
Issue No 70		07 September 2000

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News

Nike Slammed Over Indonesian Factories

By Mark Morey

A new report into Nike's Indonesian factories claims the company uses aggressive and threatening behaviour towards union activists, subjects female workers to humiliating physical examinations and often requires workers to work more than Nike's 60 hours per week limit.

The report 'Like Cutting Bamboo' and the campaign 'Just Stop It' were launched at a forum at NSW Parliament House this week.

The "Just Stop It" campaign has been organised by the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA), Fair Wear and Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam Australia. The campaign aims to challenge Nike, as a major Olympic sponsor, to live up to the Olympic ideals of fairness and respect for human dignity by addressing human rights abuses in its suppliers' factories in Asia. Nike were invited to participate in the forum but they stated "In the lead up to the Olympics, all our staff are too busy and would be unable to participate in the debate".

The forum was addressed by Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu who spent August in Indonesia trying to survive on a Nike workers wages of $2 a day. Keady, a former soccer professional and coach is also the only know professional athlete to publicly refuse to endorse Nike. At the time, Keady was a coach at St John's University, the largest Catholic University in America. As part of the $3.5 million sponsorship deal, Nike required all university soccer players and coaching staff to wear Nike products. However, Keady complained about Nike's human rights record and raised issues in relation to how their work practices contravened basic human rights. St John's administrators directed Keady to wear Nike, drop his grievances and stop his public criticism of the company. Instead Keady resigned, "in all consciousness I had to resign, so I did".

For Keady, the main issue continues to be the violation of human rights, "what people don't realise is that there are individuals behind these stories, families, parents and children who are living on $2 a day. It is inhumane and ideologically wrong and it violates human rights". Keady believes that it is the silence of institutions such as St Johns that legitimises companies like Nike and does not address their poor practices.

Leslie Kretzu, who travelled with Keady, stated that from their discussions with factory employees, OH&S standards "mean not too much" in many of the factories. Workers stated that before independent inspections of their factory by Nike auditors Price Waterhouse Coopers, management would change the toxic glue (R105) to a less toxic variety (R107) for the duration of the audit. Staff also received no training on how to use toxic chemicals. Masks used by factory staff were of a poor quality and the glue fumes seeped through the masks regardless. Prior to audit inspections workers were always given new masks. Workers received only two clean pairs of gloves a week instead of a clean pair daily. However, they always received a clear pay on the days the auditors were in the factory. Nike is prepared to reimburse medical bills once the worker has paid their bill in full. But because of the low wages, no workers have the savings that would allow them to pay for medical assistance up front. Workers stated they would rather have access to a health plan rather than access to the limited medical facilities provided at the factory clinics.

Ms Kretzu believed fear was a significant component in the management of staff at these factories. For example, workers were fearful of asking to use the bathroom or even to take the two toilet breaks they were permitted. In one factory there were only 5 toilets for 2000 people. Ms Kretzu said that in the factories, menstruating women were forced to wear two lots of sanitary pads and black clothes to hide bloodstains, as they knew they would bleed through their protection because of the limited toilet breaks they were afforded. Ms Kretzu stated that in some Indonesian sweatshops women were being asked to pull down their pants in front of the factory doctor in order to claim their legally-mandated menstrual leave, "this is an outrageous affront to women it violates their religious beliefs, not to mention the personal violation they experience".

Lisa Riley of Fair Wear said that nothing Nike did in relation to the way it treated the workers in its Indonesian contract factories promoted the Olympic goals of the 'harmonious development of man' or the "preservation of human dignity". Similarly, Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam Australia's report, Like Cutting Bamboo indicated, "Nike is failing to protect workers' union rights in its suppliers' factories". The campaign aims to get Nike to sign the Homeworkers Code of Practice in Australia. The Homeworkers Code of Practice is a document used by Fair Wear and the TCFUA as a way of checking if exploitation is happening and taking steps to fix it. Nike continues to refuses to sign the Code of Practice in Australia. Riley believes that Nike should live up to the Olympic ideals and sign the Home Workers Code of Practice, "Nike is an industry leader and sponsor, they need to lift their game and sign the Fear Wear Code of Practice if it (Nike) believes in the Olympic ideals and a fair days pay for a fair days work".

Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam Australia also released its disturbing report "Like Cutting Bamboo" based on research into Nike's Indonesian contract factories, the report assessed how well Nike and its factory partners in Indonesia were protecting the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. The research was conducted in March and April of this year with independent union organisers from three Nike sportshoe contract factories interviewed. The report found workers who took part in independent union activities in their factories:

have been called away from their work and subjected to aggressive and threatening interrogation by factory supervisors and managers, with warnings that if they do not resign the factory will hire thugs to attack them
have reason to suspect that the factory pays some workers to spy on union meetings
in one case, has received an anonymous threatening phone call indicating that if he valued his life he should cease publicising conditions in his factory
find that their work is subject to harsher scrutiny and continual criticism
in the PT Adis factory have been fired or been put on forced indefinite leave without pay because of small mistakes, in a way which does not happen to workers who are not members of the independent union
have been told that they will never be promoted while they remain involved in the union
have been told by supervisors that if they hold demonstrations or strikes or publicise conditions in their factory then it will result in orders being cut and that production being moved to countries where independent unions are illegal

The reports author, Tim Connor believed the monitoring undertaken by Nike of its contract factories was failing to discover these problems as the monitors either "don't talk to production line workers at all, or else interview workers without protecting their identity so workers will not speak due to fear of losing their jobs".

Other issues discovered by the research included:

although female workers are legally entitled to menstrual leave each month, if they want to claim it then they must subject themselves to a humiliating physical examination by factory doctors. As a result very few workers take this leave
workers at the PT Nikomas Gemilang factory are commonly shouted at by their supervisors if they work too slowly with epithets such as "dog", "monkey" or "pig"
workers at PT Nikomas Gemilang and the unnamed factory are often required to work more than Nike's 60 hours per week limit. In Nikomas workers who refuse overtime are humiliated in front of other workers, by being made to clean the toilets or stand in front of other workers during work-time. In Adis and the unnamed factory if workers refuse overtime they are given a warning letter, and if they receive three warning letters they are fired
in all three factories wages for a standard working week are well below what workers say they need to meet their basic needs. When workers work 60-70 hours per week then the additional overtime pay brings the income of childless workers up to a point where they are able to feed, clothe and house themselves and save a small amount. Those workers with children are in a dire financial position even with overtime pay.

Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam Australia, together with Fear Wear and the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia are calling for Nike to:

1. Allow regular spot-checks of all its contract factories by genuinely independent monitors 2. Establish a confidential, independent complaints mechanism for Nike workers who feel their rights are being infringed; and 3. Sign the Homeworkers Code of Practice in Australia

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Issue 70 contents

Interview: New Internationalism
In its battle with Rio Tinto the CFMEU has pioneered global campaigning. National Secretary John Maitland talks to Workers Online about globalisation, a union response and using new technologies to organise .

History: Pickets and Police
S11 protestors would do well to be wary. Fred Paterson, CPA member of the Qld Parliament, was bashed by the Queensland police on St Patrick's Day 1948, when a Labor Government was in power in that state.

Education: The WEF -Why Should We Care?
An event like the World Economic Forum attracts all the spin doctors for every interest, often obscuring real issues. For educators the issues may seem remote but a closer look shows that services like public education could be dramatically affected by the unfolding agenda of global trade liberalisation says Rob Durbridge.

Economics: A Vandalised Economy
Since New Zealand was opened up to the forces of globalisation, it has performed dismally, both economically and socially. NZCTU Economist Peter Conway reports.

Unions: Our Vital Role in Society
Eight months into his new role as ACTU Secretary Greg Combet reflects on the challenges facing Australian unions.

International: Turning Up The Heat
John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO says the union movement can and will reform the global economy, for as Dr Martin Luther King taught us, the moral arc of history is long but it bends towards justice.

Satire: Threat to withhold pocket money derails S11 protest
MELBOURNE, Tuesday: Members of the activist collective S11 announced today that they had decided to cancel their protest at the upcoming World Economic Forum meeting at Crown Casino.

» Nike Slammed Over Indonesian Factories

» Fairfax Joins Ferals

» Federal Government Blocks Rail Merger

» Auditor-General Blows Whistle On Outsourcing Madness

» Fly By Night Labour Takes Off

» CFMEU Rejects Reith Mischief

» The Organised Olympics

» Killjoy Reith Targets Picnics and Fun

» New Economy Spawns New Plagues

» Multi-national Stymies Peace Talks

» Greed of the Fatcats

» Women Challenge Prejudice in Maritime Industry

» Building Union Raises $42,000 For Paralympians

» Get Organised! NZ Unions Tell Army