Let's start with Nike- a popular, generally respected sports brand that takes up a large space in my closet and sports equipment. I found the information horrifying, I've chosen not to go into extreme detail because it's not really necessary in order to make an impact. Nike remains defensive on it's involvement with sweatshops and child labour and have worked hard to keep there hands clean legally.
"'By far our worst experience and biggest mistake was in Pakistan, where we blew it,' the report said. In 1995 Nike said it thought it had tied up with responsible factories in Sialkot, in Pakistan, that would manufacture well-made footballs and provide good conditions for workers. Instead, the work was sub-contracted round local villages, and children were drawn into the production process. Now, it insisted, any factory found to be employing a child must take that worker out of the factory, pay him or her a wage, provide education and re-hire them only when they were old enough.
Mistakes, however, continue to happen. In recent years, Nike has been criticized for its employment of child labor in Cambodia, but the company defended itself by saying fake evidence of age could be bought in Cambodia for as little as $5." (http://commondreams.org/headlines01/1020-01.htm)
Along with this scandal the following were documented:
Nike has issued several statements explaining that they don't intend for these problems to happen and they certainly don't condone it. As mentioned above, it is extremely easy for third world countries to forge birth documents and get employed at a young age which in turn should not reflect the intentions of the company. However, with all of the released information and current problems it's safe to safe that although Nike may not want there manufacturers to work in poor conditions, they certainly aren't doing much about it.
The problem in my opinion isn't simply with the company itself. In the past Nike was criticized for their support in child labour and poor working conditions however they do seem to be addressing it as best as they can given the circumstances, which is something I will discuss in further detail in a later post. Nike is definitely guilty of causing and supporting human rights issues, but they aren't completely to blame and the only real solution isn't at a consumer or even retailer level.
"'By far our worst experience and biggest mistake was in Pakistan, where we blew it,' the report said. In 1995 Nike said it thought it had tied up with responsible factories in Sialkot, in Pakistan, that would manufacture well-made footballs and provide good conditions for workers. Instead, the work was sub-contracted round local villages, and children were drawn into the production process. Now, it insisted, any factory found to be employing a child must take that worker out of the factory, pay him or her a wage, provide education and re-hire them only when they were old enough.
Mistakes, however, continue to happen. In recent years, Nike has been criticized for its employment of child labor in Cambodia, but the company defended itself by saying fake evidence of age could be bought in Cambodia for as little as $5." (http://commondreams.org/headlines01/1020-01.htm)
Along with this scandal the following were documented:
- Nike was caught with the use of sweatshops in the 90s, Jim Keady (who was a coach of a University) resigned because he refused to endorse Nike based on the released information after a deal was made. This brought Nike into the spotlight and the company promised to put more consideration on their suppliers.
- In 2001 Nike was caught by BBC using sweatshops again in Cambodia with children working 16+ hour days.
- Nike once again promised a solution, they personally audited each manufacturing location and gave them an average 'B' rank.
- In 2011 it was discovered that Nike operated over 2/3 of its factories as sweatshops.
- Currently Nike is still documented to be operating sweatshops that allow rape and beating as a form of employee control, since most workers are female in certain countries.
- In 2012 a factory in Thailand was found to be highly carcinogenic.
Nike has issued several statements explaining that they don't intend for these problems to happen and they certainly don't condone it. As mentioned above, it is extremely easy for third world countries to forge birth documents and get employed at a young age which in turn should not reflect the intentions of the company. However, with all of the released information and current problems it's safe to safe that although Nike may not want there manufacturers to work in poor conditions, they certainly aren't doing much about it.
The problem in my opinion isn't simply with the company itself. In the past Nike was criticized for their support in child labour and poor working conditions however they do seem to be addressing it as best as they can given the circumstances, which is something I will discuss in further detail in a later post. Nike is definitely guilty of causing and supporting human rights issues, but they aren't completely to blame and the only real solution isn't at a consumer or even retailer level.
Nike