Update on Nike's Kuk Dong Factory

Update on Kuk Dong Factory Situation in Puebla, Mexico

***Background***

On January 9, hundreds of workers at the Kuk Dong Factory in Atlixco,
Puebla, Mexico (which produces for Nike and Reebok) staged a work stoppage
and took over the plant to protest the firing of five fellow workers who had
led rank-and-file opposition to poor food in the cafeteria, low wages (about
$30 for a 45-hour work week), and the company’s failure to pay a Christmas
bonus as required by Mexican laws. The workers were also protesting the
factory’s refusal to pay maternity benefits and higher wages for overtime
hours, and management’s unwillingness to provide safety equipment to all the
employees. At the top of the worker's demands, however, was their right to
form an independent union.

Instead of recognizing the worker's demands, the factory retaliated against
the workers. On the third night of the strikes approximately 200 riot
gear-equipped state police officers, accompanied by state union thugs,
surrounded the plant and told the strikers that they had orders from the
state governor to remove the workers from the area. After the workers
refused to leave, the police began to physically remove the workers from the
area. At times the police used their clubs to move the workers. Hundreds of
workers were beaten and some were taken to the local hospital and treated
for such injuries such as concussions and internal bleeding.

A few days later, on January 13, the leaders of the independent union—the
Kuk-Dong Workers’ Coalition—signed an agreement with the factory management
and the local labor board in Atlixco promising they would return to work.
The workers maintained the demand that their fellow workers be given their
jobs back. But the situation turned tense again on Wednesday, January 17, as
factory managers reneged on an earlier promise not to retaliate against the
strike organizers and started telling workers, particularly those involved
in the strike, they were being fired.

In addition to this, police are still on the look out for the organizers of
the strike. They have visited worker's homes to try to locate them, even
though they know very well where many of them are. The police, 30 of them,
were also placed in the factory last week. Basically, the police have done
a good job of installing a climate of fear among the workers. The workers
are scared. They are scared to return to work. Some have decided to find
work in other factories, some have decided to return to work and some have
decided to continue in the struggle for the independent union. As of last
week, only approximately 300 workers had returned to work at Kuk Dong.

Workers say their ultimate goal is the company’s recognition of a truly
independent union. "We don't want to hurt the company, we just want to
remove the [company-controlled] union, since we were forced to join it and
threatened with being fired if we did not," Kuk-Dong worker Josefina
Hernandez Ponce wrote in a letter to international labor activists during
the first week of the struggle.

This attack against striking workers and the retaliation aimed at union
leaders in Atlixco shows that Nike still hasn’t made a real commitment to
guaranteeing basic liberties to the workers who make the company’s products.
Clearly Nike is not enforcing its own company code of conduct. Nike needs to
immediately urge its subcontractor to recognize the workers’ independent
union and to reinstate the fired workers.


***Nike's Response***

Even though Nike has a Code of Conduct that does not tolerate repression of
workers; does not tolerate child labor; allows workers to form free and
independent unions; does not discriminate against pregnant workers etc.;
Nike has not done their part in enforcing their own Code of Conduct.

Nike has sent an FLA representative to Atlixco to "look into the situation,"
but nothing has changed. Nike is a member of the Fair Labor Association, a
monitoring group comprised of corporations, NGO's, university administrators
and government. It has been under scrutiny since it's inception a couple
years ago by NGO's and students, in particular.

Nike has done nothing to intervene in any illegal firings, including pushing
for the reinstatement of those fired before the strike or putting pressure
on Kukdong management to enusure that they peacefully re- hire all workers
per the January 13 agreement with the local labor board.

Nike has stood by while Kuk Dong has taken out arrest warrants on bogus
charges against at least 6 people (workers and supporters) who were active
in the strike.

Nike has not put pressure on Kukdong to recognize the only democratic
representative of the workers, the Kuk Dong Workers' Coalition, and to end
the protection contract that Kukdong management signed behind closed doors,
without any worker involvement.

