NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - More than a dozen investors are calling on Nike to pay garment workers in Cambodia and Thailand that a labor rights group said lost wages after COVID-19 factory shutdowns, according to a Sept. 7 letter to Nike's CEO John Donahoe seen by Reuters.
The investors want Nike to provide $2.2 million in allegedly unpaid wages to more than 4,000 workers at two suppliers in Cambodia and Thailand. Reuters could not independently verify the allegations. The investor request could add more pressure to sportswear giant Nike, which is set to hold its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. Nike already faces growing scrutiny of its supply chain, including investigations by Canadian and U.S. government agencies. The Nike investors want evidence that Nike is “future-proofing” its manufacturing ahead of a slew of European Union regulations aimed at the fashion industry, said Kees Gootjes, business and human rights advisor for ABN AMRO who signed the letter on behalf of the Dutch bank.
Nike denied the allegations in a statement to Reuters. The company said it has not sourced product from the Cambodian factory since 2006 and that it also found "no evidence" that it owed workers in Thailand back pay.
Neither factory could be immediately reached for comment.
The investors, including Dutch bank Triodos and pension fund PGGM, cite a June report by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) alleging that Cambodian factory Violet Apparel...
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