 "We
Are Not Machines"
New report finds that Indonesian Nike and Adidas workers are paid
so little they are forced to separate from their children.
07 Mar 2002, A new report was released internationally today by
the Clean Clothes Campaign (Europe), Oxfam Community Aid Abroad
(Australia), Oxfam Canada, , Global Exchange (USA) and the Maquila
Solidarity Network (Canada). Please find Oxfam Community Aid Abroad's
press release below. The report (with an executive summary) is available
on our website.
Embargoed until 7 March 2002
"WE ARE NOT MACHINES"
A new report has found that Indonesian Nike and Adidas workers
are paid so little they are forced to separate from their children.
The report, titled We Are Not Machines, was released today by leading
aid agency, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad. It reveals that workers
are living in extreme poverty, with full time wages as low as $US2
a day.
"Nike and Adidas workers who want to live with their children
are going into debt to meet their families' basic needs," says
Andrew Hewett, Executive Director of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad
"Most are forced by their poverty to send their children to
distant villages, to be cared for by relatives."
According to the report, workers depend on the extra income gained
by working long hours of overtime. They have been hit hard by the
US economic downturn, which has pushed down demand for sports wear,
resulting in cuts in overtime in many factories.
Other findings include:
- 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 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.
"Nike and Adidas must ensure that wages meet workers' basic
needs, ensure workers are free to form unions, and adopt an independent
and transparent factory monitoring system", says Mr. Hewett.
"Large corporations have a responsibility to ensure that the
basic rights of workers making their products are respected".
The report's author, Tim Connor is available for interview on 61
403 339 578 or timc@sydney.caa.org.au
(note time difference - Sydney is GMT +11)
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