PHNOM PENH - An Adidas sportswear supplier in Cambodia has agreed to reinstate and pay backpay to eight garment workers who were laid off in 2020 after they formed a union to seek better working conditions.

Trax Apparel has agreed to take back the workers and fully compensate them for the wages they lost after the US-based Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) took up their case with Adidas.

The manufacturer, which makes Manchester United football kits, is a supplier to Triform Custom Apparel, Adidas’s licensee for collegiate apparel, which the WRC says played a part in resolving the dispute.

"This case underscores the critical role of collegiate codes of conduct when local legal avenues and buyers’ own factory monitoring fall short in protecting workers’ rights," said a WRC statement.

"Significantly, the resolution of freedom of association cases often depends on the active engagement of buyers, highlighting the vital role that university codes of conduct play in upholding labour rights standards and protecting workers."

An Adidas spokesman told Ecotextile News that the company's own investigations, and those of local labour authorities, did not conclude that the dismissals had been unlawful.

"Nevertheless, to address the claims being made by the union, Adidas asked for an independent arbitrator to help mediate this case and ultimately a negotiated settlement was achieved, with the reinstatement of the affected workers, with backpay," he confirmed.

The case made global headlines a year ago when it was linked to a stunt by the Yes Men activist group, in conjunction with the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), which put out a fake press release claiming that Adidas had appointed former Cambodian garment worker and union leader ‘Vay Ya Nak Phoan’ as its joint CEO.

The release claimed, amongst other things, that ‘Vay Ya Nak Phoan’, which means 'textile' in Cambodian, had reinstated all eight fired union leaders at Trax Apparel with 100% back pay.

Ironically, that part of the hoax has now come true, following lengthy negotiations involving WRC, local unions, Adidas and factory owners.

The workers received a total of $47,076 — one of the largest payments per worker in back pay among the cases the WRC has investigated.

WRC said the workers’ reinstatement was significant for them personally but also for the entire workforce who were now less afraid to raise labour rights issues with management.