Nike and Unfair Labor Practices
Nike and Unfair Labor Practices I. Introduction
Nike has been accused of the unfair labor practice of sweatshop labor. A sweatshop is a place with hazardous working environments, extreme temperatures and abusive employers, hence the term sweat shop. Sweatshop workers work long days exceeding 14 hours and earn less than the living wage (Britanica, n.d.). While these conditions may be shocking to Americans and Modern Western Nations the notion of abusive working conditions is more attractive to Asians and South Americans who are faced with the stark choice of terrible working conditions or unemployment and possible death by starvation. The accusation then is that Nike is using these labor condition inequalities to take unethical advantage of the laborers. Of course, Nike, Inc. denes these allegations often hiding behind the claim that Nike has little control over the working conditions in the facilities of its subcontractors. After all, Nike will never admit that the Lebrons or Black Mambas they sell for a small fortune are made by sweatshop labor halfway across the world. This speech will talk about the problem presented by the unfair labor practices of the Nike subcontractors and how it is against the teachings of the Church. The speech will attempt to shed the light of the faith on the situation and how we can bring glory to God’s name by offering a remedy. II. The problem.
In the United States minimum wage is roughly $7 an hour. An American worker gets paid more in one hour than legislated minimum wage for a day in many developing countries. For example in Indonesia the workers were paid as little as $1.75 per day (Team Sweat N.D.) Shoe manufacturing is a labor intensive process even with modern technology. So Nike’s decision to outsource manufacturing to Asia makes sound business sense. However in those countries the few protections that labor law provides are seldom enforced. Clearly Christ’s command for all of us to love one another as we love
Nike has been accused of the unfair labor practice of sweatshop labor. A sweatshop is a place with hazardous working environments, extreme temperatures and abusive employers, hence the term sweat shop. Sweatshop workers work long days exceeding 14 hours and earn less than the living wage (Britanica, n.d.). While these conditions may be shocking to Americans and Modern Western Nations the notion of abusive working conditions is more attractive to Asians and South Americans who are faced with the stark choice of terrible working conditions or unemployment and possible death by starvation. The accusation then is that Nike is using these labor condition inequalities to take unethical advantage of the laborers. Of course, Nike, Inc. denes these allegations often hiding behind the claim that Nike has little control over the working conditions in the facilities of its subcontractors. After all, Nike will never admit that the Lebrons or Black Mambas they sell for a small fortune are made by sweatshop labor halfway across the world. This speech will talk about the problem presented by the unfair labor practices of the Nike subcontractors and how it is against the teachings of the Church. The speech will attempt to shed the light of the faith on the situation and how we can bring glory to God’s name by offering a remedy. II. The problem.
In the United States minimum wage is roughly $7 an hour. An American worker gets paid more in one hour than legislated minimum wage for a day in many developing countries. For example in Indonesia the workers were paid as little as $1.75 per day (Team Sweat N.D.) Shoe manufacturing is a labor intensive process even with modern technology. So Nike’s decision to outsource manufacturing to Asia makes sound business sense. However in those countries the few protections that labor law provides are seldom enforced. Clearly Christ’s command for all of us to love one another as we love