Boycott Nike Products

Just a reminder to be sure to remember to boycott Nike the next time you get your running shoes and other sporting goods.

They give an eighteen year old kid who can put a ball through a hoop extremely well a $90 million dollar contract and yet send jobs overseas to exploit children and women in Vietnam, China, and Indonesia.

http://www.saigon.com/~nike/\

Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos

Say, have you ever been to the asian factories where they produce footwear? If you haven’t, you should pay a visit before making any judgements. The sites you mentioned are over 3 years old and it’s easy to shout something without PROVE or FACTS! Check out this recent article which paints a very different picture…

“But cheap manual labour is in evidence too. YY estimates leather is 60% of the cost of a shoe.”

Have things changed? So much in only three years? That’s just one story from one reporter who was likely shown around by the firm.

“The firm says it abides by the minimum wage of 450 yuan ($54.3; £32) a month, pays overtime at time and a half and does not force it on workers.”

Of course they wouldn’t lie about that would they?

Her’s some newer stuff. And no I haven’t been there but I’ll trustthe multitude of recent articles stating nothing has really changed.

“Despite some small steps forward, poverty and fear still dominate the lives of Nike and Adidas workers in Indonesia.” According to the Australia-based OCAA, about 80 percent of the employees in Indonesian factories that supply product to Nike and Adidas are women aged 17 to 29, and that many live in “extreme poverty” with wages amounting to roughly $2 a day.

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2002/03/04/daily51.html

About 85 percent of those workers are women, generally 18 to 25 years old, said Kernaghan, and they’re usually fired by the time they’re 30, when they start to become a health liability and begin to question the work environment.

http://www.thenewsherald.com/stories/121003/bus_20031210002.shtml

http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/nike02-05-02.htm

http://www.twoharborsmn.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=2&story_id=159628

Anyway you cut it I’m not giving them anymore business because they pay petty wages for cheap labor yet (dollars a month) but can somehow afford to throw millions to athletes for endorsements. Screw them. All I can do is state my opinion and hope you follow suit as well.

Actually I heard the same complaints from workers at my local McDonalds… :unamused: There isn’t even a minimum wage for McD employees in the States. Let’s face it: factorywork in Asia is like McD work over here with low pay and not much future.
The US of A has promoted the capitalist businessculture of greed and money so don’t complain if it hurts some people… It’s not just Nike or other companies!!! IT’S THE CORPORATE SYSTEM!!!

FYI: Indonesian made Nike products retail for > $60 US. <$60 plus product is made in Chinese or Taiwanese factories. $90 running shoes are not made in Indonesia, and are only madei nthree factories in China.

FYI: a majority of non Nike or big five shoe product (Nike Adidas Reebok, Puma, New Balance) are made in less than respectable factories in Asia.

Fact: due to the sweatshop controversy, Nike and big five manufacturers have improved substantially their workers conditions. Including housing provisions, healthcare, child care, educational stipends and union reporesenation. While it may not reflect it in the base salaries, workers do get these and other compensation included with employment. (when was the last time you got free healthcare at your job or in an American factory? My grand parents and parents didn’t.)

Fact: companies such as Diesel, Sketchers, Phat Farm, regurlarly use substandard manufacturing in order to retail their product at “competative” pricing. This manufacturing routinely flouts Western style manufacturing sytems of and often takes place in state owned factories in China, Locally owned factories in Indonesia, Chinese owned factories in Thailand. Factories such as these do not use water soluble glue for bonding, air/ environmental quality controls, provide any heathcare or medical attention, allow union representation or modernized manufacturing techniques. They rely heavily on an unskilled labor force utilizing five times as many workers per process.

Fact: Materials are about 60% of the cost of the shoe. labor and construction is 40% of the shoe. American and western made shoes average about the same ratio although at five times the cost. American sourced leather is 120% more expensive than Indoenesian sourced leather. (source: Wolverine leathers (USA) versus PT Wu-Tan Indo Tannery) this is due to the labor costs.

Fact: Nike certified Indonesian factory workers pay rate is based on the pay rate of doctors in local hospitals or in private practice. Doctors salaries are one of the many benchmarks for local liveable wages. Indonesian doctors make roughly US $800/month. US$250/month will pay a mortage on a three bedroom western style house in a 1/2 acre of land in the suburbs of Jakarta.

What are you wearing on your feet? Chances are it was made in Asia. What are you wearing on your back? Chances are it was made in Asia. Boycotting Nike won’t help the cause. Being more informed will.

Tigapulu,

Thanks for the voice of reason, i’m glad to see an informed post.

Just to re-cap, if you really want to pay workers western manufacturing rates for shoes you’ve got to be willing to pay in excess for $200 for a pair.

