According to "Just do it, Nike," Nike seems especially fond of doing business in undemocratic countries like China and Indonesia, where the military can be relied upon to "crack heads" if workers get out of line (Miller 2). The military monitoring has been a large controversy due to the fact that these are often Chinese working against other Chinese workers, or Vietnamese against thei

r own people also. For Nike there are two benefits: it it's a cheap way to monitor in an overseas factory and it creates a sheaper labor workforce. In turn making the labor cheaper for Nike. This makes it possible for Nike workers from the states to work on other things and only tour the factories when nessecary. While still assuming a stable workforce without good pay. The critics of Nikes labor practices have taken tours and witnessed the mistreatment firsthand. Time magazine reported saying," The plants were found to be modern and clean, well lighted and ventilated and paying a decent wage by local standards-although by no means are they trouble free. Make no mistake: these are factories not amusement parks, and even in developing Asia, where jobs are scarce and getting scarcer, this is not the job of choice." (Saporito 1)

This is only one description of the factory conditions and the requirements that are put on the workers of these factories, on contract with Nike.

"A big issue that surrounds sweatshops is wage. The minimum wage often does not reflect the cost of living." (Hepner Online)

$37.14 a month."(Nike Establishes Labor" Online) To many people living in the U.S., that package may sound good however the compensation package doesn't do away with the long hours, the poor conditions or the low rate of pay. Many of these workers are young children working to help support their families. The benefits do not make up for the low pay rates that keep them in the work force. The pay is only enough to get by where these children want to be saving in order to leave the factories and return home.

Is CEO Phil Knight right? Are American workers not willing to make the shoes that are so popular in stores and classrooms across the nation. If so, the exploitation will continue and Nike workers will remain underpaid and over worked in poor working conditions.

Twelve hour shifts several days a week; wages as low as 16 cents and hour; 16 workers to a dorm room; pregnant women fired. Workers are not allowed to talk. There is constant pressure to produce-workers are yelled at. If you don't meet your high production quota you must stay until you do-without pay. The factory is noisy, filled with dust and fumes. Workers have fainted, overcome by the long hours and the glue fumes. One worker died; another lost an arm; other has had their fingers broken by the equipment. Most workers have never heard of the Nike code of conduct. There is no union and workers are afraid that if they complain, they will be fired. When a group of workers stopped working in March to protest had not been paid, they were fired. The supervis

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nike Inc, Court Saporito, Miller1 Factory, Chinese Chinese, Michael Jordan, Hong Kong, America Miller, North America, Labor Online, Vietnam Workers, nike workers, ceo phil knight, saporito 1, ceo phil, korean supervisor, phil knight, pay overtime, company nike, guilty beating, miller 1, cost living,
Approximate Word count = 1780
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)