September 2002 Call to Action News
Sweatshop campaign invites Catholic bargaining power against Nike, other companies
by Leslie Kretzu
Average Americans still don't know that the millions of workers in developing countries who produce 90 percent of our apparel earn less than $2 /day and live in severe poverty as defined by the U.N. Of these apparel workers, 85 percent are young women who work up to 15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week, yet go into debt trying to get enough food, water, housing, clothing, health care and transportation. Workers are often so desperate that they must send their children back to their home villages for family members to feed, clothe and care for, and will not see their children for months or years.
Without domestic or international legislation to protect worker rights in developing countries, it seems the only way to get companies like Nike to make even marginal changes is through intense public pressure. A focused campaign on Nike has produced some improvements. We need to keep the pressure on until Nike meets workers' most urgent demands: raising wages to a livable wage, ensuring workers' rights to form independent unions, allowing independent monitors into factories, and ceasing threats that Nike will "cut and run" to countries where there are few or no worker protections: Vietnam, China and Bangladesh. Once Nike has met these demands, we will have established a framework for measurable change, and can move to the next corporation, and the next, while laying a solid foundation for potential legislation to reel in this footloose industry.
Who has power in this equation? Catholics have tremendous leverage. Catholic universities and dioceses have great potential for grassroots education and political action. Every year Catholic institutions buy millions of dollars of apparel - athletic apparel, school uniforms, t-shirts bought for fundraisers and special events. If we organize around this issue, we have significant bargaining power with multinational corporations like Nike. Join us to discuss organizing strategy at the CTA National Conference in November (click here).
While we organize to ensure that apparel for Catholic schools and dioceses are made under fair conditions, we must also educate Americans on why such measures are necessary. At Educating For Justice we are producing "SWEAT," a fast-paced full-length documentary film, hoping to educate millions about industry-wide labor exploitation, and to get consumers to take action for worker and environmental justice. If you can financially support this film project or have ideas for marketing and distribution, please e-mail us at educate4justice@aol.com.
Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady are the co-directors and founders of Educating for Justice. Their workshops at the CTA National Conference in Milwaukee are on Nov. 2. For more information about the Nike Corporate Accountability Campaign or to have them speak to your university or community group, visit www.nikewages.org or call 917 804-0491.
Join CTA's FOCUS ON SWEATSHOPS.
Order your information/action packet for $5. Contact Claire Noonan at the CTA office.