Following the release of investigative reports and significant engagement by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), local unions and labour rights organizations, former workers at two different factories in Guatemala have achieved at least partial remedy for serious labour rights violations.

The KOA Modas factory closed in February 2025, owing the 750 laid off workers an estimated US$5.5 million in severance and back pay, as well as an additional US$6 million in social security contributions covering health care and retirement benefits.

In what the WRC described as the largest single factory back pay settlement for garment workers ever recorded in Central America, the former workers have received 95% of the legally owed back pay and severance through a contribution from Target’s vendor, Korean-owned manufacturer SAE-A Trading.

However, the former KOA Modas workers are still owed US$6 million in stolen social security contributions and pressure is now focused on Target, the factory’s main buyer that had been sourcing from the factory since 2015. Partners for Dignity and Rights is publicly calling on Target to take responsibility for what workers are owed.

In a separate case, also in Guatemala, the WRC informed its member universities that it had successfully engaged with Fanatics and its Nike-branded collegiate apparel supplier, Hoosier Manufacturing, to win back pay for 367 laid off workers. The agreement also includes an offer of employment in comparable positions to 66 of those workers who had challenged their dismissal in the courts.

This case represents another significant victory for workers and labour rights advocates in a country where remediation is often difficult to achieve.