Recently, we discussed companies, such as Nike, that
manufacture clothing in factories where the conditions are rife for employee
abuse. One of the comments made was that
we as consumers feel powerless. What
difference does it make to a conglomerate like Nike if one person or group
boycotts their products? I did a little browsing
into Nike and have discovered that not only has Nike has made an effort to
clean up its image, but we as consumers can
also influence retail companies.
On average, Americans buy 64 garments per year, and the
majority of these are made overseas .1 Research has shown that
consumers actually want to purchase clothing that was produced ethically: 94%
of respondents in one survey indicated that how workers are treated in
factories is important to them.1
So, the intent to purchase
ethically made items is there, and we would like to ensure that those who make
these items are being treated fairly. The problem is that even though the
consumer intent is there and supported by corporations, there is not much we
can do without governmental help.
Earlier in 2013, six major apparel companies (including Nike) requested
that the Peruvian government strengthen its labor laws-which are less strict
than the standards the companies even impose-but the Peruvian government has
not taken any action. So, while these
companies have in fact taken action to try to ensure that overseas employees
are treated fairly, unless the governments enforce stricter standards, not much
can be done. It should be explained that
corporations contract factories to produce their products; these contractors
are not actually part of the corporations, so while Nike can (and does) try to
enforce standards as much as it wants, whether or not the contractors actually
follow them is up to the individual contractor. To give Nike credit, it has gone from
denying abuse of employees to actively attempting to ensure fair
treatment. In 1991, there was an uproar
when it was revealed that Nike cut costs by manufacturing in less than ideal
conditions in Indonesia and spent the savings on aggressive marketing
companies.2 After the
consumer backlash (which will be discussed in a bit), Nike now continues to
post its commitments, standards, and data (including the location of each
factory utilized) publicly. While abuses
of their workers are still undoubtedly occurring daily, they have come far from
where they used to be.
As previously mentioned, we (even as graduate students) can
have an impact on these companies! We have
a unique environment on a college campus that we can leverage. Student groups exist and have previously been
able to pressure universities to force suppliers to change their ways. The best
example is from 2009, when Russell Athletic rehired 1,200 workers they had
fired for unionizing after students campaigned to suspend Russell’s contracts.2 Again in 2011, Penn State threatened to
terminate its licensing agreement with Adidas for not paying severance pay to
2,600 workers after the factory unexpectedly closed.1 Being students on a campus gives us a better
platform to organize and more leverage.
If you consider Purdue’s contract with Nike, just imagine what would
happen if we got enough people to boycott?
This might be an idealistic dream, but I just want to point out that we
have more power than we think!
I would argue that we (as knowledgeable students) don't have much power to change the market and reliance on international factory use. In order to terminate a multimillion dollar contract with Nike, essentially our entire 60,000 student campus would need to no longer purchase not only Nike products, but competitor products made overseas for an extended amount of time. Companies purchase products from Nike and other large companies, so the boycott is really economically hurting the small retailers around our campus instead of Nike. In a larger context, American's demand cheap products. We are much more likely to purchase the $10 "Made in Bangladesh" shirt instead of the $50 "Made in America" shirt. Many American's also are never exposed to or aware of the dangerous work environments and conditions many factory workers are in on a daily basis. Ignorance is bliss and the issues of a far-off land with a vastly different culture is not of concern for the majority of Americans.
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