Three Indonesian factory workers came thousands of miles to Oregon this week with a message for Nike’s top brass: treat us fairly and respect our rights.
The employees, who stitch Nike clothing in Asian factories, protested outside the sportswear giant’s worldwide headquarters in Beaverton. Surrounded by labour activists and local supporters, they demanded that Nike remedy what they characterise as rampant wage theft and abusive conditions in its supply chain — abuses they assert increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abiramy Sivalogananthan, a representative from the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, which coordinated the workers’ tour, said that they’ve worked for Nike for years and now they’re demanding Nike pay the wages that are owed.”
Speaking through an interpreter, visiting worker Dedhe Nurhasanah characterised herself as part of a broader movement that represents thousands of women throughout Asia. She said the company portrays a very different image than the one that Nike is associated with in the US
Nurhasanah said that to individuals here, Nike may be hope, but for them in the supply chain, Nike is about stolen wages. The theft doesn’t only harm workers — it hurts families.
The protest was backed by local organisations, including the Portland Association of Teachers. Its president, Angela Bonilla, connected the struggle for equitable pay overseas with wider struggles for fairness in the United States.
Bonilla said that these workers are being systematically shortchanged while Nike is bringing in billions. She added that this links up with their struggle for education funding, for living wages everywhere, and corporations need to be held accountable.
The campaign by the workers kept going throughout the week. They went to Nike’s store in downtown Portland to tell their stories to customers. They also expect to show up at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field — a venue with deep Nike roots — for a symbolic “renaming ceremony” in tribute to the workers whose sweat, they assert, paid for its renovation.
Their campaign won’t stop at Oregon. The group will proceed with their US tour through New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., with the intent to highlight the human toll of fast fashion within Nike’s vast global empire.
The company has 45 Indonesian factories it sources from alone, employing close to 282,000 workers, the majority of whom are women. Nike received its last labour practice accreditation from the Fair Labor Association in 2019.
