March 26th, 2010
Stand for human rights, tell Nike to just pay it
By Nick West
Published: Thursday, March 4, 2010
Nike, Inc., a sportswear giant with much of the American retail market cornered, has annual revenue of around $18 billion. Why is it, then, that they are having so much trouble paying the $2.2 million in severance owed to laid-off factory workers in Honduras?
On Jan. 19, 2009, two Nike factories, Hugger de Honduras and Vision Tex, were closed, with severance agreements between the workers’ unions and factory owners signed after the factory closures. It is 2010, still no severance has been paid, and when hounded over their exploitation of workers, Nike released a statement that they are “deeply concerned,” but cannot assume any responsibility for the actions of their “subcontractors.” Subcontractors, in this case, are proxies used by Nike to distance themselves from taking responsibility for the way their factory workers are treated.
Blaming human rights abuses on “subcontractors” is how Nike argues that it is not in violation of the code of conduct it is contractually obligated to follow. This excuse does not remove Nike from the their responsibility to the Honduran workers manufacturing their college apparel. In November 2009, Nike stated, “efforts to remediate this case are not yet concluded.” Workers are still waiting as of February 2010 for the $2.2 million owed to them. Without this, they will continue to be unable to support their families.
It is time for more pressure to be placed on Nike, and here at our University, the Rutgers chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops will be organizing an event outside of Brower Commons on College Avenue campus Thursday March 4 starting at 11 a.m. This event’s goal is to raise student awareness to Nike’s human rights abuses and to get involved in pressuring Nike to correct their breach of the code of conduct set forth in their contract with the University. There will be games, prizes and information for anyone who wants to get involved. Tell Nike to Just Pay It.
Nick West is a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
March 26th, 2010
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN
New Committee Will Examine Social Impact of Univ. Licensing
March 11, 2010 - 4:38am
By Juan Forrer
Cornell students “work out for workers’ rights.”
After pressure from Cornell’s chapter of Students Against Sweatshops, the University has established a permanent licensing committee — which will meet for the first time next week — in the hopes of improving working conditions for employees at companies that supply the University with products and apparel.
Yesterday, CSAS held a “Workout for Workers Rights” demonstration in front of Olin Library to further raise awareness of the plight of Nike employees in Honduras and the University’s contract with Nike.
The workers, who are reportedly owed 2.1 million dollars by a subcontractor working for Nike, are at the center of a national movement pressuring Nike to pay the money. The University’s new licensing committee, meanwhile, is set to begin considering licensing issues for companies accused of workers’ rights violations. “
The job of the committee is to make very careful, measured recommendations to the University,” said Mike Powers, vice president of university communications and a member of the licensing committee. “On a larger sc
Working hard: Casey Sweeney ’13, Marlena Fontes ’10 and Bill Peterson ’10, members of Cornell Students Against Sweatshops, “work out for workers’ rights” outside Olin Library yesterday. - By: Meghan Hess
ale, this will involve the efforts of many universities working together. Together, we can solve the problem of workers’ rights violations.” Powers is one of nine members who will sit on the committee.
Other members include students in labor rights groups on campus, a representative from the Cornell Store, and a representative from the Athletics department. On the agenda for next week’s meeting is a discussion of the relicensing of Russell Athletics.
Cornell was one of 120 universities to suspend product licenses for the company after Russell closed factories in Honduras that had unionized. Since then, Russell has reopened the factories and recognized the union.
“Russell has done a complete turn around,” Powers said. “They’ve done what we asked them to do, and I think we need to give the license back.” The Russell Athletics issue was resolved with an ad-hoc committee created for that specific situation. Now, the permanent committee will periodically hear reports from the Workers Rights Consortium and the Collegiate Licensing Program, national organizations that Cornell participates in, on the status of 150 different companies that supply Cornell products.
One of the issues that CSAS hopes to bring to the attention of the new committee is the status of Cornell’s license with Nike. CSAS says Honduran factories that supply Nike are refusing to pay employees severance and wages for hours already worked. The group’s campaign is part of a national movement against Nike for the company’s stance toward workers. Prof. Lance Compa, industrial and labor relations, said that student groups can exert a lot of leverage on Nike to change their practices.
