Nike workers upset over allegations
Nike workers upset over allegations
JAKARTA (JP): The worker's union of one of the 11 Nike
subcontractors in Indonesia on Friday denied the allegations
aired by antiexploitation activists at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
In a statement made available to The Jakarta Post, the
worker's union of PT Pratama Abadi Industri said the accusations
were groundless since none of the firm's 8,000 workers are
currently facing such unfavorable conditions.
"Salaries, health protection and work safety have been
properly guaranteed by the company," said the statement, which
was signed by the union's chairman, Marjuli and its 11 other
executives.
"It would definitely be different if our salaries here were to
be compared with those (people working in the same field) in the
United States because the cost of living is totally different.
In other words, the union said, an American like Jim Keady,
who leads a comfortable lifestyle in the States, would of course
face difficulties trying to survive here on the basic salary of
an Indonesian worker.
The union executives were referring to a former soccer coach
in America, who urged athletes competing in the Olympics on
Monday in Sydney, to visit Nike factories in Indonesia to see the
apparent failure of the world's giant shoe producer in protecting
workers' rights in its Indonesian factories.
Keady claims to have visited Indonesia last month and tried to
live on the wages of a Nike worker -- which he said was about Rp
10,000 (US$1.20) a day.
"You can survive, but you cannot live," he said.
"It's a starvation wage. I know, I starved on it. I lost 25
pounds and spend most of the month painfully hungry and
exhausted," said Keady, who left St. John's University in the
United States over a dispute about his refusal to wear Nike
products and is suing Nike with regards to his resignation.
Keady said workers in Indonesia were "absolutely
flabbergasted" when they found out how much athletes were paid
for endorsements.
"They begged us to bring these athletes to their homes to see
how they are forced to live, to see how they are forced to
survive, how they don't make enough money to feed their
children," he said.
Keady and other antiexploitation activists also released a
report which documents claims of intimidation and harassment of
union workers and women in the 11 factories, which has a total
workforce of 70,000, contracted to make Nike shoes in Indonesia.
The Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam Australia report, based on
interviews conducted with industrial union organizers in
Indonesian factories, said workers were threatened with violence
if they tried to join unions, that union members were fired for
small mistakes and that women were intimidated into not applying
for menstrual leave by being required to undergo humiliating
examinations.
But the union workers of PT Pratama Abadi Industri, one of the
11 subcontractors, emphasized that none of the allegations are
true of their plant.
"Female workers taking leave during the menstrual period don't
feel threatened because of the trust between the employees and
the company," the union said.
Globally, Nike has 708 factories operated by contract
companies and employing about 550,000 people.
In Indonesia, it has been operating for almost 12 years with
most of its subcontractor factories, which includes PT Astra
Graphia, PT Hardaya Aneka Shoes Industry and PT Nagasakti Parama
Shoes Industry, are located in Tangerang, west of capital
Jakarta.
No statements from workers or managements of the other
factories could be obtained.
The 11 factories produce between 45 million and 55 million
pairs of shoes per year with only 2 percent going to the local
market. The rest are shipped to overseas markets, particularly
the U.S. (bsr)