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Matthew Cusumano
Fr. Rivera S.J.
World Religions
December 17, 2013
The Story Behind the Swoosh
The topic I have chosen to research is working conditions at the Nike factors and
sweatshops in certain parts of Asia, such as China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Some of the
problems that the employees at these factories have to deal with are terrible working
conditions, child labor, no benefits, and very low wages. The employees at these factories
are getting paid about $1.25 per day, and some workers work about 74-82 hours per
week. (Keady, “When Will Nike “Just Do It” On the Sweatshop Issue) Some of the
employees at these factories are forced to sleep in very tiny rooms, similar to jail cells,
because they are not allowed to leave the factory. This topic directly relates to certain
social justice issues, such as child labor, sweatshops, and below-minimum-wage pay.
These people work in such dangerous conditions that they are putting their lives at risk to
work in these factories for such little pay, “People commonly faint from exhaustion, heat,
fumes, and poor nutrition, some die without medical attention after collapsing on the
job.” (Lormand, FACTs and FAQs about Nike’s Labor Abuses) These issues are very
significant because not many people know enough about what is going on at these
factories. Consumers just buy the products from Nike not caring about or even wondering
who made the products they buy and use.
This issue is significant in light of a “faith that does justice” because if you
believe that no person should be allowed to work in these very bad conditions and you
make your opinion known, you are doing your part to try to put an end to it and do
justice. Making your opinion known is very important in a situation like this, because the
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more people that know about it, the faster the word gets around and more people can get
involved in trying to put an end to this social injustice.
The employees at these factories are living very hard lives, because even after
they finish work and are lucky enough to leave the factory they go and live in their very
tiny home, which is about one nine by nine sized room. And some of the employees have
to try and support their family by feeding them, sending them to school, and giving them
a place to live. (Keady, “Behind the Swoosh”) Supervisors, routinely, physically and
verbally abuse the employees. Former employees say that they supervisors often throw
shoes at them, curse at them, and shove them out of their chairs. This issue is significant
in light of a “faith that does justice” because, as Christians we believe everyone is made
in the image and likeness of God. We also believe that everyone has equal rights and
human dignity, but the way the employees at these factories are being treated shows that
these people are not being treated in the image and likeness of God or with any human
dignity or rights at all.
I feel very strongly about this issue because I myself wear a lot Nike apparel
which is produced in these factories under these very bad conditions. I did not realize
how serious this problem was when I first heard about it on the news a few years ago; I
thought nothing of it and continued to support Nike by buying and wearing their
products. Although I still do wear the products, I do not believe it is right that the workers
are treated this way, and I feel that something must be done to stop this immediately.
More than Just Sweatshops
There is a lot of history behind this issue because, for many years, Nike has been
accused of using sweatshops to produce footwear and other athletic and recreational
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apparel. For a long time Nike denied all connections to sweatshops, until the issue
became so well known that Nike no choice but to openly address it. Nike eventually
admitted to using sweatshops, but they did not condone the behavior and conditions of
these sweatshops. Nike started being accused of using sweatshops in the early 1970s in
Asian countries such as Taiwan, China, and Vietnam. In the 1990s Nike finally addressed
the problem by putting in a code of conduct for all employees and factories to follow, to
try and prevent any further controversy. (Nike Chronology). However, even after the code
of conduct was introduced not all of the factories followed the code. When the public
found out about this there were even more protests and boycotting of Nike products.
(Nisen, Max. “How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem.”) Nike is still trying to deal
with these problems today because Nike feels that they have no way of preventing these
conditions in the factories because the Nike headquarters in Oregon are so far away from
the factories that are not following the code of conduct. However, this is no excuse. Nike
should still be held responsible because they are paying for production. Nike should also
be held responsible for their lying, because for a very long time they denied any
allegations of any illegal activities going on in the factories.
The structures in the economic, political, social, and cultural domains are all
remotely similar for the most part. The structure of the economic domain is directly
related to the social structure because how you are viewed in society directly relates to
how much money you make or what job you have. However, Nike is the exception to this
social structure because regardless of how much exposure they get, they are still making
money. The people that work in these factories are in the lower class which does not get
paid the living wage and struggles to support their families. This is because their jobs at
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these factories do not pay enough for them to survive in this society. (Keady, “NIKE
SWEATSHOPS: Are Nike’s Workers Paid a Living Wage?”) Whereas the people in the
upper class work for much more money and in much better conditions than the people
who work in the factories. The employees that work at these factories are under paid,
over worked, and are treated very poorly because of where they work and how much they
make and because even after they finish work and are lucky enough to leave the factory
they go and live in their very tiny home, which is about one nine by nine sized room. And
some of the employees have to try and support their family by feeding them, sending
them to school, and giving them a place to live. (Keady, “Behind the Swoosh”) Also, the
cultural structure relates to the political structure because in these communist places the
people who live there are often very afraid of their government. The people are scared of
