After significant pressure, adidas supplier Trax Apparel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, has provided full back pay and rehire opportunities to all eight union leaders and activists fired nearly three years ago.

In June 2020, Trax Apparel suspended, then terminated, 368 workers, including the leaders of a newly formed independent union, citing a need to downsize. By December 2020, management had offered to rehire most of the workers affected by the downsizing, but refused to rehire any of the union leaders and activists.

These eight workers had formed a union to seek better working conditions. Firing them is the most effective way of silencing them and any other worker wanting to stand up for their rights. After campaigning by the Pay Your Workers campaign, including activism by students at US universities sponsored by Adidas, the union has confirmed that the case has been fully resolved.

The return of union leaders and Trax's commitment to stop discrimination will pave the way for ongoing union organizing at the factory, providing hope for thousands of Cambodian workers seeking better working conditions.