When I think of home, I think of a place Where there's love overflowing I wish I was home, I wish I was back

there With the things I've been knowin' Wind that makes the tall trees bend into leaning Suddenly the snowflakes that fall they have a meaning Sprinkling the scene Makes it all clean Maybe there's a chance for me to go back Now that I have some direction It would sure be nice to back home Where there's love and affection And just maybe I can convince time to slow up Giving me enough time in my life to grow up Time be my friend Let me start again Suddenly my world's gone and changed its face But I still know where I'm going

I have had my mind spun around in space And yet I've watched it growing If you're listening God, please don't make it hard to go To know if we should believe the things that we see Tell us should we run away? should we try and stay? Or would it be better just to let things be? Living here in this brand new world might be a fantasy But it's taught me to love so it's real to me And I've learned that we must look inside our hearts to find A world full of love like yours and mine Like Home My friends smiling down on me, giving me nursery. I think of a peaceful world enjoy all around me Love like we shared can never be taken away from me I just sit down and it get s all down in my bones I hear my friends telling me, Stephanie, please sing my song I wanna sing, I wanna shout, I wanna tell you what it s all about.

Summary Nike has become one of those global companies targeted by a broad range of campaigning NGOs and journalists as a symbolic representation of the business in society. In Nike s case, the issues are those of human rights and conditions for workers in factories in developing countries. In the face of constant accusations, Nike has developed a considered response, supported by corporate website reporting. It now has a well developed focus for its corporate responsibility on improving conditions in contracted factories, aiming for carbon neutrality, and making sports available to young people across the world. The criticism continues, however. Nike the company Nike Inc produces footwear, clothing, equipment and accessory products for the sports and athletic market. It is the largest seller of such garments in the world. It sells to approximately 19,000 retail accounts in the US, and then in approximately 140 countries around the world. Just about all of its products are manufactured by independent contractors with footwear products in particular being manufactured in developing countries. The company manufactures in China, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico as well as in the US and in Italy. Who works in these factories? The Global Alliance report on the factories in Indonesia gave the following workforce profile: 58% of them are young adults between 20 and 24 years old, and 83% are women. Nearly half of these workers have completed senior high school. Few have work-related skills when they arrive at the factory. 95% of the workers in the nine participating factories have received pay or wage increases in the last year, consistent with government minimum wage increases, and with small exceptions the bases wages in these factories are above the regions minimum wage although critics would observe that doesn t add up to a great deal. What are the issues? Nike has around 700 contract factories, within which around 20% of the workers are creating Nike products. Conditions for these workers has been a source of heated debate, with allegations made by campaigns of poor conditions, with commonplace harassment and abuse. Nike has sought to respond to these allegations by putting into place a code of conduct for all of its suppliers, and working with the Global Alliance to review around 21 of these factories, and to pick up and respond to issues. In Indonesia, the following was reported: 30.2% of the workers had personally experienced, and 56.8% had observed, verbal abuse. An average of 7.8% of workers reported receiving unwelcome sexual comments, and 3.3% reported being physically abused. In addition, sexual trade practices in recruitment and promotion were reported by at least two workers in each of two different factories, although a subsequent investigation was unable to confirm this. 73.4% of workers are satisfied with their relationship with direct line supervisors, 67.8% are satisfied with management. Far and away, the main concerns expressed by workers relate to their physical working environment. A further report has been produced relating to a site in Mexico, which has experienced serious problems leading to labour disputes.

In both cases, Nike responded to the audit reports with a detailed remediation plan. What do the critics say? Naomi Klein, in her widely read book "No Logo" deals quite extensively with Nike, accusing them of abandoning countries as they developed better pay and employment rights in favour of countries like China, where these are less of a cost. She points to a photo published in 1996 showing children in Pakistan stitching Nike footballs as an example of the use of child labour. Other critics have suggested that Nike should publicise all of its factories, and allow independent inspection to verify conditions there. Any auditing carried out by Nike should be made public. A lot of focus is given to wage rates paid by the company s suppliers. By and large, audits have found that wage rates are above the national legal minimum, but critics contend that this does not actually constitute a fair living wage. What does Nike say? Nike accuses Naomi Klein of peddling inaccurate and old information. They point out that they have not abandoned countries as she claims, and remain in Taiwan and Korea despite the higher wages and labour rights. They admit that the 1996 photo documented what they describe as a "large mistake" when they began to order soccer balls for the first time from a supplier in Pakistan. They now operate stitching centres where the non-use of child labour can be verified. Nike believe that the sharing with factory locations with independent third parties on a confidential basis enables them to monitor their supply chain properly. They state that disclosure of the factory names, plus details of audits of those factories, would be used by the NGOs simply to make further attacks rather than as part of a dialogue to help the company to address and resolve those problems which exist. As for wage rates, Nike feels that establishing what constitutes a "fair" wage is by no means as easy as its critics would have the public believe and disparages the constant quoting of wage rates in US dollar equivalents, when these are meaningless given the different cost of living in the countries concerned. Nike are also visibly dismayed at how they have attained the status of lead focus in this area. They request that people look towards their competitors and see how many of them have taken the kind of measures the company has over the last few years. Does anyone else support Nike? The Global Alliance was quite complimentary. It said "Upon due consideration, members of the Operating Council unanimously expressed their judgement that upon learning of the alleged violations surfaced through the Global Alliance assessment process, that Nike had acted in good faith, and developed a serious and reasonable remediation plan." http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/CSRfiles/nike.html http://homepage.mac.com/barbarap2/home/laborcrises/Nike.htm Few emblems are recognized on a global scale to the extent of the tiny check mark that constitutes the Nike Swoosh. The multi-billion dollar company in its thirty-two years of business ( NikeTimeline ) not only occupies the premier position in the American footwear industry (Moskowitz, Levering, and Katz, 95), but has grown to be a global leader and trendsetter in the footwear and sports apparel industries. Nike prides itself on its connection to such positive images as a healthy lifestyle, optimal performance, competition, a love of the game and sports icons such as Michael Jordan and the Brazilian World Cup champion soccer team. Nike s positive image has further been enhanced through their generous endowments to various universities and their charitable donations of sports equipment to programs to increase the activity of today s sedentary youths ( NikeTimeline ). Yet despite this positive PR, Nike s Swoosh has made unsavory connections in the latter half of the 90s. Nike s sweatshop manufacturing practices have been an area of increasing public awareness and a glaring black spot on Nike s good guy image. The following essay will further shed light on some of Nike s sweatshop history. 2003 was a record setting year for Nike. The company earned $10.7 billion in revenues (Parker). From the humble dream of men at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight (Moskowitz, Levering, and Katz, 96) Nike has grown into a thriving multinational corporation. They envisioned importing lightweight running shoes from Japan and in the mid sixties realized this dream with the company Blue Ribbon Sports ( NikeTimeline ). Bowerman and Knight became more involved in the design, including developing rubberized soles in waffle irons, and in 1972 launched a new company under the name of Nike, complete with the legendary Swoosh logo ( NikeTimeline ). Nike s renown grew quickly on the global scale throughout the 80s with the help of endorsements from athletes such as Steve Prefontaine and Michael Jordan, a catchy slogan like the Just Do it campaign and success at the Olympic level. In the 1984 games, 65 Olympic medals were won by the 58 athletes sporting Nike athletic shoes (Moskowitz, Levering, and Katz, 95). A visual testament to the success of Knight s and Bowerman s dream is evident in the abundance of the Swoosh in every gym, arena and field.

Today Nike practices out-sourcing, meaning other companies operate and own the factories and plants in which Nike goods are produced ( Our Business Model ). Nike merchandize is manufactured in 50 countries in over 900 factories employing over 660 000 workers, most of which are women ("Our Business Model ). The Nike Code of Conduct states, We are driven to do not only what is required, but what is expected of a leader. We expect our business partners to do the same ( Just Stop It ). The reality of working conditions inside the factories that produce Nike goods is unfortunately much different from what those glorified words would lead the public to believe. Nike has been accused of producing many of its goods in third world sweatshops. Although Nike has factories located around the globe, most of its manufacturing is located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam ( Frequently ). Nike chooses to locate the majority of their production in such countries because of the abundance of cheap labor. In these countries, Nike has more complaints filed against them from workers and labor organizations than any other American corporation ( Frequently ). Some of the human rights charges include the following: the use of child labor in factories, physical, verbal and sexual abuse from superiors, unsafe working conditions including exposure to toxic chemicals and the use of machinery without the proper safety precautions, pay below minimum wage and forced overtime hours. While Nike s Code of Conduct states that Nike opposes child labor and that Nike has set age standards at 16 for apparel and 18 for footwear factories, ( Code of Conduct ) many cases of children working have been reported. Physical abuses in Nike factories reported by CBS News include workers being struck on the head, pinched or being forced to stand, kneel or run in the hot sun as punishment ( Fact Sheet ). There have also been numerous cases of workers being sexually molested by supervisors within Nike factories. In factories in Vietnam, workers were exposed to Toluene, a reproductive toxin, at 177 times the legal limit ( Nike s Labour Practices ). They were also exposed to other chemicals and glue without proper safety equipment. Nike has been accused of not paying a living-wage. A living wage is considered a pay that is able to supply basic necessities for a small family (Connor). In Vietnam, workers receive about $37US a month, which is below the minimum wage of $45US a month ( Fact Sheet ). In Indonesia, Nike has increased wages for workers to above the minimum wage set by the government. While this is seen as a step in the correct direction, worker s pay is still roughly one half of what would be considered a living wage for this country ( Frequently ). In China, it is common for workers to engage in a 10 to 12 hour work day before working another two to four hours of overtime ( Nike s Labour Practices ). In Vietnamese factories, workers making Nike merchandize have been found to be forced to work over 600 hours of overtime a year, which is more than 400 hours a year above the legal limit in Vietnam ( Fact Sheet ). Workers have reported being coerced into the overtime hours through threats of unemployment or forced indirectly by the low pay to volunteer for the hours in order to support their families. Numerous organizations have taken it upon themselves to bring such human rights violations to light and to pressure Nike into changing their labor practices. Among these are the Global Exchange, Oxfram Community Aid Abroad, the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) and numerous student groups. These groups stage protests in front of Niketown stores, distribute flyers, organize sit-ins and boycott Nike products produced in sweatshops in order to raise public awareness. Several universities have also become involved in the fight for workers rights by joining the WRC. In joining the WRC the universities ensure that merchandize bearing the university s name or logo, a lucrative market, is not produced in sweatshops (Street). While the human rights organizations would like Nike to make a number of changes to their manufacturing practices, their main goals are as follows: ensure living wages for workers, increase the safety inside of the factories, reduce the number of hours workers need to work and to allow outside organizations to monitor the factories. Workers have also taken part in the fight for their rights, staging strikes, most notably in Indonesia when 10, 000 Nike workers walked off the job in April 1997 ( Frequently ). Nike is not the only corporation charged with such human rights violations in the manufacturing stage of their business practices, yet Nike remains the main focus of a number of human rights organizations for a number of reasons. As stated above, the sheer number of worker complaints has mobilized groups against the footwear giant ( Frequently ). Secondly, as Nike itself states, it is an industry leader ( Frequently ). Not only do they set trends in the market but also in labor practices. By targeting Nike, organizations can influence the labor practices of many smaller companies through positive peer pressure. Thirdly, the success of Nike makes the cost of changing their practices and increasing worker wages seem like pocket change to the multi-billion dollar company. Nike can afford to elevate wages and implement new safety measures without increasing the price of their products ( Frequently ). Nike has made some positive changes since the scandal of their sweatshop practices became public in the late 90s. In Indonesia, Nike has increased workers pay to above minimum wage. Nike has also begun to make changes in the safety of many Vietnamese factories, reducing the number of toxic chemicals used, changing to safer solvents ( Frequently ) and improving ventilation systems in main plants. Though these actions have been commended by human rights organizations as positive steps in the right direction, critics of Nike still feel that the company has a long way to go before its labor practices allow it to be truly worthy of the positive image it tries so hard to promote.