Nike Says Its Factory Workers Earn Nearly Double the Minimum Wage. At This Cambodian Factory, 1% Made That Much.

“Factory workers ’on average’ earn 1.9x minimum wage.”

Average is a silly thing to use here. That means the factory owners are making bank while the labourers are making minimum wages *for their country* — and in some countries, minimum wages is $0.

If they used the median instead, or compared against cost of living, we’d see different numbers.

Reporting Highlights

What Nike Says:

• The world’s largest sports apparel maker says its suppliers pay workers 1.9 times the minimum wage on average, based on partial data for the workforce.

• What We Found: A payroll sheet for one Cambodian factory reveals few people making that much, even after years on the job.

• What It Means: Workers told ProPublica their wages weren’t enough to make ends meet and that they needed to work overtime just to keep up.

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Man, Phil Knight is such an ass