The well known sporting brand, "Nike" has released a new and improved running shoe.
The Zoom Waffle (Pictured) is rated an 8.5 out of ten. This is because it is so light, has an aesthetic design and it is only $60. It is not a spiked running shoe but has enormous grip and is very light, making it suitable for the 800m and beyond. The speckled green with yellow stripes looks excellent for a running shoe. The comfort when wearing any Nike shoe is priceless.
However, are the shoes as comfortable once we are informed of the discomfort felt by the workers making these shoes?
The "We Are Not Machines" Report produced by Oxfam (2002) has published figures about the inequality and lack of basic human rights inside Indonesian Nike factories, commonly referred to as “sweatshops”. It states some workers are paid as little as US$2 per day and rely heavily on overtime pay. As a result, the workers who want to live with their children as a family undergo major debt to pay for day to day life whilst others are forced to send their children away to distant villages.
Another reason this campaign is important is that it exposes that these workers lack the most basic human rights and standards. Not only are they subject to dangerous working conditions, they have unfair union rights and fear jail, dismissal, physical assault, but most commonly, verbal and sexual abuse every day. As a Non-Government Oxfam believes that “Large corporations have a responsibility to ensure that the basic human Organisation, rights of workers making their products are respected.”
In 2004, Nike released their first Corporate Responsibility Report. This Code of Conduct outlined its pledge to monitor its contracted factory conditions and increased working standards for the workers who built Nike to the corporation we know today. In founding the “Fair Labour Association” Nike provided a way to monitor its factories, ensuring that positive monitoring reports were produced. Rather than listening to reliable sources such as Oxfam, Nike preferred to gain praise in the public eye through bias reports. Instead of addressing the issues in the factories such as harassment issues, working hours, wages and child labour, Nike worked on their public profile by controlling what was reported in the media, what the public saw and what sources were referenced.
Educating for Justice has outlined a set of guide lines for Nike to resolve the lack of basic human rights amongst their workers. These guide lines include independent monitoring groups have the ability to give an accurate and non-bias representation of what happens in Nike factories, Wage increases to meet contracted workers basic needs and the right for workers to form and operate unions in good faith.
In reflection, maybe my $60 isn't enough compared to the suffering felt by the makers of this wonderful product. If Nike had a more ethical approach, when buying and wearing these shoes, I would have peace of mind.
