Globalization is the magic word; for well-established, multinational corporate it usually means cheap labor and a larger profit margin. It all started in 2009 when two of Nike`s largest apparel manufacturing factories closed their doors in Honduran, leaving almost 1,800 workers unemployed. Therefore, waves of protests were initiated by trade unions and movements due to the unpaid $ 2 million that were supposed to be settled by the athletic apparel giant as unemployment aids.
Obligatory Compensation.
“Alex Bores, president of the United Students Against Sweatshops chapter at Cornell, argued that it was only fair for Nike to make good on its subcontractors’ obligations.” (Greenhouse). By Law, Nike has to compensate the labors with the 6-digit number that was mentioned earlier. Even though the crisis started with two of its contractors (Hugger and Vision Tex), yet Nike has a responsibility for paying the amount due. Eventually, the giant paid actually more than $ 2 million in the form of trainings and recruitment of the unemployed labors by its suppliers where $ 1.54 million of them where workers relief fund.
The Game Changers.
“Nike finally tossed that disingenuous defense like a worn-out pair of Air Jordans” (Padgett). Well, a huge amount of the credit goes to the USAS (United States Against Sweatshops), University of Wisconsin along with other universities and organizations. Those entities applied a huge business pressure by launching the “Just Pay It” campaign, demonstrating at Nike`s retails, and terminating contracts with Nike as an athletic apparel sponsor. Recently, a lot of students have been pushing their schools to join the WRC (Worker Rights Consortium) which is an independent organization that monitors the origin of the college apparels.
The Moral of The Story.
A lot of people are arguing; Should students should be allowed to protest for those kind of issues? Do they have trustworthy sources on which they can judge and apply these kinds of pressures? Well, from where I stand, thanks to those students and organizations, Nike leased off the money. Surveillance should be applied to giant corporate to avoid exploitation of developing countries` resources.
Works cited
Padgett, Tim. “Just Pay It: Nike Creates Fund for Honduran Workers” TIME. 27 July 2010. Web. 15 March 2016.
Greenhouse, Steven. “Pressured, Nike to Help Workers in Honduras” The New York Times. 26 July 2010. Web. 15 March 2016.
