Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh

>> At the age of 18,

I was just on the track.

Go to a good college, get

a decent degree, do good.

You're going to get
an entry-level job

down on Wall Street,

you're going to
work real hard.

You're going
to get broker,

you're going to
make tons of money.

You're going to be retired

by very young age,

you're going to
have a house on

a beach in New Jersey and

a couple of Mercedes
and a trophy wife.

And that'll be the
end of the game.

I'm done,
multi-millionaire.

That's it. I was

playing professionally
for the

New Jersey Imperials.

I was playing the best
soccer in my life.

I get offered this
coaching job.

I wanted my
teammates to go

coach at Saint
John's University,

the NCAA Division 1
national champions.

They're the best
team in the country.

I was having a blast.

I was loving coaching
and I was loving plan.

I'm at living in New York.

I'm also studying stuff
that I really enjoy.

I'm digging into,
studying theology.

For the first
time in my life

in a formal way,

I get online,
I start doing

searches about Nike,

sweatshops and
labour practices.

And what I found was,

if you wanted to
pick a company

that completely
violates everything,

the Catholic
social teaching is

about Nike would be a
perfect case study.

At the same time, I'm
doing this research,

Saint John's University
Athletic Department

starts to negotiate
a 3.5 million

dollar endorsement
deal with Nike that

require me as a coach to

wear and promote
the products.

Saint John's University,
with the largest

Catholic institution
in the country,

coupling itself with

the largest sportswear
company in the world.

And I said, how can we,

as such a public
symbol of Catholicism,

do something that runs

completely counter
to our mission?

We're saying to the
world, then, look,

you should care
about the poor

and we should
fight against

injustice and we should

seek out the
causes of poverty.

Unless you're getting some

really good
athletic equipment

and $3.5 million
along with it.

You want to talk about

just hypocrisy
manifested in

the real world
like this was in.

>> And you have the
story of Saint John's.

>> Jim Keady has
caused a massive pile.

>> He is clearly an ideal.

>> I didn't go
to Saint John's

University to
work for Nike.

I went there to coach
and study theology.

>> Keady a devout
Catholic, protested.

>> How does he reached
the point where

he thinks it's immoral?

>> Because he's
coming at it from

a background of
faith and religion.

This isn't about
just money or

power or job or anything.
Think about this.

How many of us
on a job that

we really want
are prepared to

get a memo from the
boss saying stop doing

this or you're out and
you keep doing it?

>> I was given
an ultimatum

by my head coach wear

Nike and drop this issue

or resign. End the story.

So in June of 1998,

I was constructively
fired.

People were telling
me you don't know

what you're talking about.

Those are great jobs and

you can live like
a king or queen on

those wages and
those people

are really happy to have

those jobs. I want
to go find out.

Doesn't everybody
just want

to know the truth?

So I wanted to know
the truth firsthand.

I wanted to see it. I
wanted to smell it.

I wanted to hold
it in my hand.

I knew I was going to
need other people.

Leslie was a
natural match.

>> Jim and I went to
college together.

We came together
ultimately because we

share an interest in
labor rights issues.

>> I eventually met

backup with her
few years after

school through an email
about sweatshops.

>> I really wanted

to be working with
these issues.

>> And I wrote to
my buddy in Saudia,

who's this woman that's

writing to you
about this stuff?

And he said,
she's not like

you. You should email her.

She was actually
enroute to go

work with Mother Teresa's
Sisters in India.

And I sent her
off his email,

I got this great idea.

Let's get started on

Nike's wages in Indonesia

>> And so he's like,
I really need to go.

>> She wrote me
back. Sounds great.

>> Let's go.

>> We plopped down in
Tangerang, Indonesia,

there's industrial
suburb outside

of the capital,

Jakarta, with the plans

that for the next month,

we were going to live as

Nike's factory
workers live,

which meant that we
were going to go live

in a worker slum
outside of the capital,

and we were going to live

on the worker's wages,

$1.25 a day for
the next month.

Try and come maybe to

a better understanding
of what it's like

for Nike factory
workers to make

this money and live
under these conditions.

We lived in nine-by-nine
cement box.

It was over 100 degrees to

100% humidity is
small windows,

certainly no air
conditioning.

>> No furniture.
You slept on

a very thin mat on

an uneven cement floor

covered in shelf paper.

>> The streets outside
of your home are

lined by open sores

and what that means like
in the rainy season,

you would have all
that feces just

float up into the streets

and into your house.

>> And every time that you

go to the bathroom,

it comes back out
into the sewer for

everybody else to
see and smell.

>> You would have

football-sized
rats that would

stampede over the ceiling

at night and
come up through

the toilet and
look for stuff to

eat in the house or

the fist-size
cockroaches that

would crawl over
every night.

>> Just like anyone
around the world,

you can't just drop
into someone's life

and be like, hi,

we're here, we
want to live in

your life and tell us
how much it's sucks.

You had to build
bonds of trust.

>> Jim.

>> City.

>> City.

>> Jennie.

>> Jennie nice
to meet you.

