We’re excited to share a major victory for garment workers in Guatemala: after a campaign by Partners for Dignity & Rights, Lucky Brand has finally contributed the long-overdue severance payments owed to the 246 former employees of Industrial Hana by the factory’s former owners. Workers will receive funds next month, which they report will allow them to pay off debts, cover school fees, secure medical care, and even start small businesses.

“The money we’re receiving that we were owed for our years working at Industrial Hana will help pay my son’s school fees. I also will be able to buy him a school uniform and supplies for his classes. And now I can also pay for medicine for my mother, for whom I’m the sole caregiver and source of support. I am so thankful that we will receive this money that we are owed.”

– Industrial Hana worker

When the Industrial Hana factory closed in October 2023, an investigation by the Worker Rights Consortium found that workers were left without $1.5 million in legally owed severance. The two other brands sourcing from Industrial Hana, Puma and American Eagle, each contributed $500,000 in 2024 – but not Lucky Brand. Lucky Brand was bought out of bankruptcy in 2020 by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and SPARC Group, both backed by massive investors like private equity firm BlackRock and tied to fast-fashion giant Shein and mall owner Simon Property Group.

Earlier this year, we unmasked the many layers obscuring Lucky Brand’s responsibility, and campaigned for the brand to make Industrial Hana workers whole. We’re grateful to our supporters for joining with us to win such a critical victory, not just because it will transform the lives of hundreds of people in Guatemala, but because it sets an important precedent that even brands backed by private equity and shrouded in layers of corporate ownership structures can be held accountable to their human rights obligations.

At Partners for Dignity & Rights, we remain committed to ensuring workers everywhere are paid what they are owed and treated with dignity, at a time where corporations can amass billions while the people who make their products are left struggling to survive. Together with our allies, we are building power to hold global brands accountable, and to demand a future where dignity, not exploitation, is at the center of our economy.