An international coalition, led by unions in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India, organized a global day of action for adidas’ anniversary on August 18. As part of the #PayYourWorkers campaign, the coalition is calling on adidas to negotiate directly with unions representing workers in their supply chain to ensure workers are paid and their rights are respected.

After thirteen months of worker protests and international campaigning, workers from the Brilliant Alliance Thai Global garment factory have finally been paid the US$8.3 million they are legally owed. Victoria's Secret, whose lingerie were produced at the factory, financed the payments through a loan arrangement with the workers’ former employer. This is the largest settlement ever paid in a case of wage theft at an individual factory in the global garment industry.

An estimated 30,000 workers from eight adidas suppliers in Cambodia are still waiting for back pay from March to May 2021, totaling an estimated US$11.7 million.

Nationwide in Cambodia, garment workers producing goods for adidas and other international brands were deprived of an estimated US$109 million in wages during the 2021 lockdown, according to calculations by Cambodian trade unions and the Clean Clothes Campaign. This figure is a projection based on a comprehensive assessment of 114 factories.

Approximately 200 former employees of the Industrias Florenzi garment factory in El Salvador were owed US$1.3 million in severance pay since the factory closed in July 2020. Industrias Florenzi was a supplier for Barco Uniforms, producing Grey’s Anatomy brand medical scrubs and other products.