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 failed to require its supplier to cease this gross abuse of human and labor rights.
Mr. Chan was held in prison until August 19, 2024, the same day that the appeal of his conviction was heard in court—at which point, the prosecutor admitted that there was no evidence that the worker leader had committed any crime. Three days later, on August 22, 2024, the court officially overturned its prior verdict and acquitted him.
Despite being acquitted over a month ago, Wing Star Shoes has only now allowed Mr. Chan to return to the factory, and still has not given him back his job as a mechanic. Moreover, despite having caused him to spend six months in prison on baseless charges, the factory is refusing to pay any compensation for the harm and suffering it caused Mr. Chan and his family through its false accusation.
To date, ASICS and MUJI have failed to require their supplier, Wing Star Shoes, to remedy this gross violation of human and labor rights.
Workers Making ASICS and MUJI Shoes Formed Union at Factory to Stop Abusive Practices
On January 10, 2024, workers at the Wing Star Shoes factory, which is in Kampong Speu province and employs a workforce of over 20,000, established an independent union affiliated with the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) to address poor working conditions and treatment, including, among other abusive practices, restrictions on workers’ basic access to use the factory toilets. Workers elected the employee Mr. Chan as the new union’s president.
ASICS and MUJI Supplier Responded to Workers Forming Union by Having Worker Leader Thrown in Prison
Wing Star Shoes’ management responded to its workers forming the new union with a brutal campaign of retaliation, including, most egregiously, causing police to arrest and jail the worker union leader, Mr. Chan, on entirely fabricated charges.
Shortly after workers elected Mr. Chan as president of the newly formed union, the factory management began pressuring him to stop his associational activities. When this failed, a former factory manager, apparently acting at the company’s behest, attempted to bribe the CATU labor federation to withdraw its support for the workers’ organizing efforts.
When Mr. Chan, along with his coworkers, persisted in exercising their basic labor rights, Wing Star Shoes’ management filed a false criminal complaint of “conspiracy to steal” against him, causing him to be arrested and jailed. On February 14, 2024, police, who had been called to the factory by the management, violently assaulted and seized Mr. Chan, without an arrest warrant and took him to jail—where he stayed for six months.
Mr. Chan’s arrest is not the first time that police in Kampong Speu province have jailed garment worker leaders on baseless criminal complaints from factory owners. In 2020, police in the province detained, for more than 40 days, a garment worker leader at the Superl factory, a handbag supplier to Kate Spade and Michael Kors, in response to a criminal complaint brought against her for posting on Facebook that Superl had unlawfully fired pregnant workers.
Brands Abandoned Worker Leader to Imprisonment on Fabricated Charges, Fail to Press Supplier for Remedy When the Worker Is Acquitted, Allows Supplier to Continue to Deny 1,000s of Workers Making Their Shoes Their Basic Rights
On June 20, 2024, the Cambodian court found Mr. Chan guilty as charged and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment, with six months as a suspended sentence. As a result, the worker spent 180 days behind bars, simply for the ‘crime’ of incurring the wrath of his employer by forming a union.
Mr. Chan was held in prison until August 19, 2024, the same day that the appeal of his conviction was heard in court. During the appeal, the prosecutor admitted that there was no evidence that Mr. Chan had committed a crime. Three days later, on August 22, 2024, the court officially overturned its prior verdict and acquitted him.
The WRC has informed ASICS and MUJI of Mr. Chan’s acquittal on the false charges brought by their supplier and urged them to require their supplier to immediately reinstate Mr. Chan to his original position and compensate him for the harm and suffering his loss of freedom and income caused him and his family.
Mr. Chan is now back at the factory but currently is employed in its warehouse and has not been returned to his job as a mechanic. Wing Star Shoes continues to refuse to compensate Mr. Chan for the harm the company caused him due to his imprisonment on false charges. The factory also refuses to issue a statement to workers pledging to respect employees’ right to freedom of association and refrain from retaliation against employees for exercising this right.
ASICS and MUJI, despite claims to be committed to ensuring respect for human rights in their supply chains, allowed Chea Chan, a worker at a factory making their products, to be persecuted and falsely imprisoned at the behest of their supplier and the repressive Cambodian state and continue to ignore his plight by failing to press this supplier to fully remedy the violation.
ASICS and MUJI must act now to require Wing Star Shoes, as a condition of further business, to reinstate Mr. Chan to his original position without loss of seniority and to compensate him for loss of income and other harm from the false imprisonment he endured.