Phnom Penh: NIKE, a world-class buyer and well-known company, needs to look at its suppliers, especially T-Win Garment Cambodia Co., Ltd.  that discriminates against unions and threatens workers in all forms.

Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, urged NIKE to look into all its suppliers, especially T-Win Garment Cambodia Co. Ltd. to stop discriminating against workers in the right to form local unions.

"Recently, there was a factory in Takeo province T-Win Garment Cambodia Co. Ltd. which we found to be under the auspices of the Top Summit factory, which produces for NIKE, has fired the local union leaders in the factory, including the use of law enforcement forces, threatening union leaders as well as our activists." He said.

At the same time, he also urged NIKE to take responsibility for the loss of legitimate benefits of workers who did not receive full benefits during Covid-19.

Pav Sina said that NIKE must consider that the company's profits, which increase billions of dollars every year, is the work force of the workers, so NIKE must obey social responsibility which means the company must share the hardships with the workers.

Unions in Cambodia, along with a network of other international unions around the world that are members of the IndustiALL, must work together to push NIKE to take responsibility, he said.

"Therefore, this is an act that violates not only the law in Cambodia, but also the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention. Therefore, the Unions in the six countries in the region demand  "Nike is responsible for the interests of the workers."

"We do not want NIKE to justify its ethics of respecting the rights of trade unions guaranteed by international conventions, as well as improving the lives of its workers," he said.  Fully implement its code of ethics, which ensures that the workers who produce for NIKE are entitled to standard working conditions, rights and freedoms and a decent standard of living.

He added that at this point, everyone wants NIKE to fully implement its code of ethics, not just to say or speak out, because NIKE is a world-class buyer and  "We want to see Nike as a role model and fully implement its ILO-guaranteed code of conduct."