A reminder of what was happening over a year ago (2 articles attached below, courtesy Leftlink). There's only one way to show your personal objection to Nike's continued exploitation of low-income workers: a physical demonstration in the heart of own metropolis, right outside Melbourne's Nike Superstore (cnr Bourke & Swanston Sts, City), every Friday at 5.00 - 7.00pm . Each week draws dozens of new people who nervously admit that this is their first "blockade". And what a positive experience they walk away from! Although there was some police violence in some of the earlier weeks, the last two weeks have seen agreement by the constabulary to allow the blockade to proceed, as a legitimate form of democratic protest. Last Friday, there was even friendly banter between the two "opposing" forces about the need for warm cuppas to sustain the momentum! (the police urging us to go home as soon as Nike shut its doors. As if this was our only objective! Every pedestrian, walking past the smiling, chanting, boisterous crowd linked 3-deep and arm-in-arm, would have understood that this protest was as much about conveying a message about Nike's despicable work practices as it was about stopping trading for a mere two hours a week). The Nike store has now been shut down for NINE consecutive Friday nights, with crowd numbers in excess of 100 for the last 3 weeks (not bad for two sliding doors only two metres wide!). There's a real feeling that this blockade represents the start of a genuine community rebellion - against exploitation of workers, in this instance, but also building towards a general community backlash against the corporate domination of our democracy. Please circulate this amongst your friends, especially those who don't think of themselves as "political". It'd be a shame for anyone to complain "I'd have come along, if only you'd told me about it," when this blockade is eventually recognised as a key event in Melbourne's recent history, alongside the Vietnam moratoriums, the MUA blockade and S11. Chris Chaplin State Secretary The Greens (Vic) 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Nike puts the boot into unis Date: 08/05/2000 Los Angeles: The sportswear manufacturer Nike has withdrawn millions of dollars of sponsorship from three American universities because of the activities of campus-based anti-sweatshop groups.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." - -- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 10:26:12 +1000 From: TCFUA Vic Branch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: LL:ART: Nike admits breaking work agreement, pays penalty AAP NEWSFEED June 6, 2000, Tuesday Australian General News HEADLINE: Fed: Nike pays penalty after admitting it breached award By Heather Gallagher, Industrial Correspondent MELBOURNE, June 6 AAP - Sportswear giant Nike today admitted it was guilty of breaching the Clothing Trades Award and agreed to pay the textile workers' union $15,000 in penalties. The company reached a settlement with the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) late today after the union brought proceedings against it in the Federal Court. In consent orders read to the court, Nike admitted breaching three sections of the award and agreed to pay the union $5,000 a breach. The court was told Nike had failed to register with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission as a contractor. It also failed to supply a list of subcontractors and other workers, which enables the union to check on workers' wages and conditions, for 12 months from February 1998. During a protest before the hearing, TCFUA state secretary Michele O'Neil said the union had brought similar court action against more than 80 companies. All the others had settled and she estimated Nike had spent $100,000 in legal fees bringing the matter to court. Ms O'Neil later said the settlement was a great victory for Australian workers. "This is about Nike, a large multinational company, being made to not only keep to the award conditions but actually pay a penalty for having breached them," she told reporters. Annie Delaney, who has managed the union's FairWear campaign, said the case would act as a deterrent to other companies. "We believe the outcome today is the best in terms of making the award work ... and getting the company to admit to breaches that up until this morning they were refusing to admit to," she said. Ms Delaney said despite the company's policy of not using outworkers - people who sew from home usually in sub-standard conditions - the union had discovered some outworkers making Nike products in Brisbane. "The nature of the industry is outwork is everywhere, in the garment industry everyone gives work out," she said. Nike communications manager Megan Ryan said the company had agreed to settle in a spirit of conciliation and cooperation. "We acknowledge that the award and the award process is a very important one," she said. "Nike has put in place processes and resources to ensure that these administrative oversights don't occur again." She said the matter had nothing to do with home workers. "We don't use home workers and we have contractual obligations with our manufacturers that they don't use them," she said. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
