December 17th, 2009
(I joined Team Sweat because I saw a ) very impressive presentation by Jim Keady at my school, plus my conviction in the principles of Catholic social justice teachings. I am a Catholic high school and college teacher.
- John Groch
Jim Keady spoke at my high school today and his speech was great. I saw Behind the Swoosh and listened to him and it changed the way I look at Nike as a company. I will be sending Phil Knight e-mails about the workers’ wages issue and try to help out your cause.
- Mac Ryan
I saw Jim’s presentation today and was astounded at the conditions that the workers live in. Any support I can give is worth my time a hundred fold. Human rights should not be so blatantly violated.
- Christopher Mulvey
Jim Keady came and visited Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School on November 17, 2009 and informed my peers and I the standards of people that work for Nike over seas and i want to make a difference in any way I can.
- John Antiskay
I joined team sweat because Mr. Keady came to my school, and made me realize what injustices are going on in the world, specifically Indonesia.
- Tom Pierce
I’m joining Team Sweat because as a student and consumer, I had no idea about this issue until I heard Jim Keady speak at the Ignatian Teach In in Columbus and I feel that everyone should know about this issue. I am joining because as a human being and Christian, I cannot be a part of keeping the Nike workers or any sweat shop workers in poverty, I must be a part of a group to help them because the more of us there are working for justice, the more swiftly it will arrive.
- Jasmine Schwartz
Hi Team Sweat, I am just a Mum in Australia (I live in northern New South Wales) and I was asked to talk about slavery and ethical sourcing at a recent church event. We had receivied permission to show part of `Behind the Swoosh’ - so 60 women at a church women’s breakfast saw this short and were moved by it. Thanks for making this documentary, I just wanted to encourage you that the message is still getting out - in places pretty far away from you!
-Megan
I am not sure how do describe it but I hate the injustice sweatshops have caused.
- Jeff Meckstroth
I saw your presentation at the Ignation Family Teach in and it inspired me.
- Kelly Dean
I listened to your interview with Steve Runner on his podcast and am interested in learning more.
- Annah Maynes
I attend Sacred Heart Prep, and we get all of our sports uniforms and sweats from Nike. I know that we have some deal cut so we get a discount with them but we also spend a couple of weeks first in personal ethics sophomore year and again in social ethics junior year learning about the injustices of sweat shops, watch documentaries, and learn about the conditions workers are put through, then we go out for sports practice that afternoon and suit up in documented sweat shop clothing, I mean come on! It wigs me out and I really want to get involved in learning more of how I can help stop sweat shops to just be allowed to continue the way they are. Its like the money is put before other people’s livelihood, WHAT!
- Sean Reidy
I am for the rights of all people - and the fair wages that all people deserve! I admire and support your efforts, I am giving a speech in my speech class at hocking college about why people should stop buying Nike products. I am finding all of your information very helpful. I hope to inform a lot of new people about Nike.
- Stephanie Renner
I want to do something to help the people that work in the sweatshops.
- Colin Dabagian
Dear Mr. Jim Keady,
I am a sophomore at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, a school you spoke at a few weeks ago, and I was certainly moved by the speech you gave. Over the years, I have been attracted to Nike and other athletic apparel, and love finding the new Lebron’s, or the new Jordan’s, and get excited about buying them. My outlook has certainly changed, though, over the past few months. My religion teacher showed us the Behind the Swoosh video, and that was the first time I had heard of you and your organization. I knew it had to be a big deal nationally if you were talked about on Sportscenter!
I was amazed, truly amazed, at what kind of conditions you had to endure while you stayed in Indonesia. I think you showed tremendous courage to actually live among the people there to show people here what is going on with Nike. I knew who Phil Knight was before your video, but I certainly did not know of how he is exploiting his workers throughout the world.
I really looked forward to listening to your speech in person because I wanted to hear how you presented this kind of news to kids like us. I paid close attention to the speech and tried to picture myself in helping with this cause. During the speech, you did something that really got to me because of how I have been raised, and what true Jesuit education is. You had pulled out a poster that had the SJP logo, and said “Men For Others” on it. On the bottom of the poster was the Nike swoosh. I remember the whole theater sitting in silence, waiting for what you had to say. That moment had gave me a feeling of guilt, but I know you were trying to make us change to help the cause.
