Nike's Asian Factories example essay topic

Ali L alani 25 Boulder Cr Guelph, Ontario 1 G 5 A 2 Ministry Of Labor 3860 Sussex Dr Ottawa, Ontario 2 R 6 B 8 Nike Sweat Shops I am writing this letter to express my concerns over Nike's labor practices in Asia. There has been much debate and controversy recently concerning Nike's Asian labor practices. It is very difficult to determine which side of the argument to defend, as both acknowledge the problems yet put a completely different spin on the facts. I will try to show that Nike has created a cloud of smoke in Asia that the public cannot see through.

Nike does not own any of the factories that produce its products in Asia, and subsequently they do not directly employ the workers or management. They contract out work to factories that make all of the products and run all of the factories. They have a massive amount of leverage when dealing with these factories because of the huge contracts they supply. To ensure good labor practices, Nike has a Code of Conduct that every contractor must agree to in order to receive a contract. The Code of Conduct in theory condemns and prohibits child labor, requires that workers be paid fair wage, imposes caps on the days and hours that a worker can be forced to work, prohibits mistreatment or discrimination of workers in any form, and states that factories must implement programs that benefit worker's health and safety. There are 1000 Nike employees worldwide monitoring operations across the globe.

The most consistent criticism of Nike is that the workers in the factories are not aware of the Code of Conduct that was agreed upon, especially the wages and overtime aspects. Employees of the factories have told sources that the factories pay less that minimum wage at times, force too many overtime hours, and fail to make the workplace as clean and safe as required by the standards dictated by Nike's Code. Many of the factories that are contracted have workers and management from different countries, causing problems in communication. Some factories have Taiwanese managers while factories in Vietnam have Korean managers. To look into these issues Nike commissioned Andrew Young, a former civil rights leader and United Nations ambassador to do an analysis of how well the code was working.

Young and his staff visited four factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and China for three to four hours each led by Nike's people. When Young's report came out to the public it proved to be very uninformative. Young said, "Nike is doing a good job, but could do better". Another aspect that aggravated the public was that Young chose not to look into the issue of wages, a large component of the Code. The reason for this "such an exercise was well beyond the technical capacity of our small firm".

(Good Works, Executive Summary) About a month go a secret internal audit performed by Ernst and Young was leaked to the press. In it was information about dangerous levels of carcinogens, as well as overtime abuse suffered by workers. This information directly contradicts Young's statement of "clean, well-lit, ventilated factories". This report makes it appear that Young's report was strictly for public relations and had no real impact on rectifying the situation, or bringing to light any of the issues that surrounded the situation. In my opinion Nike has tried to counteract allegations of breaking human rights ethics under the medias wing, but has failed in a large way. If Nike would like the respect they think they deserve, they are going to have to make some evolutionary changes in the way things get done.

Placing 5 to 10 individuals that work for an un-bias human rights organization in each of Nike's Asian factories would be a start, moreover placing web cams in its factories so that anyone at any time could see what is going on would start to restore public confidence in Nike. In the ongoing battle of who is right and wrong it is up to every individual to decide for himself or herself. The facts stated above present arguments for both sides, therefore hard to chose whom to defend. In my opinion Nike has tried to cover up a ongoing problem which must be fixed. In today's world of globalization we cannot let a company like Nike treat human beings unfairly.