textile clothing & footwear union of australia- tcfua - Victoria
2nd Fl 132 Leicester Street
Carlton Vic 3053
9347 3377

Nike - on Trial in Australia

The Federal Court today set a trial date for Nike to defend charges of breaches of the Clothing Award in regard to contractors and outworkers.

For Immediate Release

19 November, 1999

The Federal Court of Australia today set a trial date for 6th& 7th June 2000
to hear claims made by the Textile, Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia
against Nike for alleged breaches to the Clothing Award.

Workers making Nike apparel have been reported to be working in some of the
most appalling conditions across Asia. In Australia Nike is in on trial in
regard to alleged breaches of the clothing award's contracting and outwork
arrangements.

The TCFUA expects evidence concerning garments made for the Australian
Football League and the National Football League will be led in the Nike
case.

The TCFUA has initiated prosecutions against 72 companies for similar
breaches. 71 of these companies have settled and agreed to amend award
breaches and sign the Code of Practice, all except Nike. Over 112 companies
including Adidas and Reebok have agreed to sign the Code.

The TCFUA Outwork Coordinator Annie Delaney stated, "Nike says that it has
its own company code and policies to check their contractors, but Union
investigations have found this to be ineffective. The only way we can be
sure that Nike is above board is by enforcing the law in Australia".
"If Nike wants to support the campaign to end exploitative practices in the
industry then they need to be part of the industry Code of Practice and
allow Union monitoring of their contracting chain".

"Unless Nike follows the law, consumers have no way of knowing if the story
behind the garment, behind the shoe, behind the equipment is a story of
inspiration or a story of exploitation". Delaney said.

Contact: TCFUA Outwork Coordinator Annie Delaney 0419 587 058