 "Photo: Kurt Vor Broker")
As some Roosevelt students and faculty protest Nike’s deal with the university, Nike is making millions of dollars in profit.
Fighting for social justice and begging Roosevelt athletics to be more tolerant towards working labor rights does not change the fact that Nike is a multi-million dollar company.
But what makes Nike so controversial?
Over the last 15 years Nike has exploited its workers and violated their rights by making high profits by the cheap labor they hire.
Some of the countries that the company has used for workers are Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, all of which are poor countries.
The living and paying conditions of the workers in these countries are far from worse.
For example, Nike paid Indonesian workers $1.25 a day for a month. In Malaysia, the workers lived in squalor, with only one wash basin for hundreds of workers. In the same country a system of forced labor, debt bondage and human trafficking were taking place.
What goes behind the Nike scene becomes irrelevant to the average buyer who “loves” the Nike brand. Some Nike shoes cost about $120, which equals to about 96 days of paid work of an Indonesian worker.
Consumers want Nike athletics – they buy it, wear it and show if off.
But at the end of the day, the average consumer does not know what goes on behind the Nike scene. The sad truth is that most consumers do not care about social justice and workers rights. They care about famous brands, “cool” athletics gear and affordable prices.
Social justice is one of the major principles of the university. Students and faculty believe in that message.
They believe that Nike has unethical working principles and is unfair to its workers. Something must be done about it.
Buying athletic gear from Nike for the university’s athletics department becomes a problem when such social issues are involved. A possible solution is for the university to partner up with the Workers Rights Consortium and enroll in the Designated Suppliers Program.
That way the licensed university apparel will be sourced from locations where the commitment to workers rights has been independently verified.
A few universities, such as DePaul, Cornell and Duke are already part of the program.
The future of the Nike issue in Roosevelt University is yet to be decided. One thing is certain, the Roosevelt community acknowledges that it’s not all “bright and green” in Nike’s backyard and that there are real people and real lives involved in Nike’s production story.
The rest is up to us, the consumers – are we wiling to go along with Nike’s wrongdoings or push for ethically sourced suppliers. What side are you on?
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