As early as the 1990s, athletic apparel brand Nike was known for its abuse of workers in foreign countries. Its high-priced goods were produced by overworked laborers being paid pennies to work in unpleasant and even dangerous conditions for far too many hours each week.

After the scandal that exposed these facts, Nike publicly vowed to change all that. But now, new information published by ProPublica and reported by the Oregonian reveals that the same old problems persist.

What's happening?

ProPublica secured a detailed spreadsheet of worker compensation for all the employees at Y&W Garment, a factory in Cambodia that supplied Nike from 2021 to 2023.

Despite the company's claims that its contract workers worldwide make 1.9 times the minimum wage (with exceptions totaling one-third of its workforce), the workers at Y&W were found to have been making barely above the minimum wage, even when including bonuses and incentives.

Only 41 people — 1% of the workers — earned 1.9 times the minimum wage, and they were in high-paid positions such as supervisor, accountant, or HR manager.

Worse, the minimum wage in question is astonishingly low by American standards: a mere $208 per month. More than three-quarters of the workers made within 15% of that amount.

That isn't even close to a living wage for Cambodia. The Oregonian reported that the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, which represents Asian labor unions, estimates a living wage for Cambodia at $659 per month; Dutch nonprofit WageIndicator Foundation estimates between $276 and $360. The Anker Research Institute, which, notably, is directly sponsored by Nike, estimates a living wage of $232.

That means workers at Y&W could not make ends meet with their normal pay, and they had to work far more than the 48-hour full-time work week recognized in Cambodia, sometimes even working overnight. They also dealt with ridicule from supervisors and threats of firing to keep them working overtime.

All of this goes against Nike's published standards for its factories, but the situation did not improve when Nike came to Y&W. "After Nike came, nothing has changed," one worker said, per the Oregonian.

Why is the low pay at Y&W concerning?

When Nike publicizes its supposed reforms at its factories, it's at least partly misleading. Many of its workers are still mistreated and underpaid.

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American buyers who care about human rights issues would likely not have chosen to buy Nike products all these years if they'd been fully informed. By taking away the opportunity to make an informed decision, it would be fair to say Nike has been tricking customers out of their money.

This is also part of a larger trend in which fashion brands push for more goods to be made more cheaply, only to be discarded as huge piles of textile waste that pollute our planet, and this is all done while greenwashing to get more business.

What's being done about Nike's labor abuses?

The best way to fix these issues is to hold brands accountable for paying low wages, but that's difficult when they don't disclose such information.

Jason Judd, executive director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University, recommended that America and the EU adopt laws to force brands to disclose the wages they're paying their workers.

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