Again, I really think what you are doing to help those workers requires a lot of courage and I extremely admire that. I myself wish to do something in the future to help people who don’t have the opportunities that I have. Most of all, I wanted to thank you for coming to my school and giving that presentation. I really enjoyed it, and have been trying to do some of the things you told me to do. I have joined your facebook group and invited others to join it too! If there is anything else you suggest I could do I would be glad to hear from you.
Sincerely, Kevin Oberlies
Dear Mr. Keady,
I would just like to thank you and share some thoughts of mine about the talk you gave at St. Joe’s Prep a few weeks ago. When we were told by our religion teacher that someone would be coming in to talk to us about problems in sweat shops I thought it would be nothing new. I knew that many were mistreated and overworked, but as most people I thought they were lucky that they were able to get a job that pays anything in a third world country. After seeing your documentary though it changed me completely. These people work night and day just to feed themselves and put four walls around them, but if they have any family at all it becomes just a struggle to survive. Nike claims everyone asks for overtime because they love work so much, but it is because they need more money to feed their families. And as a whole we go after Nike because they are the biggest, but if we can just get Nike to increase wages or help the worker in some fashion the whole industry will follow.
I remember you telling us to join Team Sweat and email Nike operatives, but what else can I do to aid the cause? I know eventually with enough help we will defeat Nike and get them to increase wages, until then I hope the cause is strong and anything you need me to do I am here to help. Thank you again and God bless.
Sincerely, Nicholas J. Fattori
Hi,I’m Pavita, and now I’m in the senior year of high school, a private high school in Jakarta. So, I’d known nothing about this issue until one day,my civil teacher took the whole class to watch a documentary film. ‘The rules of the world’. My eyes were widely opened at that moment. How could I just sit down and do nothing while others in my own country, Indonesia, suffer? I was a consumer, but no longer am. Seeing the “Made in Indonesia” note in the small part of the clothes just make me feel bad. That’s why I want to join Team Sweat! Let’s fight 
- Patvia
I want to help fight this unfair system. Everyone is equal and should be treated and paid accordingly. Down with capitalism - democracy for all! No to Nike.
- Roseanne Hoger
Dear Mr. Jim Keady,
My name is Chip Heinz and I am a sophomore at Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School. I attended the speech that you delivered to us on Wednesday, November 18, and I have to say that it wasa very enlightening experience.Before the speech, I had heard that Nikeused sweatshops, butI never reallylooked into the issueand, as I am sure is the case with many other teenagers, Inever really cared. After hearing your speech, however,I realized the magnitude and severity of this problem.
After contemplating the hard facts, I came to the conclusion that I should do something about it, so I decided to make up some fliers and post them on the telephone poles around my neighborhood. In doing so, Iwanted toinform asmany people as possible, both locals and mere passersby, about this issue. I also hope that by posting these fliers this issue is brought to public attention and may one day catch the eye of a news station, whether it be by my posters or by your means.
I can only hope that one day Nike acknowledges this situation and willingly does something about it. I am sure that this belief is shared by many people who alone have no power, but united can make a difference in raising awareness about this inhumane problem. If Nike is everforced to shut down or fix foreign wages, I am positive that other companies will becompelled to do the same, thus leading to a global abolishment of sweatshops for all companies who use them.
Sincerely, Chip Heinz
Dear Mr. Keady,
My name is Will Hartz and I am a sophomore at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School where, a few weeks ago, you came to speak with the students regarding the issues of sweatshops in foreign countries and Nike’s role in it. Leading up to your appearance at our school, we were given the privilege to watch your video, Behind the Swoosh. When I saw this film for the first time, it was truly mind-blowing. I have heard people mention Nike and sweatshops together before, but honestly, I did not fully believe what they were saying. I could not see how a public corporation such as Nike, being recognized worldwide, and a leader in the industry, could possibly run sweatshops. Unfortunately for myself, and those workers in the sweatshops struggling to make ends meet, I was wrong. The experiment which you and your colleague, Leslie Kretuz, carried out in Indonesia was eye-opening for me. It gave me a firsthand look into the human injustices in our world. Most people have no knowledge on this very important matter and I commend you for taking a stand on this topic. You are able to provide the general public with concrete facts and evidence of these awful events. Having recently gained knowledge regarding Nike’s link to sweatshops, every time I put on a piece of Nike apparel, it makes me stop and think about the lives of the workers that manufactured it, and the injustices that they confront each day of their lives.
