| Open letter to Nike - sources and list of contacts for further
information
Nike in Indonesia:
- The information regarding the use of the Indonesian military
in the PT
Nikomas Gemilang factory is based on research recently conducted
by Jeff
Ballinger of Press for Change in the US. He can be contacted on
(1) 617 496
6423, (1) 617 494 1637, (1) 617 549 0013 or (1) 617 496 1363 (fax).
Nike
has now taken their "Correcting the Record" page off their
website, but
their response to Jeff’s press release was copied on Friday
September 10
and is now on the internet at (LINK TO
NIKOMAS. Bama Athreya of the
International Labor Rights Fund (a member of the Apparel Indutry
Partnership) is currently in Indonesia and has independently confirmed
the
use of military to provide security in Nike plants in Indonesia.
She comments
We believe it is inappropriate for US companies to engage local
military
personnel to provide their security arrangements…It is true
that the
Indonesian military have long been involved in providing security
for
companies; this has been part of a longstanding policy of intimidation
and
harassment of workers by the Suharto regime. US companies should
not play
along with this strategy.
Bama can be contacted at the Hotel Ibis Thamrin at tel. (62)(21)391
2323
room 601.
- The reference to wages and hours in clothing factories in Indonesia
is
based on research conducted by Tim Connor of the Nikewatch Campaign
in
Australia in December 1998 - phone (61) 2 9698 2394.
- Regarding the case of Haryanto - the worker fired for conducting
union
activities in the PT Lintas factory - further information can be
obtained
from either Trim Bissell of Campaign for Labor Rights in the US
- (541)
344-5410 or Arist Merdeka Sirait of SISBIKUM in Indonesia - Phone/fax
- 62
21 489 7957
Nike in Vietnam:
- Information regarding the cases of workers fired from the Sam
Yang
factory for speaking to journalists is based on research conducted
by
Thuyen Nguyen of Vietnam Labor Watch - phone 212 996 0013. Unfortunately
at
the time of preparing this background information Thuyen is overseas
and
not easily contactable. A copy of an interview Thuyen conducted
with Ms Lap
Nguyen is available on the internet at (LINK
TO LAPINT.HTM)
- Background information about Joseph Ha's letter to Vietnamese
officials
can be found on the internet at
Information regarding Nike's failure to fulfil promises to the
Apparel Industry Partnership (AIP) to
undo the damage done by Joseph Ha's letter is based on information
from the
International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) - one of the human rights
involved
in the AIP. Bama Athreya of the ILRF comments: "In February,
we asked Nike
to repudiate Joseph Ha's statements publicly,
and to take disciplinary action against him. It hardly seems appropriate
that a company which claims a commitment to human rights and democratic
values should
take on, as a public representative, an individual who resists those
values.
However, to date Joseph Ha continues to represent Nike, and we have
seen no
statement in Vietnam repudiating his views."
- The citation for the Interfaith Centre for Corporate Responsibility
report is:
ICCR 1998, Footwear Manufacturing Fact-Finding Report - Nike and
Reebok
Plants in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Interfaith Center for Corporate
Responsibility, New York. The phone number of the ICCR is (1) 212
870 2295
- The Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee’s research
trip to Vietnam
in May this year has not yet been written up in English. For further
information contact HKCIC spokesperson Alice Kwan on (852) 2366
5860.
Nike in China:
- A copy of the report on the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee’s
recent initial visit to Qingdau be found on the internet at
(LINK TO
QUINGDAU.TXT). For further information contact HKCIC spokesperson
Alice
Kwan on (852) 2366 5860. For questions regarding health and safety
in
Nike's factories in China contact June Lee, coordinator of the Asian
Network for the Rights of Occupational Health and Safety on (852)
2366 5860.
Nike in El Salvador:
- Julia Pleites testimony regarding conditions at the Formosa
factory can
be found on the internet at http://www.nlcnet.org/nike/julia.htm
.
Nike in Australia:
For information regarding the homeworkers' code in Australia contact
Annie Delaney of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union in Australia
on (61) 3 9347 3377 or <tcfvic@magna.com.au>
Health and safety in Nike factories:
People with expertise in this include Dr. Howard Frumkin, Associate
Professor and Chair
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School
of
Public Health of Emory University (Tel: (1) 404 727 3697, Fax: (1)
404 727
8744, email: medhf@sph.emory.edu)
Jim Keady’s request to work in a Nike factory:
A copy of a letter from Jim Keady to Nike's Dusty Kidd regarding
his
request to work in a Nike factory in Latin America can be found
on the
internet at (LINK TO LETTER TO DUSTY
KIDD.TXT) Nike never responded to this
letter.
Other Nike factories:
"As mentioned in the letter, those cases cited represent a
very small
proportion of problems in Nike factories. A number of research projects
will be completed within the next couple of months and advance reports
from
the researchers involved indicate they are finding the same kinds
of labour
abuses in the Nike factories which they are investigating. An extract
from
one such research project is available detailing
brutal suppression of the right of workers to organise in the
Par Garment
factory in Thailand - a Nike clothing supplier. For more information
on the
situation at the Par Garment factory you can contact Junya Yimprasert
on 66
2 692 7963"
Nike's Annual Shareholders Meeting:
For information about plans to read the open letter at Nike's Annual
Shareholders' Meeting contact Esther de Haan at the Clean Clothes
Campaign
in the Netherlands - on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mobile phone
number:
31 651280210 After Wednesday on (31) 20 4122785 (Esther may be difficult
to
reach on Monday and Tuesday in which case other CCC staff can be
contacted
on 31 204122785).
The joint open letter to Nike is an initiative of the Nikewatch
Campaign in
Australia - http://www.caa.org.au/campaigns/nike/
- the contact person is
Tim Connor, phone (61) 2 9698 2394
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