If Cornell and other universities were to cancel the license, it could mean financial losses for Nike. “Selling universities clothes makes these companies millions of dollars a year,” Compa said. “That’s what makes them care.” Alex Bores ’13, president of CSAS and a representative on the new committee, said that the fight against Nike is going to be more challenging than the fight against Russell Athletics because Nike does not own the factories that supply it with apparel.
“They sell, they advertise … but they don’t make clothes,” Bores said. Though the subcontractors owe the workers a reported 2.1 million dollars, the national movement’s slogan explicates their goal to make Nike “Just Pay It.” The sum is relatively small for Nike, but the company does not want to set a precedent by taking responsibility for the workers employed by its subcontractors, Bores says. CSAS held its “Workout for Workers Rights” event yesterday, in which students exercised publicly to increase awareness of the issue.
Casey Sweeney ’13, president of Cornell Organization for Labor Action, said she didn’t have to walk around distributing quarter cards. Students were coming up to her and asking her for them. “It’s nice to have an event where students are interested and want to know what’s going on,” she said. CSAS also staged a “teach-in” in Ives Hall, where professors and group leaders gave speeches about the Nike issue.
Prof. Sarosh Kuruvilla, industrial and labor relations, encouraged students to get involved.
He said the pressure that forces companies to change comes from small groups of students, just two to three percent of students. “All of this pressure is coming from a small percentage of students in the U.S.,” he said. “Idealism is often left in college.”
Colleen Brill ’12 was one of the people who attended the teach-in. Though she said she might not have come without the reward of extra credit, she said she enjoyed the event and wants to learn more about the issue. She joined the CSAS listserv, something that was not required to earn the extra points. “I want to be kept up to date,” she said. “ I think this is an issue that’s going to grow at Cornell in the next couple months.”
March 10th, 2010
Team Sweat:
The men of Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona, are certainly living out the Jesuit call of being “men for others.” Check out their emails to Nike CEO, Mark Parker about Nike’s sweatshop abuses overseas. This is what it means to struggle in solidarity with one’s brothers and sisters.
Peace, Jim Keady
Hello Mr. Parker, I am currently watching Jim Keady talk about the
grotesque contradictions in Nike policies concerning wages for workers
in Indonesia. I urge you to live up to the claims you make about your
desire to maintain fairness and equality in the global workplace.
Transparency in your business model is just the FIRST step toward
creating a fair environment for workers. I hope you value your
consumers enough to respect that suggestion.
- Scott Franz, Senior at Brophy College Preparatory
I am currently sitting in the Brophy bleachers and just watched a phenomenal presentation by Jim Keady. I just wanted to say that I am and athlete and I have been wearing your products my whole life, and I am very embarrassed right now for supporting Nike. Please correct the major flaws in your company and help those employees of yours. Thanks!
- John LaVanway
This woman is probably somebody’s mother. If I treated your mother like that what would you do? If you could be the richest man in history, would you put your family into hard labor like this?
Good job Mark.
Hey Mr. Parker, I’m sitting in the Brophy College Preparatory bleachers, in Phoenix, AZ, listening to a presentation by Jim Keady. I learned about the Nike sweat shops, living conditions, and wages and would like you to help make a change and give the workers what they deserve.
- Thank you, Jeff
Mr. Parker,
Please stop exploiting factory workers. They are people too. Maybe you should try out for the new reality tv show, undercover boss, I think it would get your corporation some real good publicity.
- Regards, Zanezor Waxman
Jim Keady just gave a presentation at my high school about Nike labor issues. Mr. Parker would you please make slight changes in your workers wages because it would not affect your company too much and it would finally make Jim Keady stop doing his presentations. Please!
- Patrick Crane
Mr. Parker,
Tiger Woods is worth that much money to you, but does he make the gear that you sell? Take some positive action. Just do it.
-Brophy Student
Mr. Parker,
Hey I just heard a presentation by Jim… Are you really OK with how you are treating the workers?