The entire Educating for Justice Team has made a tremendous impact for this situation. As you stated in your presentation, you have made significant changes in the plants in Indonesia. These changes, such as a woman’s right to have a menstrual leave and union leaders no longer being abused, killed or threatened by street gangs or the police, have greatly restored the human rights to the workers. Everything that has been done by you and your team, whether small or large, has had an impact and made the lives better for those struggling workers in Indonesia.
I would like to take the time now to thank you for all that you have done so far regarding the issue of sweatshops and all that you will continue to do in the coming years. It takes a lot of courage for a human being to stand up for what he believes in, no matter who tells him not to or it is not sociably acceptable. But instead you keep on going. You have done a great deal in order to change the lives of those that are oppressed, and to ensure that every human being is guaranteed their human rights that they are given at the time of their birth. I hope that this cause may continue to gain strength and I hope that people continue to gain knowledge regarding this very important issue. Best of luck in all that you do and God Bless!
With the utmost respect, Will Hartz
December 17th, 2009
Hello Mr. Parker,
I’m a Creighton University student and a massive Nike supporter who has become concerned about your manufacturing practices in Indonesia. It’s great that you can manufacture at a low cost there, but it seems highly reasonable and undoubtedly ethical to help the workers of your factories to earn a wage that allows them to keep their human dignity. Nike does great work and as a frequent customer I just want to know that Nike workers overseas aren’t being exploited. So until something changes I’m not going to buy anything from Nike. I hope Nike decides to change its practices quicky.
Thanks for your time,
J.D. Bird
Dear Mr. Parker,
My name is John Mike Devany. I am a senior at Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pa and was ashamed to find out that my own high school, one which Itake so much pride in, could be endorsed by a corporation that has done so many terrible things. I don’t understand how a corporation with billions of dollars and insurmountable power and resources could allow their own workers in Indonesia to work in such horrible conditions. I just saw Mr. Keady’s presentation on the working conditions Nike places its workers under and think maybe you should go to see it, too. Obviously you do not understand the situation to its fullextent because if you did I am sure you would do something about it.
Sincerely,
John Mike Devany
Mr. Parker,
I will not be able to sleep tonight unless I email you.
Today I was inspired to act on behalf of millions of third-world workers by Jim Keady and by Jesuit theologian, William Reiser, S.J., who wrote recently, “Distance from the poor leads to distance from God.” (America, November 16, 2009; page 14)
I plead with you to share a miniscule portion of your company’s billions with the workers who make your wealth possible.
Please give them more than lip service.
Thanks.
john groch
chair, religious studies
st. joseph’s preparatory school
Mr. Parker,
My name is Chadi El-Khoury and I am a senior at Creighton University. I am sitting in on Jim Keady’s presentation right now, “Behind the Swoosh, sweatshops and social justice.” He presented on campus last week and is now speaking at the Ignatian Family Teach-in in Columbus, GA. I am disappointed to hear about Nike’s unwillingness to grant workers their right to a living wage. And I am now embarrassed to wear my Nike shoes. Please spare me the shame.
Respectfully vocal,
Chadi El-Khoury
Dear Mr. Parker,
I like your products but I am sad to hear about Nike’s involvement with
sweatshops and not allowing your workers to make a living wage please
change this!
Lauren Ho
Creighton University
SBST Core Team 2009-2010
Mr. Parker,
I am a student at Saint Louis University. I’m currently sitting in Jim
Keady’s talk on Nike’s global workers, and I’m offended that they are
subjected to these conditions. As a concerned consumer, I ask you to
overhaul your practices regarding the treatment of your workers.
Thank you,
Colin Shevlin
Saint Louis University
Student Government Association
Great Issues Committee
Mr. Parker,
I am a senior at Brebeuf Jesuit in Indianapolis, and I have always loved Nike shoes and sportswear. In fact, Nike makes our school’s basketball and football uniforms, and I have a pair of Nike shoes that I have gotten multiple compliments on. However, this weekend I attended a lecture by Jim Keady, an avid social justice activist, like myself. I had never really cared to look at what goes on behind the scenes at Nike factories or other providers of my material possessions, but Mr. Keady’s talk forced me to see the whole picture, which proved to be shocking and very disheartening.
