Nike's sound of silence

Nike's sound of silence

On Sept. 5 this newspaper carried a news report on Mr. Jim
Keady's attempt to replicate the lifestyle (if it can be called
that) of Nike's Indonesian workers, and his criticism of Nike
Indonesia's labor practices. On Sept. 11 Nike's Indonesia manager
Mr. Tony Naha replied to Keady's criticism, and in a Sept. 13
article I questioned Nike's rebuttal, specifically its wage
policy for local workers. I asked Nike to present some financial
data to support their position that their system was just.

Since Nike had already opened the door to this area of
discussion by claiming publicly that their wage policy is fair
and reasonable, it seemed reasonable to ask the company to
explain publicly whether their wage system is based on
responsible financial considerations. To date Nike has not
responded.

Silence in response to a categorical question is construed in
the law as assent. Should we then assume that Nike's silence is a
tacit acknowledgement that the wages of local workers are
unconscionably low? And what will be the Indonesian government's
response to Nike's silent admission that they cannot defend their
exploitation of Indonesian workers? Unfortunately, this is one
nationalism issue that does not yet seem to interest the
politicians.

DONNA K. WOODWARD

Medan, North Sumatra