- Jonathan Charlton
Mr. Parker,
I’m watching Jim Keady in the Brophy college prep gym and I am very embarrassed to have even bought a single Nike product in my lifetime. Nike is a horrible company and I’m glad I now know, I will not buy or wear another Nike product until things change for factory workers.
- Matthew Brant
Mr. Parker,
I’m sitting in the bleachers at my high school listening to Jim Keaty talk about your product. I’m shocked and appalled at what I’ve learned about wages for workers that Nike is responsible for. That being said I can tell you right now that I will not be buying anything Nike until conditions change, and will be encouraging others to follow in my footsteps.
- Thank you, Matthew Johnson
Brophy College Prep, class of 2010
Hello, I’m in Brophy Prep’s gym as a senior and a state champion athlete and I must say you are a horrible person. How about you spend a month in Indonesia? I can truly guarantee you I will never spend another cent on or supporting the slave labor trader that is Nike. Thank you.
- Austin Pietrobono
Hey Mr. Parker my name is Frank Zimmerman and I think you need to fix factory wages and respect human dignity. It’s very messed up how the workers live. I have bought Nike my whole life and now will never buy from you again unless you change.
- Frank
Mr. Parker,
I am sitting in the Gym at Brophy College Preparatory listening to Jim Keady. We learned about the Nike sweatshops, and I am disgusted. I am taking a vow to not buy Nike products until there is proof that Nike changes their ways! Please stop the use of sweatshops.
Thank You.
- Jack Wentworth
Dear Mr. Parker,
My name is Nick and I go to Brophy College Preparatory and at this moment right now Jim Keady is speaking to me about the Nike sweat shops that exist. I am utterly appalled. I have Nike products, and it makes me sick to think that the products I wear were created by laborers who are barely making enough money for food, living in slums, and working for hours and hours on end to the point of exhaustion. I know you want to ignore this and be indifferent but I ask in all seriousness to please do something about this because you cannot deny that something is wrong. As a customer, I demand that a change is made, a change that honors human dignity.
Thank you for listening and I hope to see changes soon.
- Nick
Mr. Parker,
Right now I am sitting in my high school gym listening to the behind the swoosh presentation with Mr. Jim Keady. This is a very interesting presentation and I am intrigued with the information that has been presented to me and my fellow students. Honestly, I love nike products but I am very disappointed with the truth behind the swoosh that I wear. If nike can improve the means by which they produce their products I would be overjoyed. Every one of my friends wears and supports Nike but after this information I strongly believe that we, as christian men with christian ideals, will no longer support your products. We will advocate against the injustices made by Nike and continue to pressure Nike and companies like it to improve their means of production. I will check up on the progress Nike makes for years to come but I will not be receiving my information Nike rather I will stay in contact with Team Sweat to hear the truth.
Thank you for your time.
- Jeff Knutsen
Hey Mr. Parker,
I just wanted to inform you that I will no longer be wearing your
clothing line and cleats. I am an athlete and have been a frequent
Nike soccer cleat owner over the past few years. I wore your workout
shirts and my soccer club is sponsored by you.I have decided that
until you change your policies and your approach towards your workers
and their wages in Indonesia and other countries I am going to stop
purchasing and wearing your product and am going to avidly express my
serious disappointment in what I thought was a successful model for
business in the United States.
Sincerely,
Brandon
Dear Mark Parker,
I am from Brophy College Preparatory and I just want to tell and ask some generic questions. How are you able to hold your head up high and feel good at night when you go to sleep? I have just seen Jim Keady’s presentation about what your company does and is doing in 52 different countries and as an athlete, I feel terrible that I personally have supported what you are doing in your sweat shops. I don’t know how you can sit in your office during the day when you know that the people who are making your products work twice as many hours as you and you get paid an immensely larger amount for half the time. Personally I believe that you should be ashamed of yourself because you have set a standard that is intolerable. You are sick!
