A collective of 33 unions and labor rights groups from Cambodia have demanded the world’s biggest brands -- including Adidas, H&M, Levis, Nike, Puma, Target, Gap, C&A and VF Corp -- help recover wages worth millions of dollars, lost amid the pandemic. A study of 114 factories by the Clean Clothes Campaign shows, Cambodia lost $117 million in wages during the lockdown in April and May. More than 700,000 garment workers were owed $393 million in outstanding wages and severance since the start of the pandemic.

One reason for such a large amount of unpaid wages includes failure of factories to pay severance as stipulated in the country's labor law. The Labor Ministry last year advised factories closing because of economic hardship that they do not have to pay damages or make prior notice payments. Global brands, many of whom have seen their earnings sharply improve this year, say they have attempted to limit the impact of pandemic on garment workers. Adidas has committed to fair wages and has helped key suppliers secure bank finance to weather the pandemic.

Puma has sought to avoid order cancellations as much as possible. The brand cancelled only 0.2 per cent of its orders in Cambodia. The number of factories it works with did not decrease during the pandemic.