I grew up on a farm near Phnom Penh. I loved horror stories and dreamed I’d be an author. I still think about writing but I have little energy after work. At 18, I moved in with my grandfather in the capital to look for work. Within months, I began at my first garment factory. I was so nervous!
I became an assistant to the mechanics who did maintenance on the factory’s big machines. The managers realized I’m a quick learner. They sent me to learn more about the machines. Eventually I became the youngest mechanic – and the only woman.
I miss working side by side with friends, eating lunch with them, celebrating with them as they get married. I make more money now, but not enough to save for a motorbike. Outside of work, I like to ride my bicycle in the evening and go back to my family’s farm on the weekend to care for the ducks and chickens.
I joined C.CAWDU union because only with the union can we speak our mind. We have to speak up because management keeps cutting workers and putting more work on the rest of us. We used to get overtime, but now we have to rush and hit our production targets earlier. Of course if anything goes wrong, they blame us!
I want people around the world to understand what our jobs are like, to understand how hard we work. It’s only gotten harder, and companies need to raise our wages, hire more workers, and respect our work.
Teen Vogue has reached out to the brands that these workers make clothing for, including Nike. None have responded as of publication time. We have also reached out to each individual factory for comment. Nike publishes a list of factories it contracts with here, which is how Teen Vogue verified that the workers who named the brand work at factories the company contracts with.