>> They treated us very

politely and it
wasn't until they saw

that we were committed

in the capacity of living

on the wages that
they're forced to live

on in the conditions
that they are living in.

They felt that they could

start to begin
to trust us.

You get to know
them and you hold

their children and
you eat with them,

you share stories
with them,

they become part
of your family.

>> We would go to
different workers homes.

You've got like four
women's sleep and

an eight-by-eight
cement box

and all their possessions
are in there,

everything in
this small area.

>> The workers
would have to share

a bathroom with 5-10
other families.

The workers would
have to share

a living quarters,

actually like a row

of shacks with
corrugated tin roofs.

All of those
families would share

a laundry corner and
a kitchen facilities.

And they would all share

the same well to take
the water out of.

>> $1.25 a day
after you've

paid for your rent,
water, electricity,

any major
transportation costs,

you're going to be left

on average with roughly

7,000 rupiah per day.

What the ****
does that mean?

That's going to buy
you two simple meals

or rice and vegetables,

a bag of peanuts,
a bottle ice tea,

and some dish detergent.

And that's all
you can get, and

that's your reward.

>> Without a doubt.

We found that out in

the first week that
we were there.

There was no way
that you can live on

$1.25 a day and maintain
your human dignity.

It's just not possible.

>> I lost 25 pounds

living on Nike's
wages in Indonesia.

I spent a month
painfully hungry and

tired and like near

the point of
exhaustion most days.

>> I just felt

my energy storage
was just depleted

and I just started
going downhill fast and

I just started getting
sick every day.

>> And she got very sick.

She had a fever, 104.

And she's got to

deal with, I have
a fever 104.

I can buy aspirin and

a little drink
box to get some

Vitamin C. But if I
buy those two things,

I don't eat for the
rest of the day.

>> We're going to go home.

We're going to say,

at least I got
lot of money,

no it's not going to be

a **** thing different.

>> How do you feel
like your human being?

How do you feel like
your work, your gifts?

For them the workers that

I've talked to you the
last couple of days.

Number of said the
only thing we have is

our physical
labour because

I just bought this
smallest thing,

shaving creams and one
razor that I might be

able to use two or
three times that

I have to cut
out three meals

this week. The
highest people.

>> They will be working

overtime hours
just to get by

because they
can't possibly

get by on the
ways that they're

paid without working

incredible
amounts of time.

And when you're working
up to 15 hours a day,

6-7 days a week,

your two-year-old child
just doesn't see you.

They don't get to
see their children.

>> The kids can't
even go to school.

How are you going to break

a cycle of
poverty and have

real economic
development if you have

a whole lost generation

of children that
aren't even educated.

I'm walking down
this dirt path into

this village and I see

this massive pile of

scrap shoe rubber
that I later

learned came from one of

Nike's factories and piles

like that get dumped
there all the time.

And the end result of

these piles is
that they get

burned in that village in

the big open space
where kids play.

And the burning fumes

I learned from
the company that

designs Nike shoe rubber

will give off toxins
and carcinogens.

Kids are paying the price.

And they're the ones

who have chest infections

and they're the
ones that are

going to develop cancer.

When we were in
Indonesia, we

made attempts to get

into a Nike factory

because Nike claims
on their website,

we have nothing to
hide. I'm Mike.

>> Hi, Mike.

>> How you doing?

>> Good.

>> We went over to
Nike's corporate offices

and Nike denied us that.

>> We're unable to
accommodate that request.

>> So Nike Headquarters

and Beaverton
Oregon had faxed

an info sheet at all the

factories to be placed

on the wall for all
workers to see that red.

If you are approached by

Jim Keady, Leslie Kretzu,
Mike Pierantozzi.

>> Do not speak
to them. They're

only to speak
to management.

There will be
severe consequences

if you're found
talking to them.

>> And they know from

their management how
they're supposed to act.

And if they don't, there's

some severe ramifications.

Anywhere from
significant harassment

to death.

And I mean it in a
very literal sense.

Certainly, the
management of

the factory didn't
want us to be there.

And it was frightening
because we eat

several times trying to
get into the factory.

>> We weren't out
of the van for

more than 3 minutes and

there was security
surrounding us.

And then the factory
managers came out.

>> What's going on?
We're outside a

Nike shoe factory
right now,

security surrounded us.

>> And they're like,

what are you doing here?

Why are you here? It was

frightening
because who knows?

>> Security guy here
tracking us down.

>> From that moment,

we were tailed by
factory security,

the prey men for
the local mafia.

The local mafia
certainly works in

conjunction with
these factory bosses.

The factory bosses some

of them are just brutal,

ruthless, hired muscle to

keep workers in line.

And we met with one
worker, Julianto.

He told us because
he was union

organized and he
was trying to

form an independent union.

>> He was threatened
at gunpoint.

He had his house
ransacked.

He was given death
threats and he had to

flee back to his
home village.

Because in fear
of his life.

This is literally a
life-and-death issue.

And this happens at
all the factories.

