SPONSORING UNFAIR LABOR
I am writing this letter with the hope that it will bring to light some of the sweatshop injustices that we are directly, although perhaps unknowingly, involved with at ASU. As a school with a residual contract with Nike we are a vital part of the system that encourages exploitation. While this continues to be a largely controversial issue among school officials, for the most part, the student body at ASU remains in the dark.
Nike manufacturing facilities are primarily located in Asia, where it is illegal for workers to organize [unions] and wage rates are the lowest in the world. Both of these factors drastically increase [Nike’s] profit margins. In 25 to 50 percent of Nike factories, workers must work seven days a week and are paid below the local minimum wage.
Nike employees in China receive only $1.60 each day, when three small meals a day on average costs about $2.00. In fact, it would take only 4 percent of Nike's advertising money to provide all of its employees with a living wage (keep in mind that the money reserved for Nike's "advertising" is only a very small percentage of their actual yearly profits).
All of the sponsorship money Nike gives to our University is made on the back of third world sweatshop workers. Imagine the changes that could take place if we demanded that companies abide by fair labor standards in return for our contracts. Before this can be accomplished, students need to be made aware of these injustices that, although half a world away, can be ended right here.
Melissa Ware
Reader
