S. Asian workers still struggle
Efforts by some laborers to improve working conditions meet resistance, punishment
As the World Cup in Qatar kicked off last month, millions of fans pulled on jerseys costing $90 to $150 that were sold by Nike and Adidas. Players, wearing new, brightly colored uniforms, slipped into shiny cleats and shoes that can retail for over $200.
But what did the people who made these items get paid?
In the case of 7,800 workers at the Pou Chen Group factory in Yangon, Myanmar, a supplier of soccer shoes for Adidas, the answer is $2.27, per day.
The factory underscores the continuing struggle for many of South Asia’s 40 million garment workers, who have long grappled with poor working conditions and wages, and whose troubles have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with the biggest sporting event in the world underway, efforts by some laborers to improve working conditions have been met with harsh resistance and punishment.
After workers began a strike in October, demanding a daily wage of $3.78, factory managers called soldiers into the complex and later fired 26 workers. They included 16 members of the factory’s union, who were believed to have led the strike of more than 2,000 employees.
In interviews last month, several workers said they believed the factory was using the opportunity to punish workers engaged in organized labor, at a time when Myanmar’s ruling military junta is looking to dismantle democratic structures.
At the same time, rising inflation and a weakened currency are putting pressure on the livelihoods of people in Myanmar. Since last year’s coup, the kyat has fallen more than 50% against the dollar, and the cost of groceries, transportation and housing has skyrocketed. One worker, already in poor health, said she had gone three days without food until fellow workers bought her some.
In an emailed statement from Pou Chen’s headquarters in Taiwan, the company said that it followed local laws and regulations in handling employees’ salaries and personnel matters and that it respected workers’ right to bargain collectively.
“We are going through an arbitration process with the claimants as per Myanmar’s legal procedure,” the email said, referring to the fired workers.
Adidas also provided a statement. “Adidas has objected strongly to these dismissals, which are in breach of our workplace standards and our long-standing commitment to upholding workers’ freedom of association,” the company said. “We are investigating the lawfulness of the supplier’s actions, and we have called on Pou Chen to immediately reinstate the dismissed workers.”
Most Western fashion and sportswear brands contract with independent factories or suppliers, often in the Global South, to make their garments. This means they are not technically the employers of these workers, and therefore are not legally responsible for enforcing labor standards or human rights.
Some companies, such H&M, Adidas and Nike, have recently made parts of their supply chain more visible by publishing factory supplier information for their garments, and Adidas provides a separate list of its World Cup apparel suppliers. Nike, which produces soccer uniforms for 13 World Cup teams such as the United States, England and Brazil, does not publish a separate list of World Cup suppliers.