Ryan Woodburn
Brophy College Preparatory
Hello Mr. Parker,
My name is Daniel Bohnert. I am a senior at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona. I sent you a short email earlier today, but it was only limited to 160 characters, so I wanted to send you this full email to tell you how i really feel towards Nike. Jim Keady spoke at our school today to tell us about the travesties your company is doing to people all across the world. I love you Nike products, they are the best, but i won’t buy a single item from you ever again until you change the way you do business. In fact, I recently purchased Nike Hurache cleats. They are lightweight, durable, and strong, but i can’t and won’t keep them. I will be returning them when i get home.
Have a great day, and think about the impact you are making on millions of people across the world.
Human dignity is important. I would hope you would feel the same way.
- Daniel Bohnert
Mr. Parker:
Today I attended an assembly “Behind the Swoosh” during our school’s annual Summit on Human Dignity. Our summit focuses on dignifying the rights of every human being, and this year’s topic is on globalization and the economy. I was appalled to learn about the conditions of Indonesian workers who help produce your product, and the low wages and conditions that your company offers. As a teacher, athletic trainer, and parent of 2 children, know that I refuse to buy another Nike product for me and my family, and I will do everything in my power to let others know of these atrocities, until Nike puts more of their $1.5 billion profits into dignifying the lives of their workers with reasonable wages.
Respectfully,
Christopher A. White MS LAT
Head Athletic Trainer/Health & PE Dept Chair
Arizona Athletic Trainers Association, Publicity/Promotion Committee Chair
Brophy College Preparatory
Dear Mr. Parker,
Today at my school Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona Jim Keady gave us a presentation on Nike and the sweatshops that your employees work in. He informed me that workers in factories that make your products are not being paid living wages. I do not understand when Nike makes over one billion dollars a year, they can’t afford to pay their employees fair wages. I do not see myself buying any Nike products in the future until you pay factory workers fair wages. Thank you.
I joined Team Sweat because I go to Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona, and Mr. Jim Keady talked to our school about the injustice of sweatshops and it influenced me and informed me on what is going on and I am vouching to not buy from Nike and try to make Nike change their policies.
- Anthony Fischetti
Mr. Parker,
I would like to inform you that thanks to Mr. Jim Keady, I am no longer going to purchase any of your products due to the fact of how your products are made and how your employees on the assembly line are treated in foreign countries. I also hope that you are enjoying the other 1300 emails you are receiving from fellow classmates and teachers at Brophy College Prep.
Thanks,
Hal Gibbs
Dear Mr. Parker and Nike:
I wanted to express the unrest I have recently gone through. I was informed, through a number of workshops, videos, and talks with people who have first-hand experiences the effects of your incredibly low wages in places like Indonesia, like Jim Keaty. I have all of a sudden become sick to my stomach to learn that I have been part of the tearing apart of families, the starvation of hundreds of thousands, and the incredibly low living standards of countless people due to the Nike factory environment and wages by purchasing Nike products. I have made a vow, to myself, to those who have shared first-hand experiences of the horror in Nike factories, but most importantly, to the diligent and wrongly abused workers of Nike factories, to not purchase, wear, or promote the Nike products until I and the thousands of others disgusted by the terrible conditions are informed and shown proof of the improvement of such factories in places like Indonesia.
Thank you for taking the time to read my dilemmas and concerns. I truly hope that there will be a change for the better in Nike’s factories.
Sincerely, James Wentworth
Mr. Mark Parker,
Today, at my school, Brophy College Preparatory (Phoenix, Az.), Jim Keady gave a presentation as a part of his Team Sweat campaign. Before Jim Keady’s presentation I knew nothing about the sweatshop labor that Nike and many other companies use to produce their products. I own many Nike products including: Nike Tiempo shoes, various collared shirts, and shorts that I wear on a daily basis. I often wore Nike apparel from head to toe because I believed it was a good product with an even better reputation. There used to be kids who envied my Tiempos as I walked around school. Now after Mr. Keady’s presentation wearing Nike apparel is frowned upon in my school’s community.
