Nike company denies bad labor conditions

Nike company denies bad labor conditions

SERPONG, Tangerang (JP): PT Pratama Abadi Industri, a
subcontracting firm producing world-renowned Nike sportswear, has
denied abusing workers, saying the company's labor conditions
were much better than the Indonesian government required.

Company president, Seo Yeong Yul said the company's management
had complied with the Indonesian labor laws and met all the
requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between
U.S.-based Nike Inc. and his management since the company started
in 1991.

"We employ more than 7,000 workers, not one of them is a
child. The workers get an average of Rp 315,000 (US$133) in
monthly wages, which is higher than the government-set minimum
wages," he said while accompanying Minister of Manpower Abdul
Latief on his visit to the plant Tuesday.

Workers who have been employed for three years or more get
their wages upgraded twice a year. "This was ruled in the
collective labor agreement signed by the management and the
workers' representatives," he said.

The current monthly minimum wage for workers in Greater
Jakarta is Rp 156,000. The Minister of Manpower has just
announced an increase of the amount by 10.07 percent to Rp
172,500 as of April 1.

Since 1991, Oregon-based Nike Inc. has been under fire with
U.S. labor advocacy groups accusing it of employing children
through its subcontractors in Asia, including Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Indonesia. American NGOs persuaded basketball star
and Nike spokesman Michael Jordan to intercede with the company.

Last July, Cici Sukaesih, a former worker of PT Sang Hwa Dunia
in Serang, West Java, told Nike Inc. in Oregon about the unfair
dismissal of herself and her fellow workers, and demanded the
sportswear giant to press the South Korean contractor to rehire
them and improve labor conditions in the plant.

Seo said Tuesday the child labor and underpayment issues were
exposed by other-brand footwear manufacturers due to the fierce
competition in the sector while, in the United States, the issues
were aired in protests organized by labor advocacy groups.

Seo, who speaks Indonesian fluently and is applying for
Indonesian citizenship, said the factory was built under strict
agreement between the company and Nike Inc. and the company has
been inspected once every three months by Nike Inc.

The agreement, included in the MOU signed by the management
and Nike Inc. clearly prohibits child labor and forced workers.
It also pledges compliance with applicable government regulations
regarding minimum wages and overtime payment.

Meanwhile, PT Pratama Abadi Industri personnel manager Danny
M. Ginting Suka, said the 7,000 workers employed in the company
were between 20 and 24 years old. They have been registered in
the government-run social security program (Jamsostek).

"Every month, we pay the state-owned PT Jamsostek over Rp 48
million, the workers' dues for the social security program," he
said.

He said the company had also developed a health and
occupational safety program to prevent workers from occupational
accidents in their work places. "Despite using accident-prone
machinery, no occupational accidents have happened in the plant,"
he said.

Marzuli, chairman of the Federation of All Indonesian Workers
Union (FSPSI) unit in the plant, hailed the management's program
to develop corporate culture and industrial relations in the
company.

He said the management and the FSPSI unit were committed to
settling any labor disputes at the negotiating tables and, under
this mechanism, the two sides have renewed the collective labor
agreement once in two years.

"New employees are paid around Rp 250,000 and those employed
for over two years receive over Rp 300,000 per month. Most
workers get more because they work overtime and that is paid at
Rp 2,000 per hour," he said. (rms)