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NEWSLETTER 15, JUNE 2002
We Are Not Machines
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 A
research report released in March found that Indonesian Nike
and Adidas workers are paid so little they are forced to separate
from their children. The report, "We Are Not Machines,"
was released March 7th by the CCC and Oxfam Community Aid
Abroad (Australia), Oxfam Canada, Global Exchange (USA) and
the Maquila Solidarity Network (Canada). It reveals that workers
are living in extreme poverty, with full time wages as low
as $US2 a day.
According to the report, workers depend on the extra income
gained by working long hours of overtime. They have been
hit hard by the economic downturn in the United States,
which has pushed down demand for sportswear, resulting in
cuts to overtime in many factories.
The report also found that:
- Workers have good reason to fear that if they join
independent unions they may face dismissal, jail or physical
assault.
- Although there has been some reduction in the pressures
on workers, they still work in dangerous conditions, and
are still shouted at when they work too slowly. Workplace
dangers include respiratory illness from inhaling toxic
chemicals and finger loss in cutting machines.
- In Nike and Adidas' largest Indonesian supplier factory,
women who want to claim legally-mandated menstrual leave
must suffer the humiliation of proving they are menstruating
by pulling down their pants in front of female factory
doctors.
To read the full research report, please visit the CCC
website <http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/nike_machines.htm>
or contact the CCC International Secretariat to order
a hard copy.
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