As 2025 winds to a close, we have some late-breaking good news to share that wouldn’t have been possible without supporters like you.
At last, after more than five years of campaigning, workers who had sewn for sportswear giant Nike finally received a measure of justice. In April 2020, amid the shutdowns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, 3,300 workers at the Hong Seng Knitting factory in Thailand were deceived and coerced into signing away their legally-owed wages. When one worker, Kyaw San Oo, rallied workers to resist, the factory retaliated, filing a criminal complaint against him for exercising his legal right to speak out. The retaliation escalated until Kyaw San Oo and his wife and young child were forced to flee–as Burmese migrant laborers they were especially vulnerable to unjust arrest and indefinite imprisonment.
Nike denied accountability for years. Yet finally, under global pressure from activists, Nike has reversed course and agreed to pay workers. Kyaw San Oo and his family ultimately received one of the largest amounts ever paid to a worker leader who was a victim of retaliation during a labor rights fight in the global apparel and textile industry.
In this moment when human rights and democracy are under attack around the globe, this win sets a powerful example: Corporations will be held accountable for abuses – a worker who cannot speak up for his rights in the workplace is denied a fundamental right at the heart of a democratic society.
Partners for Dignity and Rights was part of a global coalition that made this win possible thanks to the support of our supporters who understand that big wins take slow and patient progress.
Over the course of the years of campaigning, our team:
- Provided accessible analysis and action-focused research. Our report Checking Boxes, Cheating Workers exposed the role of the corporate-friendly consultants and monitors whose “investigations” helped Nike delay action. The publication of this report catalysed student action against the Fair Labor Association, one of those monitors, which ultimately turned the tide and brought Nike to pay workers 23x the corporate monitor’s recommendation.
- Supported student activists develop their strategy and tactics. By targeting university’s contracts to manufacture branded Nike apparel, students were able to leverage their unique power and pose a serious threat to Nike’s bottom line.
- Built towards transformative solutions. Former workers at Nike’s supplier Hong Seng received a significant amount of money in the settlement of this case. But this win builds towards something even bigger: the Pay Your Workers, Respect Labour Rights agreement, which is a binding, enforceable agreement that would hold brands accountable and ensure no worker needs a massive global campaign to secure their legally-owed pay in the future.
This victory builds on our recent win where workers were paid $500,000 by Lucky Brand for the abuses of their supplier – and shows that when we join together, we can defend fundamental rights to allow all of us to thrive.