On the eve of the Olympics, human rights advocates and major Nike investors urged the sportswear giant to pay $2.2 million owed to garment workers in Thailand and Cambodia.

Despite Nike’s significant spending on the Games and efforts to enhance its image, 70 investors managing over $4 trillion in assets are frustrated by the company’s failure to address worker rights violations, Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s largest alliance of labour unions, said in a statement on Thursday.

The human rights advocates and major Nike investors are bringing the issue to Nike’s September annual meeting through a resolution, urging the company to fulfill its legal obligations and meet industry standards.

The $2.2 million that investors and a coalition of more than 50 human rights groups urge Nike to pay, are owed to more than 4,000 workers in Nike’s supply chain in Cambodia and Thailand.

The Violet Apparel factory in Cambodia closed in July 2020, with all workers losing their jobs without being paid $1.4 million in legally owed wages and benefits, the statement said.

At the Hong Seng Knitting factory in Thailand an illegal wage theft scheme in 2020 deprived Burmese migrant workers of nearly $600,000 in legally mandated wages, which by now, with legally owed interests amounts to $800,000, it said.

Workers have been protesting since 2020, and sought the support from allies around the world when Nike ignored them.

Despite protests all over the world, from US universities to Dutch shopping streets, and by very diverse allies, from Australian consumers to Croatian garment workers, Nike refuses to listen, CCC mentioned.

Christie Miedema, Campaign and Outreach Coordinator at Clean Clothes Campaign, said that while Nike spent $1 billion on marketing in the first quarter of 2024, it is refusing to pay the $2.2 million owed to the workers who made its clothes.

Nike is spending enormous amounts of money to compete with new brands like Hoka and On Running, and to maintain its market presence among women by presenting itself as a woke and inclusive company. However, Christie Miedema pointed out that as long as customers and investors see Nike denying justice to the women of color in its supply chain, this spending is wasted.

‘The best way for Nike to show it is a brand suitable for women of all intersections to wear is to start showing it actually cares about the women in its supply chain,’ Christie said.

Meanwhile, women in the labor movement across the United States on July 17 joined forces with Asian garment workers, Global Labor Justice (GLJ), and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) in solidarity actions, demanding justice for Nike’s supply chain workers.

They are calling on Nike to address the human rights issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure fair wages to prevent future crises.

As Nike prepares to enhance its image at the Paris Olympics, labor activists in eight cities, including New York and Portland, are urging the company to negotiate with workers in Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to ensure fair wages.

Despite Nike’s substantial advertising budget promoting support for women and girls, activists highlight the disparity between its public claims and the exploitation of workers in its supply chain.