Action at Nike Shareholdersmeeting in the Netherlands

(view the photo's!)

Shareholders and other Stakeholders were refused the right to speak at Nike annual meeting.

Yesterday, september 22, about 50 activist of the Clean Clothes Campaign people went to Hilversum to protest at Nike's new office (Nike City), that was opened on the same day as the shareholders meeting was held. The plan was to block the main entrance to the building and to ask the shareholders instead to attend a 'stakeholders-meeting'. At this alternative meeting the shareholders would meet representatives of unions, consumer, and solidarity groups and be offered serious alternatives to existing practices.

Unfortunately there was an enormous amount of police around at that time, so we could not get any way near the entrance to the shareholdersmeeting. There is a huge athletics track next to the offices, and here was a party from NIKE, going on at the time of our arrival, at 2.15 in the afternoon. As we tried to have the alternative stakeholders meeting on this atletics track we were removed forcefully by security and police, one photographer had to seek medical help in the hospital. The protesters however went on with making themselves heard to everyone, tried to hand out information on the agenda we would like them to follow at the stakeholders meeting, and during this the police arrested 4 women activists. 3 of them had managed to get in the middle of the party handing out leaflets and were handcuffed and dragged off through the watching party crowd. Phil Knight refused to come out and listen to our demands. At 3 pm, 3 persons from the Clean Clothes Campaign, representing shareholders,went inside to attend the shareholdersmeeting.

We were brutalised when we registrated, and almost dragged out again by Nike-security and police. The harrasment continued inside the building, Nike security for example repeatedly threatened that we'd be thrown in jail, when we used the cellulair to report to the ouside group what the situation was inside. In the end however we were allowed in as there was no legal right to keep us out. Luckily inside the building the protest outside could still be heard and seen! The meeting started at 4 pm, with loud stadiummusic and images from soccergames. It was attended largely by NIKE employees and only a few shareholders.

After speeches on how wonderful Nike is performing in Europe the 2 items of the agenda, the appointment of a new director and the appointment of Price Waterhouse Coopers as the 'independent accountants' were briefly dealt with. It was time for the question and anwer session, for which written questions had to be handed in at the start of the meeting. We had handed in an international letter, signed by 43 organisations from all over the world.

In answering the shareholders questions Phil Knight acknowledge the receipt of the letter and said he would be answering the letter later by e-mail as he had received it, he could not do so now. One of the 3 people of Clean Clothes Campaign then stood up and asked if Phil Knight could address the letter now, as this holds certainly no information he was not aware of before, and it is important to its shareholders that Nike also addresses the issues mentioned in the letter. This person was thrown from the building with force, under loud applause of the other shareholders. Apparently even as a shareholder you are not entitled to answers from Nike, let alone as another type of stakeholder.

In the meantime the group outside had walked in demonstration to the Hilversum headquarters of police, demanding that the arrested women were released. The charges against them were trespassing. At 8 pm they were released, after paying a 100 guilder (50 US$) fine per person.

The whole course of events has been entirely peaceful from our side despite serious provocation especially from the side of Nike security ("I will break all your bones" is just one telling example). This shows once again what Nike's PR is worth in reality. Not even worth repeating!