In 2003, Phillip Knight, the CEO of Nike, earned more than $2 million. In that same year, the average employee in one of Nikes small industrial embroidery factories in Honduras earned about 93 cents per hour, working 10 hours of overtime per week.
According to Nikes employees in Honduras, they are under constant pressure to reach production goals. They work in factories, where temperatures range from 94 to 100 degrees. During a typical 12-hour shift, factory workers get one 30-minute supper break. They are on their feet tending to the silk screening machines the rest of the day.
So why are Nikes factory workers without a union? According to these workers, union affiliation is a threat to their job security. The general manager of the Nike factory in Honduras told his employees that he would prefer to close the factory, and to leave them without jobs, than to accept unions. When Nikes employees met with NikeWatch, an organization dedicated to improving conditions for Nikes laborers, they told the representatives that if the company found out that they were meeting with NikeWatch, they would be fired immediately.
Nike has taken some positive steps to improve working conditions in their factories, according to human rights organizations, which include reforms enabling workers to take sick leave and changes that have reduced the frequency of sexual harassment. However, these reforms fall short of ideal conditions for Nikes employees.
From Korea to Australia, Nike continues to have ongoing problems in its factories. Some of these problems include verbal harassment and humiliation, respiratory illness from toxic chemical inhalation, and dangerous machinery.
Nike is in a tough spot, however, according to Nike's vice-president for Corporate Responsibility, Maria Eitel. We are committed to staying with factories, she says, because if we leave, those workers either lose their jobs or move to a buyer other than Nike who is not as rigorous on code compliance. Neither solution is better for workers.
The campaign to sway Nike to improve its labor practices has been running more than 8 years. In that time, independent research has shown that, although Nike claims to have been working to eliminate labor abuses, there has not been much improvement in this issue.
The lives of Nikes factory workers are dominated by poverty and fear. Whether Nike is in a tough spot or not, this is not an acceptable way to do business, and something has to be done. According to one worker in Honduras, we dont want to get fired. We need these jobs, but want to win something, some improvements in our rights. That isn't too much to ask, right? For more information on NikeWatch's campaign, go to http://www.caa.org.au/campaigns/nike/.
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