Posted by Paddy MacLachlan
PUMA is the latest global sportswear brand to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. Workers at its factory in Bavet, Cambodia, protested over wages and conditions on Monday, in a demonstration that escalated out of hand. Windows were smashed and cars were set alight. They were then fired upon by police and three of them were injured. One of them, a female, is on life support and may not survive.
It is by no means uncommon for protests to be dispersed by gunfire from police or security guards in Cambodia.
Ironically for PUMA, it has built its brand on being more in touch with ordinary people than the other sportswear giants such as Adidas and Nike. However, this incident shows that it employs much the same dismissive attitudes to the ordinary people who make its products.
Full story in the Phnom Penh Post.
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