The Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/news/0005/08/text/world6.html Nike puts the boot into unis Date: 08/05/2000 Los Angeles: The sportswear manufacturer Nike has withdrawn millions of dollars of sponsorship from three American universities because of the activities of campus-based anti-sweatshop groups. The move is the latest in a running battle between leading multinational firms and the student anti-sweatshop movement which has mushroomed on campuses during the past year. In the past three weeks, Nike has withdrawn from financial arrangements worth more than $US50 million ($83.8million) with the University of Oregon, the University of Michigan and Brown University, Rhode Island. The sports firm had provided free equipment for the universities' sports teams and had made large donations and endowments. Nike objects to the demands being made by the Workers Rights Consortium, made up of students, university and union officials, and human rights campaigners. The WRC, which campaigns for improved working conditions in countries that produce clothes for Western markets, supports unannounced visits to factories and minimum working conditions. Nike has said it provides better working conditions than its competitors and makes a conscious effort to ensure that its factories operate fairly and humanely. The company supports another monitoring group, the Fair Labour Association, which the WRC claims is dominated by companies and does not carry out tough enough inspections. Last month Nike's chairman and founder, Phil Knight, announced that he would not be making a $US30million donation to his alma mater, the University of Oregon, because the company considered the WRC, which has branches in nearly 50 universities, unfriendly towards business in general. Nike has also accused the WRC of being a tool of the US unions, which have been unhappy at seeing manufacturing jobs go abroad. Since then, Nike has broken its links with Michigan and Brown universities. The question of whether US manufacturers are using sweatshops at home and abroad has become an important issue in student politics. Last month, 12 university administration buildings were occupied by students objecting to the administration's investment policies. The Guardian ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
