$2.5 Million in Back Pay for Collegiate Apparel Workers in Haiti

The WRC has secured a commitment from Gildan Activewear to pay, by the end of November, $2.5 million in legally required severance at two garment factories in Haiti that produced collegiate apparel.
 
The factories, Palm Apparel and SISA, failed to pay severance to 2,500 workers when they closed in June 2025. They were disclosed for the production of collegiate apparel by New Agenda, which purchased apparel made at these factories from Gildan, a major supplier to university licensees. 
 
On June 6, 2025, the factories’ owner, Palm Apparel Group, announced to the factories’ workers that it would be permanently closing the two plants. The factory’s owner told the workers that he would not, and could not, pay them the severance they were owed under Haitian law. Given that the factory produced collegiate licensed apparel, the payment of workers’ severance was also a requirement under university labor standards. The WRC engaged with Gildan, which was the factories’ sole buyer and which, to its credit, committed to ensure full payment of the legally due severance to all of the factory’s former workers.
 
Ultimately, Gildan agreed to make a total contribution to the workers of $2.5 million, at an average payment of seven and a half months’ wages for each worker. These payments will cover all the severance the factory employees were owed under Haitian law and included an additional humanitarian contribution of approximately $500,000 for the workers to address the six-month delay in workers’ receiving full payment of their severance. The distribution of the initial payment from Gildan occurred in August 2025 and Gildan has committed to ensure that the remaining $2 million is distributed to all employees by November 20.
 
Both factories were located in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, which, for several years, has been ravaged by criminal street gangs. The situation for both garment workers and factory owners alike is dire and news sources report that the gangs have taken almost full control of the nation’s capital. These conditions have made it increasingly difficult for garment factories to continue operations, and, over the past five years, the WRC has documented numerous factory closures that have occurred as a result.
 
Despite these severe challenges, the WRC’s engagement with factory buyers like Gildan in recent years has resulted in payment of nearly $6 million in severance to almost 8,000 Haitian garment workers—the equivalent of six months’ wages per worker. This is money that these workers would have never received if suppliers to collegiate licensees and other international buyers from Haiti had not stepped up to ensure payment of funds when the factory owners failed to pay.
 
The situation of Haiti’s garment workers is now even more precarious following the expiration in September of the US Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act and the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act (Haiti HOPE/HELP), trade agreements that granted the country duty-free access to the US for apparel and textiles. Worker organizations in Haiti have predicted that, if there is no action to renew the expired legislation, the nonrenewal of Haiti HOPE/HELP will result in further devastation for Haiti’s economy and its people.
 
In the face of the severe crisis facing Haiti’s garment industry and its workers, the WRC recognizes Gildan’s commitment to ensure remediation of this serious wage violation in its supply chain. The apparel brand’s willingness to step up to make sure workers receive their legally earned compensation when its suppliers are unable or refuse to do so has a significant positive impact for the affected workers and their families. It also maintains the precedent set by the WRC’s work over the past two decades to require international brands to ensure that workers, including those who make collegiate apparel, receive full payment of legally due compensation when brands’ supplier factories close their operations.