| It was in 1977 when Nike began to slowly move the manufacturing
of their shoes out of the U.S and into Asia. The process took place
over the next seven years. Sixty-five thousand Americans employed
by Nike who had been making $8-11/hour found themselves unemployed. Cheap
labor was the primary motivation for the offshore move. Over the
next two decades other predominant shoe companies also began subcontracting
to Asian sweatshops.
The factories are Korean and Taiwanese owned. Single women between the ages of 17-30 make up 85% of the 120 thousand workers who are each reportedly pressured to produce about five pairs of Nikes every day. Most of these women come from poor backgrounds and send a large part of their wages to their poverty-stricken families. To make foreign investment in the country more inviting, the
Indonesian
Since Nike and other prodominent companies have been in Indonesia per capita income has tripled. Dr. Yingfeng Xu, Professor of Economics at the University of Alberta, estimates an Indonesian worker getting paid $42/month is almost the same as a Canadian worker getting paid $1200/month. "The cost of living in Indonesia is low, you have to keep this in mind," said Dr. Xu. "The Indonesian people can live a much better life than they did previously with these wages." Critics have also implied the Indonesian government graciously supplies militant force to foreign investors when workers begin to object to sweatshop conditions and try to set up labor unions. One such alleged example happened last year. Twelve workers who began protesting over working conditions were locked in an unused factory room for one week and guarded by a member of the military. When contacted, an Indonesian government official within the Department of Foreign Affairs was asked, "Do you believe the presence companies such as Nike have benefited the people of Indonesia?" he abruptly hung up. .In many reports it would seem as though Nike sees itself as a pioneering company. Over the years they have made their way into third world countries and caused virtual industrial revolutions. Nike claims to have improved working conditions and helped to lower the percentage of people living in poverty. They use their past presence in Korea and Japan as examples. They believe they are paving the way for higher-paying industries. "These companies can make a positive contribution by moving their production to Asia. They employ the unskilled labor and then they can enjoy employment growth and high income and in turn boost the local economy. You can argue if this is good or bad. The local people will experience a rapid income growth, but of course their traditional way of life will be changed. That may be seen as being regrettable, but it's part of the growing pains," said Dr. Xu. Activist groups point out a conspicuous pattern of behavior by Nike. When workers fight for better working conditions, and begin to see results, Nike starts to look toward virgin territory to subcontract their manufacturing. Such is the case with the sweatshops in Vietnam. Just as it was in Indonesia, Nike's contractors are paying Vietnamese workers notably less than minimum wage. There have also been well-publicized incidences of brutality within the factories. One situation involved a factory supervisor lining up 15 workers and beating them all with the sole of a shoe. They were being punished for poor sewing. Two of victims were sent to a hospital. In another factory 45 women were forced by their supervisor to kneel down and keep their hands in the air for 25 minutes. In both cases the supervisors were eventually disciplined. Also, a supervisor fled Vietnam after he was accused of sexually molesting several women workers. He inevitably returned to Vietnam to face criminal charges. "To say that this is a systematic pattern of behavior is not factual. We have 25 thousand employees in Vietnam and only three incidents have been reported. It is three too many. But is it a pattern of negligence on the part of Nike? Absolutely not," said Jim Small. |