Workers call on Adidas to make payments

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Textile workers participating in the international Pay Your Workers campaign and NGOs have launched a campaign against rights violations in the supply chain of Adidas in Türkiye.

The campaign demands the textile giant negotiate with trade unions to eliminate the violations, noting that most of its production is made in countries that have little or no social security for workers.

The campaigners listed several incidents where Adidas's subcontractors dismissed workers or pressured them to leave unions.

This year, the Arık Bey textile company, a "strategic supplier" of Adidas, fired nine workers to "deter other workers from becoming unionized," according to the TEKSİF textile workers' union. Adidas failed to ensure that the violations were eliminated in a timely manner, according to the campaign.

In 2015, some 240 workers were not paid compensation following the İlkcan Tekstil company going bankrupt.

In 2006, Paxar Corporation, a company supplying garment labels and logo printing services for Adidas, dismissed 11 union workers during a unionization campaign. The Court of Cassation found that the dismissals were unlawful.

As part of the Pay Your Workers campaign, protests are being held this week in various cities around the world, including Berlin, Los Angeles, Dhaka and Milano. (HA/VK)