Having attended a presentation by Jim Keaty and Leslie Kretzu detailing their experiences living with Nike workers in Tangerang, Indonesia, I felt compelled to reply to Vada Manager’s guest commentary (“Nike cares for its contract employees,” ODE, Feb. 12).
Manager stated Nike’s products are made at factories that regularly undergo independent monitoring. In fact, the monitoring organizations utilized by Nike are PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who is paid by Nike to provide monitoring services, and the Fair Labor Association, of which Nike is a founder and board member. Hardly the impartial scenario implied by “independent monitoring.”
It’s no accident corporations choose to locate factories in countries with notoriously lax enforcement of labor, health and safety standards. Even when monitors discover violations, their reports are paper tigers without the teeth to force factories to make required changes. Companies realize the cost of hiring monitors is an investment in corporate image that helps maintain profits.
Manager also referred to the Global Alliance for Workers study (underwritten by Nike to the tune of $7.8 million, incidentally) stating that “a majority of workers expressed satisfaction with their relationship with their superiors and managers.” This is not surprising considering that interviewees who meet with monitors are hand-picked by management and interviews are done with management often acting as translators. How honest is a worker likely to be about factory conditions and supervisors with a supervisor present?
Manager also talked about wages and benefits. At minimum wage, workers in Indonesia receive 300,000 to 350,000 rupiah, which is $26 a month or 76 cents per day. Many people reason that since costs in the country are lower, workers can afford to make less. According to calculations by Keaty and Kretzu, however, a meal of rice and veggies, a soft drink (less expensive than bottled water, local water being non-potable) and a bag of peanuts cost 62 percent of a workers daily wage. That would be like an American minimum wage worker paying $31 for a sandwich, chips and drink! Or imagine not being able to afford the medicine and doctor’s office visit for a sick child because it costs 654 times your daily wage.
Even the Indonesian government admits the minimum wage meets only 80 percent of an individual employee’s financial needs. Yet, economically struggling countries are pressured by foreign governments, corporations and financial institutions to maintain a “favorable investment climate,” which encourages the suppression of labor movements and attempts to increase minimum wages.
Taking advantage of exploitable workers under deplorable labor conditions is how companies can realize the gargantuan profits which make it possible to amass obscene personal fortunes (Phil Knight’s net worth: $52 billion) and offer lucrative endorsement contracts. Is it right for Tiger Woods to make $100 million or the University of Michigan $25 million for wearing Nike products while the laborers can not even meet their basic needs working 60 hours a week to make them?
This is a complex issue without easy answers. But rather than accept the corporate party line, educate yourselves. As consumers, we are part of the equation. I urge you to go to: /www.nikewages.org./FAQs.html#Anchor-49575/ for an excellent in-depth analysis of this issue.