The factory is owned by New Star Group, a Taiwanese firm that owns two other controversial factories in Cambodia. At Ying Dong, it takes only a glance to realize how young some of the work force is. “There are a lot of young workers here – many are younger than her,” said 21-year-old Danet, pointing at a particularly diminutive colleague wearing a pink Ying Dong Shoes shirt. The younger girl quickly hid behind other air max sale colleagues. “Lots of the girls are 14, 15, 16, 17,” Danet said. Danet and her colleague were among several dozen employees packed into the back of a mud-caked Hyundai cargo truck, clinging to a rusted metal chain that would be the only seat belt for their two-hour commute. Another Ying Dong employee, who said she was 18 but looked much younger, estimated that about half of Ying Dong’s 3,000 workers – nearly all of whom are female – were underage, although The Globe and Mail was unable to confirm how many girls were under 15, or whether those between 15 and 18 had their parents’ consent. “The girls want the jobs, so they make fake identification documents. The company doesn’t care because they nike air max need the workers,” said the employee, who gave her name as Jurriy.

The Globe and Mail has decided not to publish the full names of the workers it interviewed in order for them to avoid any possible punishment for speaking out. The company that owns the factory, which refused an interview request from The Globe and Mail, has claimed in the past that all its workers are at least 18. Cambodian labour law allows factories to employ workers as young as 15 – provided they have their parents’ consent. Minors are also supposed to get a minimum of 13 hours off between shifts and are barred from working in hazardous conditions. Jurriy described conditions inside the Ying Dong plant as difficult, with staff expected to air max uk work 13-hour days – 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with an hour lunch break – every weekday, and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Sundays are their only day off. “It’s very hot inside. There’s no air conditioning. We have to make 200 to 300 shoes a day [per work team] or else the owner gets angry.” Asics spokesman Katsumi Funakoshi said in an e-mail that a May, 2012, audit conducted by the ILO Better Factories Cambodia program had found three workers at the Ying Dong facility who had falsified their ID documents and were “under the legal labour age limit.” The spokesman said the company is not aware of any further cases of underage labour at the factory. A Quebec footwear company, Chaussures Régence, said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail that it once sourced footwear at Ying Dong Shoes in 2012 but ended the relationship.