Nike in Indonesia: Doson workers down to eating rice with salt, but still Nike refuses to pay. (Send a protest email to Footlocker, Nike's biggest retailer)

Feb 2003, Last month Oxfam Community Aid Abroad staff accompanied two representatives of workers from the PT Doson factory, Mr. Yeheskiel Prabowo and Ms. Ida Mustari, to Davos in Switzerland. Nike's CEO, Philip Knight was in Davos for the World Economic Forum meeting and was invited to discuss Nike's labour practices with the workers in an open forum. Nike declined to send a representative, saying a current court case against the company in the US made it impossible for them to attend.

Ida described how she had made Nike shoes at PT Doson for nine years. She reported that although she and her husband had both worked full-time, and put in considerable overtime, they could not afford child-care. She said they were forced by their poverty to send their two children to live with Ida's parents in Sumatra, 36 hours travel away. Ida and her husband only saw their children once per year, for four days during the annual lebaran religious holiday.

Nike, the factory's only customer, ceased its orders in September last year and the factory closed, putting 7,000 people out of work. The factory owner is only offering workers half the severance pay to which they are legally entitled and the workers have had to take the factory to court. Court cases like this can take up to two years to resolve.

In her speech Ida reported that she and other workers cannot afford to keep contributing to the ongoing legal fees needed for the court case. She said that they are having to borrow money to meet their basic needs while they look for other work. Mr. Djoko, the leader of the union branch in the factory, recently reported to the Jakarta Post that workers were down to eating rice with salt in order to survive.

Nike is insisting that PT Doson is an independent business and that Nike has no responsibility to pay workers their severance pay.

The workers see it differently. Their union points out that Nike profited from the labour of workers at the factory for eleven and a half years. They argue that Nike therefore has a moral responsibility to help them now. If the Doson factory had been a Nike subsiduary, Nike would be legally obliged to pay the workers what they are owed. Nike's system of contracting out all its production should not excuse Nike from responsibility for ensuring that workers' legal rights are respected.

You can find the speeches that Ida and Prabowo made in Davos at the bottom of the following web page: www.evb.ch/nikewatch.htm

Please take two minutes to support workers at PT Doson by copying the following text and emailing it to Footlocker, Nike's biggest retailer.

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Send a protest email to Footlocker, Nike's biggest retailer .

Please copy or adapt the text below and email it to the following email
addresses: customer_service@footlocker.com, help@footlocker-europe.com

Please cc the email to: timc@sydney.caa.org.au,
continuous.improvement@nike.com

Mr. Matthew D. Serra
President and Chief Executive Officer
Footlocker Inc.

Dear Mr. Matthew D. Serra,

As your company is one of the world's largest sportswear retailers, I am writing to urgently seek your support for workers from two sportswear factories. One was in Indonesia, the other is in Mexico.

The PT Doson factory in Indonesia produced sportshoes for Nike for eleven and a half years. In September 2002 Nike stopped ordering from the factory and it closed, putting 7,000 people out of work.

The factory's owner is refusing to pay workers the severance pay required by the Indonesian government. The workers have taken the factory to court, but the case could take up to two years to complete. Meanwhile workers are living off credit while they seek other work. Press reports indicate that many of the workers are going hungry, with meals consisting of little more than rice with salt.

Please urgently call Nike's attention to this case and urge the company to pay workers what they are owed. Nike's system of contracting out all its production should not excuse Nike from responsibility for ensuring that the legal rights of the workers who make its goods are respected. This includes their right to severance pay when a factory closes, particular when the factory closes as a result of Nike cutting its orders.

Puma was a customer at the Matamoros Garment factory in Mexico from July 2002 until January 2003. A Mexican labour rights group reports that conditions at the factory were poor, including illegally low wages, forced overtime and verbal abuse. Puma recently ceased ordering from the factory, just as workers started to establish an independent union.

According to Puma this was because the factory is currently unable to meet production deadlines. The factory owner has told workers that Puma left because the workers organised a union and held a short strike for better wages and conditions.

Genuine respect and promotion of workers' right to form and join democratic trade unions is the most powerful way that companies can prevent exploitation in the production of their goods.

Please urge Puma to restart ordering from the Matamoros Garment factory and to work with the factory to ensure that workers' trade union rights are respected.

As a major sportswear retailer your company has considerable influence over Nike, Puma and other sportswear companies. Consumers do not want to buy goods made in sweatshops. I look forward to hearing that you have used your influence to persuade these companies to do the right thing in these cases.

Sincerely,