In his presentation Mr. Keady gave the statistic that the price for labor, on average, per shoe is 2 dollars and 43 cents and the overall cost per shoe is around 16 dollars. This is insane knowing that your company sells shoes that range anywhere from 40 dollars to 200 dollars. Just a little math for you… That is a 250 percent to a 1250 percent margin of profit! How can you justify paying laborers 2 dollars and 43 cents to make a shoe where you will make a profit of anywhere from 250 percent to 1250 percent? The least you could do is pay the workers in the sweatshops anywhere from double or triple what they currently make. By raising the price of labor you could put this pay raise directly into the price of the shoe that the consumer pays. I know that a five or ten dollar difference in the price of my Tiempos would not have effected whether or not I bought them.
I highly encourage that you make a change with this problem and many of the other problems that I have not stated in this e-mail. Mr. Parker it is only a matter of time until this knowledge about your company’s unfair sweatshop labor gets out to everyone who is a consumer of your product and directly affects your sales.
Sincerely,
Ben Jackson (Brophy College Preparatory Junior)
What you are doing is ridiculous! You need to start thinking about others, not just about yourself.
-Timothy
My dad works at Brophy and he showed me the Behind the Swoosh video. I don’t care about money. I care about people.
Sam, Age 10
Hello Mr. Parker,
First some background on my situation. I am a sophomore at Brophy College Preparatory, a Jesuit high school in Phoenix Arizona. Every year we undergo a two-week long Summit on Human Dignity. This year’s topic was globalization and one of the speakers at our Summit was Mr. Keady of Team Sweat. His words and presentation today at a school-wide assembly as well as a much smaller Q&A session have really hit home with me. After watching his video about living in Indonesia on the wages paid to employees at your shoe-manufacturing factories and hearing his presentation, I have really truly been shocked and appalled at how Nike as well as the rest of big business corporations in regards to the working and living conditions of these sweat shop employees.
I realize that to you and the rest of the Nike corporation that making money is the most important thing or at the very least one of you top priorities but is it really necessary to put these people through such poor conditions just to make sure your products are produced at a high level? Is there no way you can spare even a marginal amount of money to help better the lives of your sweat shop workers not only in Indonesia but all across the globe. Though you and your company have certainly gotten the business aspect of life down what with your elite quality and income but you have neglected the human aspect of the people you impact. I do not know you personally and therefore cannot pass no judgment on you as a person but I cannot imagine how a person would neglect to help the young, uneducated boy sitting in a workers slum being poisoned by burning rubber trash who desperately needs those in power to stand up for him or the countless others like him. It might not mean much to your nor your business but know that from this day forth I will do my best to avoid purchasing or advertising your products in order to stand in solidarity with these poor laborers in an effort to win them better wages and conditions. I have little doubt in my mind that this email will not make much of an impact on the large scale but I beg you as a person with great power in the corporate world as well as just a human being who has a duty to help others to take some time to really think this through and try to make an effort just to get these people enough money to survive reasonably. Thank you for your time and I hope you are moved to help those who truly need it.
- Ian C. Beck
Class of 2012
I joined Team Sweat because I feel that what Nike is doing is very inhumane and terrible. It should be stopped and the only way to stop it is to not buy Nike products and put the company in economic pressure.
- Cameron Breen
Mark:
I am currently sitting in Jim Keady’s “Behind the Swoosh”
presentation. I think what you’re doing to workers all over the world
is sick. You need to raise the wages of workers so that I can even
contemplate wearing Nike ever again. You are destroying the
livelihood of fellow human beings. I hope that you take this into
consideration and start to take responsibility for what you are doing
to millions of people throughout the world. Change your policies!
Thank you.
-Lauryn Bryant
Mr. Parker
Who can speak out for your workers in the sweatshops around the world? That is the job for us, the students and Americans who do have a voice in what happens around the world. Jim Keady is helping us speak out for your workers in Indonesia.
As I am thinking about the amount of money that Nike makes, it still shocks me how blatantly you guys lie to the public and the customers. Trying to protect your image as a company is one thing, but having to contradict yourselves and lie about policies to make yourself look better is unacceptable. First off, why do you have to cover up? And why would you, as a creation of God, treat your fellow humans in a less than humane way?
