Nike urged to backpay garment workers ahead of annual meeting
More than a dozen investors are calling on Nike to pay garment workers in Cambodia and Thailand that a labor rights group said lost wages after COVID-19 factory shutdowns…
The investors want Nike to provide $2.2 million in allegedly unpaid wages to more than 4,000 workers at two suppliers in Cambodia and Thailand. Reuters could not independently verify the allegations.
The investor request could add more pressure to sportswear giant Nike (NKE.N), which is set to hold its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday.
Nike denied the allegations in a statement to Reuters. The company said it has not sourced product from the Cambodian factory since 2006 and that it also found "no evidence" that it owed workers in Thailand back pay.
Neither factory could be immediately reached for comment.
The investors…alleging that Cambodian factory Violet Apparel dismissed 1,284 workers in June 2020…
Nike said it found "no evidence to support the claims" that Violet Apparel made Nike items after 2006.
Another Nike supplier, Hong Seng Knitting in Thailand, has refused to provide roughly $800,000 in furlough pay to more than 3,000 mostly Burmese migrant workers…
Nike said all employees at Hong Seng Knitting were “compensated in accordance with local law and Nike’s Code of Conduct," citing "an independent third-party investigation and legal review."