Sarahbeth Maney, ProPublica’s Diamonstein-Spielvogel visual fellow, took this photo of Vat Vannak, mother of 7-month-old Bun Kakada, in Cambodia for our recent story “Nike Says Its Factory Workers Earn Nearly Double the Minimum Wage. At This Cambodian Factory, 1% Made That Much.” 

Vannak said that the $250 a month she earned as a worker at Y&W Garment, including overtime, left her no money for savings. The stories of workers like her illuminate the longer-term legacy of Nike’s push into the region more than two decades ago, when labor abuses led co-founder Phil Knight to acknowledge that Nike products had become synonymous with “slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse.” 

ProPublica obtained a rare view of wages paid to the factory workers who produce Nike clothing: a highly detailed payroll list for 3,720 employees at Cambodia’s Y&W Garment. Covering earnings from longtime managers down to freshly hired 18-year-old sewing machine operators, the spreadsheet shows the workforce falling far short of the amount Nike says its factory workers typically earn.

Nike didn’t answer specific questions about ProPublica’s findings, and representatives of Y&W Garment did not respond to emails, text messages or phone calls seeking comment.