Montgomery College
Team Members: Natalia Barrionueva, Jack Masangu, Julia Seebacher, Anvar Zhumagali Advisor:
Jeffrey Schwartz Executive Summary Nike is one of the multinational companies that have been hammered in the Western press over the last decade for unethical business practices in the production of apparel, equipment, and footwear in grim factories with dismal conditions that are labeled as sweatshops. A sweatshop is any workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, such as hazardous working conditions, arbitrary discipline, lack of a living wage and benefits. The workers are exposed to abuse or harassment and child labor is quite common. Social injustice prevails in a sweatshop environment and the workers usually suffer extreme poverty, despite the long working hours they put in. Often times, the workers are uneducated and so are unable to advocate for their rights. Another issue involved is environmental damage because the manufacturers generally ignore regulations and safety precautions. Individuals and NGO’s that oppose sweatshops blamed Nike for taking advantage of cheap labor, lenient and weak regulations concerning safety, health and environment in order to maximize profits. Nike was criticized for disregarding basic human rights, in that Nike disrespected the dignity of the workers employed in its contract factories. The individuals and NGO’s demand that Nike ensures decent working conditions in its factories that comply with U. S. Labor regulations, living wages for workers in the factories, disclosure of names and locations of all factories producing apparel for Nike and independent monitoring of these production sites. In the late 1990s, Nike became painfully aware of the fact that its contract factories have not always adhered to the ethical standards it has set forth. From that time on, Nike has continuously worked to improve the conditions in its contract factories and in Nike’s compliance system itself. Presently, Nike feels that allegations of unethical behavior in its business practices are wrong and unjustified. Furthermore, Nike maintains that it is wrong to even regard its contract factories as sweatshops because they do not fall under this category. Nike has set forth a Code of Conduct that is in accord with the ethical standards proposed by NGO’s and requires its contract factories to follow the same high level of ethical standards. Nike Board
of Directors (audience) appointed a Task Force to evaluate “how
effectively the company has responded to the ethical criticism
received and is still receiving from United Students Against Sweatshops
(USAS), various NGO’s, and the public in general concerning
their relationship with manufacturing operations overseas.”
The Task Force will assess the solution from the legal, financial
and ethical perspectives and report to the Board on its findings.
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