Dear Mr. Knight:

The women depicted in NIKE advertisements are strong, resliient and empowered by their athletic accomplishments. NIKE's slogan is catchy, "There is NO finish line." Unfortunately, this motto also applies to some of their factories overseas where women, according to payslips from NIKE factories in Indonesia, work from 100-200 overtime hours a month to make ends meet.

While the women who wear NIKE shoes in the United States are encouraged to perform their personal best -- the Indonesian, Vietnamese and Chinese women making the shoes often times suffer from inadequate wages, corporal punishment, forced overtime and/or sexual harassment.

NIKE has been operating 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 by the New York Times (6/27/97).

NIKE amassed $553.2 million in net profits in 1996. Yet, women making $1.60 a day for nine hours of work in Vietnam, according to payslips from the Sam Yang factory, can barely afford three meals a day, let alone transportation, rent, clothing, health care and much more. The recent labor strikes protesting inadequate wages involved 10,000 NIKE workers in Indonesia and over 1,300 NIKE workers in Vietnam (April, 1997).

NIKE, with its trememdous financial resources, should and must do better. Paying workers a livable wage would decrease employee turnover, increase productivity and as a result, enable the company to remain competitive in a global marketplace.

As allies in the struggle for women's rights, we are also deeply concerned about the fact that most NIKE workers in those countries are denied their basic right to free association. If they could join a union without fear of losing their job, they could organize for better wages and working conditions and truly be, in NIKE's words "empowered."

We urge you to take the following steps to demonstrate a real commitment to fair labor practices:

At a minimum, pay workers wages that would cover their basic needs. Right now, the local monitoring groups and the workers they represent have determined this would be $4.00 per day in Indonesia and $3.00 per day in China and Vietnam.

Institute independent monitoring by respected local groups that meet regularly with workers. For Indonesia, we urge you to hire the Indonesian Sports Shoe Monitoring Network; for Vietnam, Vietnam Labor Watch; and for China, the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee.

As advocates for women here and abroad, we hope you give serious consideration to our concerns.

Sincerely,

Black Women's Agenda
Center for the Advancement of Public Policy
Center for Women Policy Studies
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Equal Rights Advocates
The Feminist Majority
Maxine Waters (D-CA) Chair of Congressional Black Caucus
Ms. Foundation for Women
National Council for Research on Women
National Organization for Women 
Voters for Choice Education Fund
Alice Walker and Rebecca Walker
Women for Affirmative Action
Women's Environment & Development Organization
Women's Institute for Leadership
Development for Human Rights
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom