> From:?Mike Rhodes <[email protected]>

> To:?clr e-mail list <[email protected]>

> [email protected] (541) 344-5410 http://www.compugraph.com/clr

> In former UN Ambassador Andrew Young’s Nike-financed report on Nike’s > operations in Asia, he lists me as having been consulted by him. Mr. Young > never contacted me. Had he done so, based on what I have learned in three > years of research on the Chinese footwear industry, I would have provided > suggestions on what he should look out for on his 3-day investigation trip to > China.

> Nike shoes in China are manufactured in factories operated by Taiwanese > and Korean subcontractors—true, too, of Reebok, Adidas, and the other major > brand-names. Many footwear factories in China require the workers, who are > almost all poor migrants from the countryside, to pay an illegal "deposit" > which supposedly will be returned at termination of employment. A survey > carried out by a Hong Kong NGO last month confirms that Wellco, a Korean Nike > subcontractor with a factory in south China, demands a "deposit" equivalent to > one month’s wage. Those who quit short of a year have to forfeit the > deposit. No matter how much they might dislike their working conditions, > they are trapped in a type of bonded labor. Unfortunately, Mr. Young did not > enquire about such "deposits".

> During my research in China, I have discovered that collusion between > local governments and foreign investors often ensures that infringements of > the Chinese labor laws are kept secret from Beijing. Thus, in many footwear > factories enforced overtime that exceeds the legal maximum, wages that are > below the legal minimum, no days off for weeks on end, substantial fines for > trivial offenses, corporal punishment and physical abuse are common > occurrences. Nike subcontractors are guilty of some or all of these practices. > I myself have visited a factory that makes Nike shoes where many workers are > forced to work 12-hour shifts every day. Yet Mr. Young’s report never even > broaches the question of wages or fines or enforced overtime work. He did not > seek to find out if these factories violate China’s own labor laws.

> In many Chinese footwear factories, unknowing workers who are brought in > from the countryside are exposed to extremely toxic glue solvents, (benzene, > xylene or toluene) without protective gear or proper ventilation. Exposure for > sustained periods carries a high risk of fatal illness. Some employers > simply replace the glue-shop workers before symptoms appear. Mr. Young’s > report is entirely oblivious to this whole issue of worker safety. Apparently, > he did not know enough to ask.> > The report has one excellent recommendation: "Each worker should be > given a card suitable for a billfold or pocketbook which contains the [Nike] > Code of Conduct written in the local language." Knowledge is power and Mr. > Young knows it. Nike is enthusiastic about Mr. Young’s on-the-run > "investigation" of a few days each in China, Vietnam and Indonesia. But in > Nike’s response to his report, this particular recommendation is allowed to > pass. All Nike would do is more of the same: post the Code "in every major > workspace". Young did not see any Code posted in any of the twelve factories > he visited in Asia.

> Nike should permit a serious and sustained investigation of its > facilities. Sending a sincere novice on a very quick jaunt of Asia has the > earmarks of a PR exercise. It appears that Mr. Young was taken for a ride.

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