Nike

THE DARK SIDE OF NIKE

Poor working conditions have been present for centuries. Often times little or nothing is done unless a tragedy occurs to persuade the public to rally for worker rights. This was definitely the case in the United States during the Industrial Revolution and even late in the 20th Century.
These conditions have for most purposes disappeared in the United States, with theexception of some in the agricultural sector. However, internationally, mainly in poor third world countries, that is far from the truth. Large corporations from the United States have moved a large portion of their factories overseas to circumvent the strict working regulations within the United States. The third world countries such as Vietnam, China, South Korea, and Taiwan provide access toreadily abundant cheap labor.
These corporations could now reap the benefit of the United States consumer market, while keeping their costs extremely low in offshore production. The media has awakened the public to this fact and several prominent corporations have come under fire lately for the malpractices. No corporation has come under as much criticism as the culture icon of Nike. Nike and manyother large brand name companies (Apple, Starbucks, etc.) have given worthy evidence that they are harborers of unpaid child labor. Nike has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45 countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, andMalaysia. Nike is hesitant to disclose information about the contract companies it works with.
It was illustrated that conditions were sub-par in several critical areas of Nike’s factories overseas and minimal standards needed to be reached for all employees. For several years little was known about Nike’s factories simply because there was little concern. But once news broke, the company was attackedceaselessly and strict recommendations were made to improve conditions.
Nike has been criticized for contracting with factories (known as Nike sweatshops) in countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico. Vietnam Labor Watch, an activist group, has documented that factories contracted by Nike have violated minimum wage and overtime laws in Vietnam as late as 1996, although Nike claimsthat this practice has been stopped. The company has been subject to much critical coverage of the often poor working conditions and exploitation of cheap overseas labor employed in the free trade zones where their goods are typically manufactured. Sources for this criticism include Naomi Klein's book No Logo and Michael Moore documentaries.

EVIDENCE
A project through the University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill found workers were exposed to toxic isocyanates and other chemicals in footwear factories in Thailand. In addition to inhalation, dermal exposure was the biggest problem found. This could result in allergic reactions including asthmatic reactions.
In 2001, a BBC documentary uncovered occurrences 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 day.
As of July 2011, Nike stated that two-thirds of its factories producing Converse products still do not meet the company's standards for worker treatment. A July 2011 Associated Press article stated that employees at the company's plants in Indonesia reported constant abuse from supervisor
During the1990s, Nike faced criticism for the use of child labor in Cambodia and Pakistan in factories it contracted to manufacture soccer balls. Although Nike took action to curb or at least reduce the practice, they continue to contract their production to companies that operate in areas where inadequate regulation and monitoring make it hard to ensure that child labor is not being used.
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