Holding corporations accountable. Protecting worker rights.
News from the WRC's Work around the Globe
New Investigation Shows Mattel’s Barbie Dream is Workers' Nightmare
Dispatches, a British documentary series that airs on Channel 4, reported that workers at Mattel's doll factory routinely burn their hands while molding hot plastic without protective gear. Mattel forces them to work hundreds of hours of overtime for wages amounting to three cents per Barbie. They use us “like animals”, said one worker.
Wrongly Imprisoned Worker Acquitted; ASICS, MUJI Fail to Press Supplier to Compensate Worker
In retaliation against workers for organizing a union, the factory had their leader jailed on baseless charges. Despite being acquitted of all charges, ASICS and MUJI fail to press their supplier to fully remedy the violation of human and labor rights.
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Hugo Boss—Heartless to Heart and Mind Workers, Workers Who Sewed for Brand at Thai Factory Denied Severance
Hugo Boss continues to refuse to ensure that workers who made its branded clothes receive their legally owed severance at Heart and Mind, a garment factory that was located in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand and permanently closed on December 3, 2017. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing brands, achieving record sales of EUR 4.2 billion…
Cambodian Worker Leader Imprisoned on Factory’s False Charges Acquitted—ASICS, MUJI Fail to Require Supplier to Compensate Worker It Wrongly Accused
Wing Star Shoes in Cambodia, which supplies the Japanese brands, ASICS and MUJI, had its worker, Chea Chan, who is a leader of a recently formed independent union at its factory, jailed for more than 180 days, prosecuted on obviously false and retaliatory criminal charges, and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment—all while ASICS and MUJI…
Four Years Later, Workers at Nike Supplier Are Still Owed over $900,000
Hong Seng Knitting continues to refuse to provide back pay to more than 99 percent of the affected workers and continues to refuse to pay meaningful compensation to the Burmese migrant worker who was forced to flee the country after management reported him to the police…
$1.5 Million Wage Theft from Guatemalan Workers Who Made Lucky Brand Owned by Authentic and Shein
As the WRC reported previously, Industrial Hana, a garment factory in Guatemala, permanently closed operations in October 2023, without paying its approximately 250 employees $1.5 million in unpaid severance and other terminal benefits owed to them in accordance with Guatemalan law. The WRC’s investigation found that, in the months leading up to the factory’s closure,…