“When I heard the lay-offs were going to be cancelled, I cried.”...

...the Yihong factory...is a subcontractor for larger factories that supply the world’s leading sports brands: Brooks, New Balance, Under Armour, Asics...and the...Swiss label On...

...[workers] had denounced multiple forms of abuse, among them harassment by supervisors, unpaid overtime and, for more than half the workforce, no written contract. But it was the company’s refusal to grant fixed-term employees proper compensation under Indonesian law that led to the explosion of discontent...Suryana and other colleagues reported the breaches to labour law to the regional inspectorate. A few days later, they formed the trade union SBDI, affiliated to the national KASBI trade union.

Factory management...pressured workers to join a hastily-formed, company-controlled trade union...those who refused to leave SBDI-KASBI were dismissed...After the union’s secretary Suryana, its president Krisma, and another union official were laid off, a spontaneous protest broke out.

...workers arriving at the iron gate found the factory shut. On the barred entrance, a list of dismissals bore the names of all 1,126 employees....owners claimed they had been forced to close the site, citing order cancellations they blamed on what they described as an unlawful strike...

...the laid off workers found themselves bearing the brunt of an aggressive campaign on social media aimed at discrediting them...

In media reports, workers were portrayed as troublemakers...

One work...speaks of “an atmosphere of intimidation...”...“The pressure is huge because of very high production targets, and supervisors spend their time shouting at us,”...

In Cirebon, where the Yihong factory is located...the monthly minimum wage currently stands at 2.9 million Indonesian rupiah, or $162 USD. That’s barely half the level in the Jakarta region...

...the regional labour inspectorate concluded during mediation in April and May 2025 that the dismissals were unlawful and called for the affected workers to be reinstated. Yihong ignored the request – and hit back by filing a complaint against union leaders over what they called an “unlawful strike”...

Under Armour denied any link to the subcontractor; Asics [said] it had no longer been producing at the site since 15 March 2025...and therefore had only limited influence there; On, Brooks and New Balance said they would investigate the allegations...

On 7 January 2026, Yihong’s complaint over an “unlawful strike” was dismissed by a local court. Management then made a U-turn: At a meeting with the union on 16 January, it apologised and promised to reinstate the union members who were still dismissed.

...an agreement between SBDI‑KASBI and Yihong was signed following a second round of negotiations. The company pledged not only to reinstate the workers, but also to pay them part of their lost wages – eight of the 11 months – and to drop any further legal action...

On Monday 6 April, 2026, the final 24 workers signed new permanent contracts and returned to their posts...

...On says it is in talks with PT Long Rich to close the wage gap. It also states that it is in the process of “evaluating” the “feasibility” of extending its goal of living wages in its supply chain to subcontractors. When calculating living wages, On adheres to a methodology that results in significantly lower wage targets than those of the AFWA union alliance. However, they add, they are “fully open to and interested” in engaging in an in-depth dialogue with the unions and their supporting organizations on the topics of wages and workers’ rights.

Regarding the allegations of excessive pressure and intimidation at Long Rich, On states that its most recent investigation did not reveal such abuses, but that it takes the allegations seriously and will look into them in the next investigation.

On acknowledges in its statement that the Yihong case demonstrated that their audit process for facilities in their supply chain is insufficient. To ensure they are informed in a timely manner in the future, they have commissioned an external firm to implement continuous monitoring, and they will also improve the grievance procedure in factories.