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Appeal from Kyaw San Oo to Nike and the Fair Labor Association

In 2020, Nike’s Thai supplier, Hong Seng Knitting, broke the law requiring wages to be paid during furlough. Instead of paying 3,300+ mostly migrant workers their desperately needed income during the pandemic, the factory pocketed the money and paid dividends to its directors. 

Management forced workers to sign forms claiming they were “volunteering” for unpaid leave. When workers resisted, they were harassed and threatened until they gave in. Kyaw San Oo emerged as a leader in standing up for his fellow workers and helping them learn about their rights. The factory retaliated with a criminal case, forcing him, his wife who was also a worker at the factory, and their infant to flee to Myanmar.

For five years, rights groups supported workers to demand justice. Then, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) issued a report supporting the claim that workers had consented to give up their wages. And rather than recognise the retaliatory criminalisation of Kyaw San Oo as a serious rights violation requiring full compensation, the FLA dismissed that a violation had occurred and told Nike to pay Kyaw San Oo 59,580 baht (around 1600-1800 USD depending on exchange rate) a pittance for the loss of work, safety, and future.

Now, this dangerous precedent of justifying retaliatory lawsuits against rights defenders in Thailand paves the way for more legal actions to be used against worker leaders to silence dissent with impunity. Below is Kyaw San Oo’s letter to Nike and the FLA.

Appeal to reconsider, as my wife and I did not receive justice

My name is Kyaw San Oo. I worked at Hong Seng for over three years. I received 59,580 baht from the company, and I appreciate it. But if this 59,580 baht is considered sufficient for my severance, I must say it is unjustified. I do not understand why the FLA encouraged payment of an amount equal to the regular severance. The reason is that I was not dismissed justly, and the company acted forcefully and bullied me.

In April 2020, at Hong Seng, there was an incident where workers were forced to sign a scheme of taking leave without pay. My wife and I did not sign. We did not sign because we believed this action was unlawful. It was wage theft. After that, other friends came to us asking how they could resolve this matter. Later, the company made a complaint against me at the police station for using Facebook Messenger to discuss this with friends.

My wife also believed the scheme was unjust and did not sign. When I learned that a complaint had been filed against me at the police station, I decided to flee, even though I had done nothing wrong. I did this because I was worried for my wife and for my daughter, who was one year and eight months old.

I would like to explain the difficulties my family and I went through, and ask the relevant stakeholders to take responsibility.

1) As Hong Seng filed a case against me, my wife, who was also working at Hong Seng at that time, and our one-year-and-eight-month-old daughter had to flee from Thailand to Myanmar, leaving behind almost all of our belongings. Although I did not commit anything wrong nor plan to flee, I had to flee. As I was just a mere worker, no matter how right I was, I did not have the courage to go head-to-head with the employer, so I fled unexpectedly. Since 2020 was the pandemic period, our family faced a lot of difficulties as provinces blocked travel from one to another. We had to spend much more than regular travelling expenses from Bangkok to Mae Sot, Mae Sot to Myawaddy, and from Myawaddy to Mawlamyine. My wife and my daughter were exhausted from travelling, and my wife’s passport was confiscated by Myanmar immigration. Not only were we physically and mentally exhausted, but we also had to spend around 30,000 baht during the travel.

2) As we arrived back in Myanmar during the pandemic, it was really difficult to find a job, and we were faced with severe economic hardship. My wife and I had the responsibility of financially supporting our parents. As we did not have any savings and also no job in Myanmar, both of our parents and our family faced many difficulties after fleeing from Thailand unexpectedly. The worst experience for me was not being able to pay for medicine for my daughter when she got sick. In 2023, my daughter had a lump in her throat, and she had to go through two surgeries and was admitted to the hospital two times. As we had financial difficulties, we had to borrow three million kyat from friends.

3) After the pandemic, the political situation of Myanmar became worse, and so did the job opportunities. I have been doing odd jobs until now to survive and to pay for my family.

4) Honestly, the compensation of 59,580 baht which Hong Seng paid me was not even enough to pay back all of my debts during this difficult time.

5) As I did not have a stable job between 2020 and 2025, it has been affecting my wife, daughter, my parents, and my wife's parents.

6) I would like to request that, as my wife also worked at Hong Seng Company for three years and had to flee with me from Thailand, she should also receive compensation.

7) These hardships also affected my young daughter a lot. I have not been able to provide good education opportunities for my daughter. Please consider this fact carefully.

This unjust act has been negatively affecting my family and me. Thus, paying 59,580 baht should be considered unjust, as all things are being dealt with. My family and I faced many hardships due to this injustice. For this injustice, I should be receiving six or ten times more than the amount that the FLA encouraged me to accept. I believe the company is rich enough to pay that amount to my family and me.


With Regards,

Kyaw San Oo

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