Stakeholder Position: Nike Consumer
Nike is the world’s number one seller of shoes and athletic apparel. Boys, girl, men and women buy Nike shoes, t-shirts, basketball shorts, and other items daily, but have any of these people thought about where these products are coming from? Being a consumer of Nike apparel, every so often I have thought about where the items I buy come from; I have always looked at the tags and have seen “Made in Indonesia” or “Made in Taiwan,” but I never seen a tag labeled “Made in America”. Why is this? Nike is a brand known very well in America, so why are the products
not made here? After extensive research, the information is shocking. Nike, the world’s number one shoe seller, takes advantage of third world countries, underpaying, overworking, and in some cases, physically abusing workers. If Nike wants to keep the title of world’s number one shoe seller, the company needs to reevaluate how they produce their products and come up with a way to meet the needs to factory workers.
In America, as of July 24th, 2008, the U.S. federal minimum wage is $6.55 per hour and will be increasing to $7.25 July 24th, 2009 (Employment Administration Standard 2009). However, these numbers are not the same in other places. Nike produces its products overseas in places such as Indonesia, Vietnam and China and pays them less than a third of what the U.S. requires employers pay employees. Indonesian workers make $2.64, Vietnamese workers make $1.60, and Chinese workers make $1.75; but compared to America, these numbers are A DAY, not PER HOUR (Nike Production Facts 2009). From a customer’s point of view, these numbers are disturbing. How is it that consumers pay between $80 to $120 for a pair of shoes, but the workers who work day in and day out to make these shoes do not make close to what it costs to survive? If there is close to no money going to workers, then where is the money going? Nike is a multibillion dollar company, racking in $9 billion in projected revenue, and the CEO of Nike, Phil Knight, is said to be worth $5.2 billion (Nike Production Facts 2009). In order to survive, employees must work extensive amounts of overtime; however, in these factories, overtime is not just a couple hours—try several.
Due to the money (or lack of money) the employees in Nike’s factories are making, many are forced to work SEVERAL hours of overtime in order to survive. “In Vietnam, the cost of a meal is 60-90 cents, so the daily wage of $1.60 (per day) is not enough for three meals in the urban city of Ho Chi Minh (where Nike factories are located), let alone enough for transportation and shelter. The Indonesian government admits minimum wage is only 90 percent of subsistence needs for one person. In Vietnam, Reebok (one of Nike’s competitors) factories pay $65 per month, whereas Nike pays poverty level wages of $45 per month (Nike Production Facts 2009). Because Nike is not willing to pay their employees the wages they deserve, workers are forced into working up to 100-200 hours of overtime per month in order to only earn double of their minimum wages. Again, Nike rakes in billions of dollars a year in their sales, selling the products that these factory workers produce, yet workers have to work HUNDREDS of hours of overtime PER MONTH in order to survive? This should not be. Nonetheless, the lack of money and long hours are not the worst thing happening in factories overseas.
Workers in Nike factories overseas are abused physically and emotionally and that is something no one should EVER have to endure. “Nike has been in Vietnam for less than two years and already one factory official has been convicted of physically abusing workers, another fled the country during a police investigation of sexual-abuse charges and a third is under indictment for abusing workers, as reported in the New York Times” (Nike Production Facts 2009). If Nike is such a respected brand in the United States and known for all the donations they make and the great things they do, why are these things allowed to happen in the factories? Just because these workers are not on American soil does not mean they should not be treated with dignity and respect. The people in these factories are normal people trying to make a living for their family and themselves, but the factory owners are not doing their part. In order for Nike to continue to be number one, several changes need to be made.As a customer of Nike, I do not support their actions in paying workers close to nothing, forcing people to work an overwhelming number of hours, and even physically and emotionally abusing employees. There are numerous changes Nike could make in order to please both customers as well as employees.
First, I believe that Nike could spare part of their $630 million budget in order to pay employees the money they truly deserve (Nike Production Facts 2009). In all fairness, these employees are the reason that Nike is who they are; without these workers putting in the time and effort to make great products, no one would have any idea who Nike is and they would not be selling anything. Nike should be thanking these workers day in and day out for the hard work they put towards making them the number one selling company in the world. By increasing employee wages, workers would not have to work hundreds of hours of overtime in order to survive. Doing so will give workers more of a reason to work hard and continue to produce the products people know and love.
Second, Nike should do background checks on the people they hire to be in charge of factories. I understand wanting to get a job done and a job done correctly, but physically and emotionally abusing someone is NOT the way to go about things. Having someone in charge who knows the proper way to go about directing people is the key to a successful company. Also, Nike may want to consider sending managers to meetings that will allow them to learn how to deal with certain situations; teaching these mangers a different way of dealing with all situations that does not involve violence will allow for managers to not lose their jobs. Improving the work environment for all factory workers will change the entire vibe of the factory and advance productivity.
Currently, Nike has quite a few changes that need to be made in order to create a safe environment. With the current wages employees are making not being enough for people to survive, many are forced to work hundreds of hours of overtime per month in order to sustain a livable lifestyle. Factory workers work very hard in order to make Nike the number one shoe seller in the world and making a few small changes is the least Phil Knight could do in order to thank these workers. Along with very minimal pay and extremely long work hours, some employees are being physically and emotionally abused by factory managers. Proper training of managers would allow for a safe environment, in turn lessening abuse and the number of people losing jobs. Nike may be the number one seller, but they are coming in last in employee appreciation; a few simple changes and Phil Knight can be looked at as one of the world’s richest men and the world’s nicest CEO.
WORKS CITED
"Employment Administration Standard." U.S. Department of Labor. U.S. Department of Labor. 1 Jun
2009
"Nike Production Facts." Nike Shoe Production in the Third World. 2009. Third World Traveler. 1 Jun
2009
