Abuse Of Nike

In America, Nike's owners see the abuse much differently. In front of hundreds of shareholders, after announcing record earnings and another stock split, Nike's president and CEO, Phil Knight minimized the problems in Asia as simply an incident in which a single worker was hit over the head by a supervisor. Nike spokesperson Jim Small, while knowing that the conditions in the sixteen Indonesian plants are not ideal, said, "The bottom line is: Do we abuse our workers? Absolutely not." (Levy, "Working conditions protested at the opening of a new store). Roberta Baskin of CBS News commented that, "It turns out Nike has a great deal to learn about what goes on inside these factories."

With the above mentioned, there is a huge expectation from Nike in regards to their corporate responsibility but there have been many criticisms and protesters against Nike with regards to their labour noncompliance and several other CSR issues. One of the major claims of these protesters against Nike is that the organisation works virtual slave plants as a result of their use of sweatshops. The employees in these sweatshops are exposed to terrible working conditions such as low wages and forced overtime, where they are forced to work 65 hours per week and

The factories are also known for providing very poor living arrangements for the workers to live in through the extent of their contracts. There has been evidence found of individuals being forced to live in extremely overcrowded and dirty quarters with poor bathroom facilities. Workers and organizations all around the world have tried to push the Nike corporation to put a stop to these sweatshops, but none has prevailed. In some of the factories that Nike owns, the workers have attempted to form a union to protest the conditions of their contract, but they have never succeeded. The Nike corporations fight the unions by shutting down the factories and relocating the jobs to a different non-unionized factory (Bain). Nike has been criticized ever since the start for allowing these conditions to continue, and to this day, this problem is still

Unfortunately, the same factor that contributed to Nike’s exponential growth (low-cost labor and production) also contributed to hurting Nike’s public image as a leader in “athleticism, health and fitness, and innovative marketing and design” (Locke, 2002). Nike was criticized for unethical practices by their subcontractors, which included underpaid workers, poor working conditions, child labor, and abuse (Locke, 2002).

Legally the company has done no wrong doing, and the types of environments that these sweatshops are located in are normal within the countries cultures. The main issue in this case is the ethical responsibility of Nike to ensure that the workers work in humane work environments, and are paid wages that they are able to survive on (Vann, n.d.).

The company Nike operates in over 50 different companies. This makes them a very large global company. Nike makes all kinds of products including gym shoes, clothing and apparel, equipment and accessories. “In 2004, Nike products were manufactured by more than 800 suppliers, employing over 600,000 workers in 51 countries” (Locke, Kochan, Romis & Qin, 2007, p. 6). Nike came under fire because of their workers that work outside the United States. In other countries, labor laws are unlike those within the United States. Large corporations often exploit the fact that they can pay laborers significantly less outside of the United States. Companies may also provide less than favorable working conditions to its labor force outside of the United States.

Should Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories that it does not own but where subcontractors make products for Nike?

After studying related materials and walked through lectures regarding TNCs, I recalled that Nike has been criticised for its deployment of sweatshops and child labour, I was frightening that Nike workers were kicked and verbally abused at Converse factories in Indonesia in 2011.1 It is difficult for me to believe Nike’s claims that they could act not much to stop it and I think that Nike has power to demand their contractors to comply with the code, I feel that Nike infringes Human Rights. I am convinced that consumer boycotts and petitions would be effective to push Nike to alter its mal-practice, also, I agree that we need government regulation to reinforce TNCs to comply worldwide rules including legal liability.2

Nike also uses child labor. Kids work on making all sorts of there products. According to the daily mail, workers in Indonesia are said to be physically and mentally abused in a Nike factory. The company also uses child labor

Nike is criticized for contracting with factories (known as Nike sweatshops) in third world countries. Vietnam Labor Watch, an labor union group, has documented that contracted factories by Nike have not been following the minimum wage and overtime rules and regulations in Vietnam as late as 1996, Though Nikes claims to have stopped these unfair practices. The Company has been accused of offering poor working conditions for their workers overseas employed in free trade zones where there goods are manufactured. Sources for this criticism are Naomi Klein's book No Logo and Michael Moore documentaries. Other than that, In the 1990s, Nike faced criticism claims for child labor in Cambodia and Pakistan in factories it contracted to produce footballs. Although Nike took action to reduce the practice, they still continue to contract their production to firms in countries with less regulatory checks and child labor laws so that they are not caught in the future. In 2001, a BBC documentary uncovered their practices of child labor and poor working conditions in a Cambodian factory used by Nike. The documentary focused on six girls, who all worked seven days a week, often 16 hours a

Nike has suffered attacks from a number of agencies and organizations throughout the world that claim that the workers who manufacture Nike shoes are denied the basic essentials of living—a fair wage and decent benefits. All

Braddock, J. (2011). Nike faces allegations of worker abuse in Indonesia. World Socialist WebSite. Retrieved June 14, 2013 from http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/09/nike-s08.html

During the late 80s and early 90s Nike was faced with a series of labor strike back at home due to unethical labor practices by its independent countries in third world countries. It is well known for Nike to outsource almost all its production from third world countries at cheap prices and sell them in U.S. market at an abnormal profit. The company began outsourcing its products from Japan where labor was competent and wages were very low. The living standards were raised which prompted Nike to outsource its products from Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia since wages in these countries were extremely low and labor for these products were competent due to rapid development of the Japanese economy. The outsourcing of footwear products from Asian countries enables Nike to earn high profits and enjoy a competitive advantage over its rivals in the footwear industry. The company invests the high profits realized in marketing its products through celebrities. For instance, Michael Jordan was used to advertise the positive image of Nike Company (Lipschutz and James, pp. 87-96).

Another issue faced by workers for NIKE is the exploitation of children through child labour. Child labour is another frequent issue related to

The problems seemed to be occurring in the Pou Chen Group Factory in Sukabumi, which is located about 100 kilometers from Jakarta. This factory started making Converse shoes in 2007, which was four years after Nike bought Converse. It has been reported that, “workers making Nike’s Converse brand sneakers in Indonesia said supervisors regularly physically assaulted and verbally abused them. Nike admits that abuses occurred but insists there was little it could do to stop it.” http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/09/nike-s08.html