What goes on behind closed doors at Nike factories in third world countries is enough to make me refuse to buy Nike goods and attempt to convince others to do the same until I see some very serious changes. I would like to see your workers being paid a living wage and not being subjected to degrading circumstances and abuses of their rights. I may just be one voice, but I can assure you that this voice will not stop here. I am going to ask Mr. Keady to speak at our school again, and I’m sure this will encourage others to speak out against Nike and other factories that subject their workers to such harsh conditions.
I refuse to turn the other cheek to this injustice, and I think you should know that to more and more people, the story behind the shoe is taking center stage. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Sarah Melfi-Klein
Mr. Knight:
Although I knew vaguely about sweatshop abuses throughout the world, I am startled to learn that Nike continues to trample on the rights of human beings and inhibits their ability to live in dignity and respect. As I continue to learn more about the inhumane conditions that people live in as sweatshop workers, I am further committed to not supporting Nike or any other company that creates conditions where their employees do not have equal access to basic necessities, things that we as Americans take for granted daily. I will also work to encourage every person I know that your company continues to violate the basic human rights of people across the world. In a time when it is clear that people and the environment are suffering due to our capitalist, consumerist tendencies, I ask that you reconsider what it is that you stand for as a person and as a company. Please think about the nature of the work that you do and how it impacts the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable in our world. I would also like to ask you to consider and respond to the following:
When asked whether or not Nike production workers are paid a living wage, you responded to a PBS reporter, “Absolutely. No question about it.” I would like you to provide the facts that support this assertion by publicly disclosing hourly wage rates for each factory where Nike products are produced. I am confident that you will do this given Nike’s stated commitment that “Transparency is the first step toward open-source approaches to problem solving.” (Nike 2006 CSR Report)
If your company claims it is committed to transparency in its policies and procedures, then providing this information should be no problem at all.
I look forward to your written response to this request.
Sincerely,
Erika Meyer
Boston College MA/MSW Candidate
December 8th, 2009
Team Sweat:
This past month a monumental victory was won for workers in Honduras who had been producing products for Russell Athletic. Here are the details on the case as provided by the United Students Against Sweatshops.
Just over a year ago, Russell Athletic announced it would close Jerzees de Honduras in response to workers’ organizing efforts. During that year, USAS organized the largest boycott in the history of modern student activism. Now, as a direct result of our efforts, we have won an unprecedented victory — the company has agreed to meet worker demands to reopen the factory and re-hire all 1200 workers, who have been without jobs for 10 months or more. View the details of the agreement here.
Landmark Victory: A Precedent is Set
This is one of the most significant youth-led campaign victories in recent times and one of the most significant campaign victories of the global justice movement. No one has ever forced a multinational corporation to reopen a facility it shut down in the global race to the bottom. This victory has also proven that together, we can successfully fight back when those in power take advantage of the economic crisis to attack working people. We should take strength and inspiration from the example of the workers of Jerzees de Honduras. We can fight back — and WIN — against policies that benefit a privileged few and hurt our communities.
In light of this victory, I think that it is time for Nike’s workers in Indonesia and elsewhere to consider requesting that your allies here in the U.S.A. collaborate with you in calling for a boycott of Nike products. As you can see from the Russell example, that is what will hurt Nike the most and break them to the point that they will meet workers’ demands. I will be reaching out to my contacts in Indonesia to pursue this strategy and I hope that it will be considered by workers and trade unionists there.
For more info on the Russel victory, I have included a recent article from the NY Times below.
Peace, Jim Keady
NEW YORK TIMES
Labor Fight Ends in Win for Students
by Steven Greenhouse
November 17, 2009
Students protesting Russell Athletic
The anti-sweatshop movement at dozens of American universities, from Georgetown to U.C.L.A., has had plenty of idealism and energy, but not many victories.
In August, members of United Students Against Sweatshops picketed a Target store in Washington, to pressure the retailer to stop selling products made by Russell Athletic.
Until now.
The often raucous student movement announced on Tuesday that it had achieved its biggest victory by far. Its pressure tactics persuaded one of the nation’s leading sportswear companies, Russell Athletic, to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when Russell closed their factory soon after the workers had unionized.
From the time Russell shut the factory last January, the anti-sweatshop coalition orchestrated a nationwide campaign against the company. Most important, the coalition, United Students Against Sweatshops, persuaded the administrations of Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, Michigan, North Carolina and 89 other colleges and universities to sever or suspend their licensing agreements with Russell. The agreements — some yielding more than $1 million in sales — allowed Russell to put university logos on T-shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces.
