Don't Specialize in Wage Theft

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

Specialized, the cycling company, likes to position itself as a green company, but there is nothing green about the fact that for the past two years 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 their wages.

A recent report found that 831 workers at the APS sewing factory in El Salvador were wrongfully denied $2 million in compensation after the factory shut down. Two brands have committed to pay the workers $1.34 million, while $659,000 remains outstanding. Specialized has offered peanuts to the workers and not paid a dime.

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.”

Specialized has a new CEO, Armin Landgraf, who has the opportunity to finally make things right with the workers. 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

Specialized Bicycle Components
15130 Concord Circle 
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Armin Landgraf
CEO

Dear Mr. Landgraf,

I am writing in support of 831 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.

It is two years 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 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.

Based on a recent report published by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), two lesser-known brands committed to paying the workers two thirds of the unpaid total, US $1.34 million. While US $659,000 of the unpaid compensation currently remains outstanding, Hanes and Specialized are offered a minimal amount of money – far less than what is outstanding.

Green America, a member of the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), has gathered 10K signatures to the petition and signed on 30 organizations in support of the APS workers. After Green America activists delivered petitions directly to the Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, California, the company blocked email domains of several organizations that attempted to reach out on behalf of the workers.

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.

As the new CEO you have the opportunity to ensure Specialized lives 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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