1. Should Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories that it does
not own, but where sub-contractors make product for Nike?
2. What labor standards regarding safety, working conditions, overtime and the like should
Nike hold foreign factories to: those prevailing in that country, or those prevailing in the
United States?
3. An income of $2.28 a day, the base pay of Nike factory workers in Indonesia, is double
the daily income of about half the working population. Half of all adults in Indonesia are
farmers, who receive less than $1 a day. Given this, is it correct to criticize Nike for low
pay rates for subcontractors in Indonesia.
4. Would Nike have handled the negative publicity over sweatshops better? What might
have been done differently? Not just from the public relations perspective, but also from a
policy perspective?
5. Do you think Nike needs to make any changes to its current policy? If so, what? Should
Nike make changes even if they hinder the ability of the company to compete in the
marketplace?
6. Is the WRC right to argue that the FLA is a tool of industry?
7. If sweatshops are a global problem, what might be a global solution to this problem?
“Nike is criticized for using sweatshops in countries like Indonesia and Mexico. The
company has been subject to much critical coverage of the often poor working conditions
and the exploitativeness of the cheap overseas labor.” answers.com
1. Should Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories that it does
not own, but where sub-contractors make product for Nike?
Yes, but I do not believe that the firm is 100% responsible since it is the sub-contractors
who operate and create conditions for workers. Low-cost manufacturing is Nikes strategy,
and it is realized by outsourcing the manufacturing process to cheap labor countries. If
Nike were responsible for all of working conditions of workers at sub-contractors
factories, it would cost more to make shoes. However, I think that Nike should monitor
minimum working conditions so that workers will not die from Karachi, which might be
lead to a big issue.
2. What labor standards regarding safety, working conditions, overtime and the like should
Nike hold foreign factories to: those prevailing in that country, or those prevailing in the
United States?
Nike should hold the standards regarding safety and working conditions that are prevailing
in that country. However, when the sweatshop workers try to tolerate the conditions and
