to hot working conditions, Climate Rights International (CRI) said on Wednesday.
CRI is a US-based NGO that links climate change and human rights, documenting impacts on vulnerable communities, raising awareness and advocating for government and corporate accountability.
In its 98-page report titled “They Don’t See What Heat Does to Our Bodies: Climate Change, Labor Rights and the Cost of Fashion in Karachi,” CRI said factory and mills in Karachi making goods for US and European brands including H&M, Zara, Gap, Mango, Next, and IKEA were responsible for exploiting workers.
“The fashion industry’s role in driving both overconsumption and global emissions is well-documented,” CRI researcher and author of the report Cara Schulte said.
“And now some of the biggest household names in fashion and home goods are fueling and then ignoring new dimensions of occupational risk brought on by climate change,” she continued. “These companies are effectively turning a blind eye as workers across their supply chains continue to suffer and collapse in the heat.”
The report highlighted that temperatures in Karachi now routinely exceed 38-40°C (100-104°F), with some areas of the southern Sindh province reaching highs of over 52°C (126°F).
It said workers frequently experienced nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, muscle tremors and injuries due to the heat. Many reported that they had fainted themselves or witnessed colleagues collapsing on the job.
“You can imagine how much hotter it becomes inside, where machinery, bodies and fabric all trap heat,” the report quoted worker Mohammad Hunain as saying.
“When I get very hot, I start sweating uncontrollably. My head begins pounding. Sometimes my vision becomes blurry. I have felt dizzy many times ... when I felt like I might faint, but stopping work is not an option. If I sit down or slow down too much, the supervisors scold us, and the contractor can cut our wages.”
“There are no fans, no cooling units, no ventilation ... The workers are simply left to struggle,” he continued.
The report also highlighted numerous instances of forced and unpaid overtime, restricted recovery breaks and a lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Mir Zulfiqar Ali, a local labor rights activist and the Executive Director of the Workers Education and Research Organization in Pakistan said: “Many garment units are built like sealed boxes. The priority is to protect the product, not the people who stitch it.”
In Pakistan, many laborers, especially in manufacturing and industry sectors, work under hazardous conditions. Workers face physical and mental strain, low wages, and little protection from occupational hazards.