Going beyond their campuses, student activists picketed the N.B.A. finals in Orlando and Los Angeles this year to protest the league’s licensing agreement with Russell. They distributed fliers inside Sports Authority sporting goods stores and sent Twitter messages to customers of Dick’s Sporting Goods to urge them to boycott Russell products.
The students even sent activists to knock on Warren Buffett’s door in Omaha because his company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns Fruit of the Loom, Russell’s parent company.
“It’s a very important breakthrough,” said Mel Tenen, who oversees licensing agreements for the University of Miami, the first school to sever ties with Russell. “It’s not often that a major licensee will take such a necessary and drastic step to correct the injustices that affected its workers. This paves the way for us to seriously consider reopening our agreement with Russell.”
Other colleges are expected to do the same. Analysts say the college market occupies a significant part of Russell’s business. Because Fruit of the Loom does not detail Russell’s sales, it is not known how large a part.
In its agreement, not only did Russell agree to reinstate the dismissed workers and open a new plant in Honduras as a unionized factory, it also pledged not to fight unionization at its seven existing factories there.
Mike Powers, a Cornell official who is on the board of the Worker Rights Consortium, said Cornell had canceled its licensing agreement because it viewed Russell’s closing of the Honduras factory as a flagrant violation of the university’s code of conduct, which calls for honoring workers’ freedom of association. He applauded Russell’s agreement, which was reached with the consortium and union leaders in Honduras over the weekend.
“This is a landmark event in the history of workers’ rights and the codes of conduct that we expect our licensees to follow,” Mr. Powers said. “My hat is off to Russell.”
John Shivel, a spokesman for Russell and Fruit of the Loom, said, “We are very pleased with the agreement between Russell Athletic and the Workers Rights Consortium, and look forward to its implementation.”
He declined to discuss why Russell had adopted a friendlier attitude toward unionization after years of aggressively fighting unions.
In a statement Russell released jointly with the apparel workers’ union in Honduras, the company said the agreement was “intended to foster workers’ rights in Honduras and establish a harmonious” relationship.
“This agreement represents a significant achievement in the history of the apparel sector in Honduras and Central America,” the joint statement said.
In the past, the Honduran workers condemned Russell’s behavior, saying that it had fired 145 workers in 2007 for supporting a union. The union’s vice president, Norma Mejia, said at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ meeting last May that she had received death threats for helping lead the union. Russell denied the assertion.
Union leaders in Honduras hailed the agreement, which would put hundreds of laid-off employees back to work in a country whose economy has been hit by a political crisis over who will lead it.
“For us, it was very important to receive the support of the universities,” Moises Alvarado, president of the union at the closed plant in Choloma, said by telephone on Tuesday. “We are impressed by the social conscience of the students in the United States.”
This was in no way an overnight victory — it came after 10 years of building a movement that persuaded scores of universities to adopt detailed codes of conduct for the factories used by licensees like Russell. In addition, the students, sometimes through lengthy sit-ins, pressured their officials to create and finance an independent monitoring group, the Worker Rights Consortium, that inspected factories to make sure they complied with the universities’ codes.
When the consortium issued a detailed report accusing Russell of violating workers’ rights, United Students Against Sweatshops began its nationwide campaign.
Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, which has more than 170 universities as members, said: “This represents the maturation of the universities’ codes of conduct. There’s a recognition by the universities of their ability to influence the actions of important brands and change outcomes for the better.”
He said the agreement was “unprecedented” in terms of scope and size and in “the transformative impact it can have in one of the hardest regions of the world to win respect for workers’ rights.”
Mr. Nova also praised Russell for changing course. “I think the executives at Russell recognized it was time for a new approach,” he said. “They decided it was important for the success of their company.”
As part of its campaign, United Students Against Sweatshops contacted students at more than 100 campuses where it did not have chapters, getting them involved, including at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, where Fruit of the Loom has its headquarters. The group helped arrange a letter signed by 65 members of Congress, who voiced “grave concern about reports of severe violations” of labor rights at Russell.
This time around, the students did not feel the need to resort to sit-ins to persuade university administrators.
“The schools remember our sit-ins of the past,” said Dida El-Sourady, a senior at the University of North Carolina. “There’s an institutional memory that students will escalate their tactics, and this could become a very big deal, a lot bigger than people holding signs.”
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