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BHRRC has canvassed the views of selected trade unions in Cambodia, including the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C-CAWDU). C. CAWDAU is registered as a trade union in the Meng Da factory, which makes adidas footwear product. C.CAWDAU claim that there are too many competing trade unions in Meng Da that are under the influence of the factory, and that workers are left “confused as to where they should go to resolve issues”.

Since 2010, a total of 17 trade unions have established themselves at Meng Da. These unions are registered with the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MOLVT) and have continued to renew their mandates to represent their members in the factory. Based on the registration certification at MOLVT, we understand that C. CAWDAU was first established at Meng Da in December 2015 and currently represents some 3% of the workforce.

Collectively, the 17 active unions represent approximate 2214 members, or 50% percent of the total workforce in the factory. The 4 largest unions represent some 1539 workers. Based on our own direct monitoring we can confirm that all trade unions leaders who had sought election as shop stewards (or assistant shop stewards) were freely elected by the workers at Meng Da. We have received no reports of manipulation or interference with that process, which is overseen by the trade unions, the factory management and the MOLVT.

The elected shop stewards meet weekly and individually with Meng Da’s management team, which provides them with an opportunity to raise any issues of concern. They are also free, should they so wish, to raise grievances directly with the factory’s Human Resource (HR) Department. And indeed, we understand that C. CAWDAU has actively used this channel to raise issues on behalf of its members. HR has also established a social media app for the factory’s unions, to enable them to post issues to HR that need immediate attention. This is actively used by all the trade unions.

Given the number of active trade unions in the factory, adidas has asked Meng Da to seek consensus and endorsement from each union - irrespective of their size - whenever there are any major changes in the workplace, i.e. with respect to workforce planning, overtime arrangements, etc. This is a practice that has been in place for many years and Meng Da has fully documented all such union endorsements.

adidas has a social compliance team based in Cambodia, which regularly visits our suppliers’ factories and if any Meng Da registered union perceives that the factory is interfering with their trade union activities, the union can raise complaints directly with adidas. To date, we have received no such complaints from C. CAWDAU.

With respect to worker complaints, there are various channels available at Meng Da and these have been communicated to the trade unions, to their members and to all workers. Those channels include raising a complaint directly with the HR department, or anonymously through the digital grievance app, or the more traditional suggestion boxes. If workers require support or representation, they can request the unions or shop stewards to act on their behalf, and they frequently do...

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