Don't Specialize in Wage Theft

Tell Specialized to pay its workers the millions they're owed

Specialized, the cycling company, likes to position itself as a green company, but there is nothing green about the fact that workers who make Specialized clothing are being cheated out of wages.

“At Specialized, we come to work each day with the purpose of pedaling the planet forward.”

But pedaling the planet forward includes making sure the workers in your supply chain are not cheated out of $2.1 million USD.

And that is the amount owed to the 842 workers at the APS sewing factory in El Salvador who produced goods for Specialized.

Specialized’s own company Code of Conduct requires its supplier to follow the law and Specialized proudly lists Respect for People as one of its three core values.

“Respect for People: We promote human rights in our offices and distribution centers, in our supply chain, and in our rider communities.”

Tell Specialized: Respect your workers and pay them what they are owed.

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Tell Specialized: Pay Your Workers What They're Owed

Mr.

Scott

Maguire

Specialized Bicycles

Specialized Bicycle Components
15130 Concord Circle 
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Scott Maguire
CEO

Dear Mr. Maguire,

I am writing in support of over 842 former employees of the APS sewing factory in El Salvador. This garment factory produced goods for Specialized until it was shut down in August 2022. At the time of its closure, the factory violated the law when it refused to pay workers’ wages and severance.

Over a year has gone by since the APS factory closed and factory management has refused to pay the workers the money that they are owed. Salvadoran law requires the employer to pay workers all unpaid wages and terminal benefits. In the case of APS, the workers are owed over $2.1 million dollars. In El Salvador, there is no government unemployment fund and therefore workers’ severance is the only safety net available to them while they look for new jobs and try to feed their families. The current economic situation in El Salvador is precarious. Inflation is at an all-time high and apparel brands in the US have been reducing their orders, which means that there have been numerous layoffs and the possibilities for finding new employment in the short term are limited.

Under Specialized’s own Code of Conduct policy, your company requires its supplier factories, like APS, to fully adhere to the law. However, when the APS factory closed down, it appeared that Specialized did not take any action to ensure that the workers received the money they were owed, including both wages and severance.

We now call on Specialized to live up to the spirit of its Code of Conduct by making sure that the violations that occurred at its supplier factory in El Salvador are fully remedied.

Sincerely,

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