Nike is one of the largest and most profitable sports shoe, clothing, and equipment companies in the world with more than 700 factories producing Nike products in over 50 countries. In 2001, the company netted $589 million in income from nearly $9.5 billion in sales.

The company likes to say that it strives to be a responsible global citizen and supports transparency in its operation. Nike has made some improvements in the past decade, mainly in response to criticism from labor rights and human rights groups, such as signing on to voluntary initiatives, disclosing factory locations, and eliminating the use of toxic glues at the work place. Yet much of this is mere window dressing. While some factories have witnessed improvements, most workers at Nike contractors still suffer routine abuses of their basic labor rights. For the more than 500,000 overseas workers making Nike shoes and apparel, excessive work hours, poverty wages, harassment, and restrictions on organizing are still the norm. Although Nike's own code of conduct states that the company respects the right to freedom of association, it operates in numerous countries that have a history of labor rights abuses, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and China.

Nike's contractors in Indonesia have brought the company a lot of bad media exposure. In September 1999, a US student delegation observed Indonesian soldiers stationed at the PT Nikomas Gemilang factory at a time when wage negotiations were being conducted. When this was brought to Nike's attention, company representative Dusty Kidd responded that Nike had "specifically instructed factories not to allow military personnel to be stationed on factory premises." The factory then replaced the soldiers with non-military security. Subsequently, during a peaceful strike action by workers at PT Nikomas Gemilang on December 18, 1999, armed police were called into the factory and together with factory security guards they threatened and provoked workers. As recently as January 2002, workers at PT Nikomas Gemilang reported that soldiers were again being employed by the factory and were stationed in front of the plant. The soldiers' presence at the factory increases workers' fear that union involvement or participation in industrial action could put their safety at risk.

Restrictions on organizing are not the only labor rights violations that workers at Nike factories face. Unless properly managed, the processes involved in sport shoe production can pose very serious risks to workers' health and safety. Potential problems include exposure to dangerous chemicals used in glues that can cause respiratory and neural illnesses; musculoskeletal disorders from repetitive motion injuries and heavy lifting; acute injury hazards such as lacerations, amputations, crush injuries, or falls; and exposure to excessive heat or noise.

But few of the countries where Nike operates require records about work-related injuries or illnesses. Indonesia-where Nike subcontractors employ more than 100,000 people-does not require that any health and safety records be kept. Visits to Nike factories by American health and safety experts indicate that the company has done little to minimize these workplace hazards and provide workers with protective equipment and adequate health and safety training.

Incredibly long hours and forced overtime represent another threat to workers' health. At the PT Pratama Abadi plant in Indonesia, employees generally work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. According to American health and safety experts, studies have shown a clear link between excessive overtime, worker fatigue, and injuries-when workers are tired, they are more likely to become careless and injure themselves.

Nike has already publicly made it clear that transparency and disclosure of work conditions in its factories are important for socially responsible business. But labor rights violations persist and often only come to light because of the determined efforts and sustained public pressure of non-governmental organizations. A corporate accountability framework like International Right to Know would provide a consistent framework for Nike to report on the health and safety at its factories and its use of security personnel. It would empower local communities to ensure that Nike is living up to its self-proclaimed standards and would allow consumers around the world to know under what conditions their sporting goods are produced.

Written by Jason Mark
August 2002
Global Exchange

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