>> Every worker
that we talk to,

there's this struggled
with this fear,

this culture of fear that

just permeates the air

that they want to

tell you the truth and

try and fight for
their rights,

but they also
want their kids

to have a father
or a mother.

They're dealing every
day with the threat of

losing their lives for

doing this kind of work.

I mean, they show
tremendous courage

in light of that.

We were able to meet

with a woman
by the name of

Dita Sari who had been

organizing Nike and
Reebok factory workers at

the age of 23 and
was illegally

jailed and put in
prison and tortured.

>> In 8th of July 1996,

I was arrested
by the army,

the local army
in East Java.

They kicked me and
they used their fists

and their sticks
and their boot to

hurt me and to torture
me in front of

the workers to show
them an example.

>> I think that
the majority of

workers are saying, "Look,

we don't want you to
pull out the jobs.

We want to work.
We'd like to work.

We want to make the shoes

we were proud
of what we do,

but we don't want
to be exploited.

Why can't you just let

us meet our basic needs?"

>> We're talking
about food,

clothing, housing,
health care,

education, being

able to take care
of your kids,

and some modest savings.

That's not a tall order.

>> Excuse me, do
you guys know

where the Nike campus is?

>> Yeah.

>> You make a
right on walker.

>> Yeah.

>> You'll see it on
your southwest corner.

>> So we're on Nike's
campus right now.

It's a little bit

different than the
factories in Indonesia,

just a tiny bit.

>> Hi, how are you?

>> Hi, good to see you.

>> Nice to meet
you finaly.

>> Yeah.

>> I was hoping to set
up some time where

we could talk. I'm
really concerned about

the workforce
in Indonesia.

You know, I spent
the summer there

living with them,
and living on

the wages that are paid to

the factory workers.

>> You're worried
about that.

>> Yeah.

>> Why don't you call

my secretary, see
what happens?

>> I did. I called
Lisa last week.

I called Vada,
I called Dusty,

Brad Figel, I
called Amanda.

>> You're going
to have to talk

someone else, maybe.

You need to talk
to Dusty Kidd.

>> You are the
guy the buck

stops with you, right?

>> Yeah, it doesn't
start with me though.

>> No, but I don't know
who else to talk to.

>> Try Dusty Kidd.

>> He doesn't want
to talk to me.

>> Then I guess you
don't get through then.

>> But you are the man.

>> Thank you.

>> You are the man
that needs to.

>> I appreciate your
concern but I'm having

lunch with a friend

and we've talked
about it and you're.

>> I apologize for
interrupting your lunch.

I've come all the way from

New Jersey to talk
to you about this.

>> I am not
talking to you.

>> I've got to stonewalled
at every turn.

You know workers
have asked of

me that I try to
bring you back to

Indonesia to meet them in

their homes not in the
office in Jakarta.

>> Do you understand
no? You just got a no.

I'm not going to talk
to you about it.

>> Phil Knight,
the CEO of Nike

or Michael Jordan
or Tiger Woods or

Mia Hamm or any

of the other people
that are really

making a lot of money

because of the way
that Nike does things,

should care about
these workers

because they're
human beings.

>> When I see people
like Tiger Woods get

$100 million just for

wearing the clothes,
we're saying,

as a society like

this one
individual because

they play golf well,

is worth more than
700,000 people.

>> We've made up
these wage charts

and have them
looked down at it.

And then look up and say,

Tiger Woods makes
enough in a

second to buy me a house.

Why? I work hard for
the company too.

What do you say to them?

That's the system. Deal
with it, suck it up.

It's capitalism's
survival of the fittest.

I guess you're
not the fittest.

Nike is in Indonesia for

one reason, cheap labor.

>> It's an ideology
of maximizing

profit at all costs to
humanity and nature.

And it's this entire like

a vicious cycle
that starts with

the heads of the
corporations that want to

make a great return
on shareholders’

investment.

>> Some people say,

that's the way things are.

That's the American way.

It's capitalism, that's
the American way.

The American way
is democracy.

That's what our country
was founded on.

I belief that all
people are equal.

That there should be
respect for democracy,

for human rights, and for

the protection
of human life.

That's what we're
about as Americans.

We spent the last year and

a half travelling
around the country,

visiting over 100
schools, high schools,

and universities,
15,000 students.

How are you feeling
about the turnout?

>> I'm feeling pretty
good about the turnout.

>> What do you thinking

about the turnout here?

>> It's great. This is

the best possible turnout.

>> And we try as
best we can to

introduce them to
these human beings.

And say, as students,

as high-school athletes,

as college athletes,
as consumers,

you've got
tremendous power.

And because we can't
fly them over to

Indonesia we bring
Indonesia to them.

And if we can give
them that spark,

even if it's one or
two on that day,

that's going to
multiply and

eventually we'll reach
this critical mass.

And we'll have a
great harvest.

And the harvest
will be truth and

justice and fairness
for all people.

Something's wrong here
and we can fix it.

It's a necessity.

>> The tipping
point is now.

>> At this point
in our history,

we need a story like
this to be told.