So how much did New Balance pay it’s workers for your pair of geek rockers? Well lets break it dow, if you bought them for $65 at Footlocker or Famous Footwear, they boughttehm from NB for about $30 (why do they get more half the cost or more, I don’t know), that means the manufacurer paid about $15 for the shoe and kept $15 for R&D, endorcments, advertising, overhead, and profit, The factory gets $15, keeps like $5 for their overhead and profit. $10 is left to make the shoe, $6 pays for that crappy grey nubuck and dated lining materials, $4 goes to the 25 or so people it takes to puit your shoe together.

The cheaper the shoe, the more the screws are turned on labor costs.

Why have you never heard that New Balance, and many other companies pay their workes less? Simple, it’s not as good of a news story.

I’ve worked at a few of these places and they can be ruthless. When Nike rolls into a factory with a shoe thats going to sell big, the factories are pumped because they know they are going to get paid well.

Why have you never heard that Nike is pioneering new labor practices, pays it’s workes more than the average, and insists that they work less hours than the legal limit (which is 70-90 hours in some of these places!)? Again, that just doesn’t sell newspapers, and Nike would never make a fuss about it.

So hears a reminder for you, don’t believe everything you read in whatever free village voice paper you’re reading in the crapper every morning, you risk coming off like an un-infored idiot. Especially if you like to post little reminders telling people what to do, dumbass.

Actually, it can be quite frustrating at times. Nike’s auditing program (SHAPE) is so strict in regards to labor practices and environmental impact that they can simply not use many of the vendors/factories that most of the other mega brands in the world use. This is obviously a good thing, but it makes it very hard at times to use a new vendor or even a Co-brand Partner’s supplier (Lego, Philips, etc.) because they usually cannot meet Nike standards without making drastic and costly changes to their facilities. If they do want to partner with Nike, however, they must change and upgrade their practices, often times going against regional governmental laws which do not favor workers as much as Nike’s policies.

In the end, people in the consumer product’s industry that are concerned, and in the know, realize that Nike is dedicated to changing and influencing labor practice and manufacturing behaviors…

have you considered how Wal-Mart is effecting labor practices stateside and abroad. They are so big and influential that their practices are extremely detrimental and potentially devastating in the future.

If you ask me… I think you should start boycotting cigarette companies first…

I see them as the greater evil… moreso than Nike…

…Nike’s millions are no match for cigarette companies’ billions…

It’s highly unlikely that buying and using shoes/sports equipment will kill you…

Just a thought…

Thats actually the scariest thing to me. I have gone into Wal mart and browsed their shoe shelves. for $24.99 you can get a PU coated leather/split suede knockoff Puma (down to the swoop) with an airbag in a PU midsole.

that means that shoe is FOB (fresh off boat) at $6-8 US. not including duties… so that leaves the factory roughly $2 US to pay the 120 workers who made the shoe.

I know of factories in Indonesia who proudly advertise the fact that they: “happily work with Wal mart–Wal Mart #1!!!” I have never stepped into any of them, nor do I want to; because I’m afraid to see just how they cut corners to make those margins.

This sounds a little like a previously deleted Core thread. I still happen to have the link I posted there which may still … still … be of interest:

I’m not in the shoe industry, but from what I’ve read and heard, Nike isn’t the problem. As for the comment

don’t believe everything you read in whatever free village voice paper

I’m not so sure it’s an issue of “believe” as it is of understanding and context. It doesn’t much matter in what publication it’s written, the facts are pretty much the facts. But when most people are told of the working conditions overseas and the pay, they forget that it’s a different culture. VERY different. Our standards don’t really apply. Oftentimes, I’ve found that my take on an article is very different than my sibling’s - but it’s the same article. Difference is: I’ve been there and worked with these people, so I have a different perspective.

The only thing we all probably have in common is a general idea of fairness: people want to work reasonable hours, under non-life-threatening conditions, for wages that meet their economic needs, with the hope of providing for their family’s needs in the present and foreseeable future. But commonsense fairness is easily obscured by thoughts of profit. I agree that Wal*Mart is a part of the problem, but the bigger problem is American consumers who just don’t care. Even if you tell them this is happening, it doesn’t really stop them from buying the products. America has become addicted to consumption, imo; and that addiction is going to be a problem for the U.S. I’m afraid.

“.”

I’d agree with that. They meerly satisfy a market demand, we all work with the guy who runs around and brags how he got his shirt for $5 or whatever. That’s the problem. Everyone falls into the competive consumer mentality from time to time, but realiistiicly, if a shirt lasts you 3 years, shouldn’t it’s value be more than $5?