I wonder if you’re actually going to read this, or if you have stopped listening to the voices speaking out. Because that would suck.
Thank you,
Jasper Liu
Hello Mr. Parker,
I just heard Jim Keady speak at my school and I am personally outraged
with the sweatshop practices in Indonesia which are run by Nike. I am
emailing to ask you to raise wages and change your practices. Please
lead your company to fair working wages. Thank you.
-Kelley
Mark, I am proud that im not wearing the swoosh. Your sweatshops are not right and i won’t buy more of your products until you justify this and neither will anybody else at Brophy. Think about it.
- Anonymous
I’m sitting in the gym right now listening to Mr. Keady and i think you really need to change. No humans should live that way.
- Anonymous
Mr. Parker,
I sat through a presentation given by Team Sweat. To start off, I am appalled at how you treat your workers. In my statistics class, we calculated what it would cost you to give your workers fair wages and it’s a very reasonable number. Why don’t you just give them what you owe them and treat them like people? Do you realize that would help you in advertising. Maybe a little “We are the only athletic company to give our employees fair wages” could help jump start your new campaign for a better future.
I refuse to buy Nike products at this point, but if you were a fair corporation, I wouldn’t mind buying your products. And Mr. Parker, this is only going to get worse for you. Let’s just say I tell one other person what you’re doing and they tell someone. In a day, we could let the entire Phoenix Metropolitan area how corrupt your company is. I might be a high school senior, but I sure as hell have a passion and won’t give up until its fixed. Where’s your heart and love for these HUMAN BEINGS? They are humans too, just like you. Give them the conditions they deserve. PLEASE!
- Kyle Underseth
Mr. Parker,
I have known that sweatshops exist around the globe, but I never would have imagined Nike as one of the corporations that mistreats its employees. Jim Keady came to my high school, Brophy College Preparatory, last week and shared with us all of the secrets your corporation hides from us. I find it absolutely revolting that you have the nerve to take advantage of people who can find no other way to survive other than to practically beg from you. I have seen the conditions that many of these Nike “employees” live in, and I can not remain on the sidelines as a bystander any longer. Now that I am aware of what you do, I plan on informing everyone I know of the sins your corporation is committing against other humans. As much as I would love to burn my old pair of Nike shoes – I know that would be harmful to the environment, so I have donated them to charity. I will never again wear another Nike product until you raise the wages of Nike employees to living conditions. By living conditions I mean that they make enough money to have shelter; enough food so that no woman, man, or child goes hungry; to purchase medicine or receive medical treatment for a sick family member; and all other basic necessities that human require to live. As of now they aren’t even receiving the basic necessities, so I hope you can find the courage in your heart to do what is right for our brothers and sisters. You will be hearing from me now and in the news until Nike increases the wages for its employees in Indonesia.
Sincerely,
Cody Ward
P.S. Do what is right.
Mr. Parker,
“Green Shoes” would be the smartest marketing idea that you could make. You say that you are doing Nike buyers a service by keeping your prices “low”. I think that you underestimate your consumers. I think that if you had a new campaign saying that you were raising your prices by five dollars because you were raising wages for the workers in Indonesia. Not only would you add consumers to your product that you originally turned off, there would be a HUGE following of people who are buying your shoes because it is “cool” to be socially aware. I mean look at the “green movement”. People will buy anything that has a world, recycle sign, or something green on it. Why? Because it is fashionable and just cool. Look at Toms Shoes. They look like colored toilet paper wrapped around your feet, yet they are very popular because when you buy them you feel like you are doing something important because it is a big sign that you are doing something socially responsible. People love being noticed, they think it is cool to help out, but if they can be recognized for it everywhere they go?! That would be an incredible marketing move. You would have fashionable shoes that are more expensive (and with that, they would be more exclusive and “hip”), they would show everyone that the wearer is “globally conscious” and that will attract the consumer even more. This new line of shoes would boost profits by a lot, and you would be helping your workers live a better life.
Thank You for the time spent reading this email
Joe Milligan
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