Everlane: A Story About Unionization During a Pandemic

In a fashion revolution where ethics and sustainability have become a trend, consumers must be wary of which brands falsely claim these terms. But that wasn’t the case for Everlane—the clothing brand that proudly promises on their website “Radical Transparency” by working only with ethical factories. How did it manage, then, to get into a scandal of unethical labor practices?

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many clothing brands have had to make hard decisions, many of which involve the laying off of workers. But with Everlane this involved firing, on March 27th, a sector of part-time customer service employees that had just recently unionized. This has confounded the reason for these employees’ firings, with many media outlets attacking the brand for its false commitment to ethical fashion. I have witnessed the scandal’s impact on the brand’s image by reading the comments on an Everlane sponsored video that attacked the Youtube creator for collaborating with a brand that has used the pandemic to union-bust.

Claims that Everlane had engaged in mitigation of unionization efforts before the pandemic are true. As Fashionista reports, the brand sent an email in December in response to the forming of the Everlane Union. The email denoted unions as negative entities that reduce transparency. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that these CX employees attribute their layoffs to their March petition for recognition of the union, and not to the pandemic. Everlane has publicly denied this.

Business in times when demand for clothing is low is undoubtedly hard, and Everlane has felt immense losses because of this pandemic. But it is incredibly worrisome that the pandemic could also be taken advantage of by firing people to ultimately prevent unionization. The details from both sides remain murky. I just hope that a company that fights for fair working conditions does not contradict itself where the rest of its employees are concerned.

Photo credits: Everlane Union GoFundMe and Everlane

Report: Jonara Jiménez

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