When workers organized unions in factories that produce adidas apparel in Indonesia and Nicaragua, management shut down the factories. In India and Honduras, women workers complain of sexual harassment on the shop floor. In Mexico and Turkey management called the police on union workers practicing their right to strike. At a supplier in El Salvador, workers reported being locked in the factory and forced to work up to 25 hour shifts. When management fired union supporters in Myanmar, one of the leaders was blacklisted from 8 other nearby factories, unable to find work. And these are just some of the cases reported. 

The pandemic is just the most recent display of systemic problems in adidas’ supply chain. Where we find adidas production, we find wage theft and labor rights violations.

The pattern is clear. When workers speak up to improve their conditions, they are met with intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation. When workers organize, adidas prioritizes its bottom line and puts profit over people, every time. Adidas has stolen from workers, is stealing from workers, and will continue to steal unless they are brought to the table to negotiate an agreement with garment workers.