The sudden closure of a garment factory linked to UK and Canadian brands has left 208 workers in Cambodia without jobs, salaries or compensation. A year later these workers, largely women, are still fighting for justice and are in a desperate situation. Since they worked for UK brands Marks & Spencer and Bonmarche and Canadian brand Nygard, the workers are demanding these companies take responsibility and make due payments as their supplier failed compensate them.

One year ago, on July 1, 2016, 208 workers of Chung Fai Knitwear Factory suddenly found themselves unemployed, without notice, without severance pay and without receiving their salaries for the previous month. Well over half of these workers, 126, had been employed at the factory for 10+ years. The workers claim $$550,000 is needed to cover their final month’s salaries and lawful severance pay.

After their sudden dismissal, the workers –majority of them women – were left to fend for themselves and in retaliation they prevented the owners from selling the remaining assets of the factory and further took legal measures which resulted in a local court issuing an injunction order which temporarily froze the factory’s assets. The workers continued to urge the brands sourcing from their factory to intervene.

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) clearly stipulates the responsibility of companies to ‘avoid causing or contributing to’ as well as ‘seek to prevent, or mitigate adverse human rights impacts’ linked to their business relations. That covers all workers in their supply chain