Nike has completely ignored "allegations" about low wages, terrible health
and safety violations, child labor, and other violations at the factory
despite the fact that it is one of the most heavily "independently"
monitored factories in Mexico! It was even monitored by a delegation of
students (paid by Nike) to report on factory conditions.

Excerpt from Student Monitoring Report from Kuk Dong Factory in Mexico (March 2000)

"...The third plant, in the shadow of the active volcano Popocatepetl and
further away from the city of Puebla, was by far the largest and most
modern. Located centrally in the community of Atlixco, the factory employed
over 650 workers in sewing and knitting, as in the second factory. The
factory was large, well-lit, and incredibly clean. It was the youngest of
the factories, a mere 6 months of production. A hangar of sorts, the main
building was divided according to task in the production process. Walking
through it, one could tell growth was yet to come as large areas remained
void of machinery or human labor. A second building was being added
alongside the first, and according to management, its completion would allow
the factory to employ around 1200 workers in a variety of tasks. Nike
production occupied around 85% of the capacity of the factory. This was one
of the only factories to include a complimentary cafeteria, and during lunch
lively games of soccer erupted throughout the outer perimeters of the
factory. It was owned by a South Korean firm, and the management was
primarily Korean. A house existed on the premises for the single Korean
managers."

Probably the most disturbing aspect of this whole situation, in terms of
corporate responsibility or irresponsibility, is that Nike continues to deny
that they have any contracts with KukDong. In a letter addressed to me on
Jan. 19, Vada Manager said, "Since the factory has no current orders from
Nike, it is focused on orders for other companies, including a competitor".
This is an all out lie!!! I was actually in Atlixco last week and met with
workers who told me that they were producing for Nike and no one else. Nike
says that "it must have been a back order", but does that mean that they are
not responsible to act as quickly as possible to resolve this situation if
they are committed to worker's rights? I would think so.

Vada Manager also said, "There have been many allegations made about our
relationship with Kukdong -- many are unsubstantiated. One such report was
that groups of workers were fired or prevented from returning to work. In
fact, nearly 500 of the approximately 800 workers are back at work. The
factory has made arrangements for workers who, for various reasons, have
chosen not to return to work yet, to return when the situation at the
factory normalizes." These are also lies!!! Last week (Jan. 22-28) when I
was there, there were only appx. 300 (max.) workers in the factory and the
reason there wasn't more is because many workers were given resignation
notices when they did try to return and the others are scared to return to a
workplace filled with police. Wouldn't you be?

Vada also said, "No factory is perfect and we believe in continuous
improvement of all our workplaces. In the past two years, we have taken
steps such as raising age and wage requirements within our factory partners;
improved air quality to US OSHA equivalent levels; shared best practices
with our own internal monitors, independent monitors and knowledgeable third
parties; and, provided workers with extra benefits such as micro-credit for
small businesses and education programs at their worksites."

I want to acknowledge Nike for trying to make the improvements on paper, but
I would like to see it in action. What good is it to have the highest age
requirements in the industry if you are not going to enforce them? What
good is it to have an internal monitor, if you Nike is not going to take
their investigation into account?

From U.S. Leap:

1) FLA and Nike claim that _all_ investigations thus far are not credible.
This includes that of the local lawyer hired by Nike upon ILRF's advice,
Nike's own internal monitor, and the WRC investigation. Instead, these
bodies want to bring in Verite, a non-profit monitoring organization with a
questionable monitoring record, for "credible" results. (Verite is the
monitoring group that will monitor Saipan Sweatshops when the lawsuit is
settled by Gap and the other 5 remaining companies). Seems like Nike will
not accept a monitoring report until they like what it says. This puts
Verite in a very tough position - can they be seen as a Nike toy and
continue as a legitmate independent monitoring organization? - and it will
be interesting to see where they land.

2) Nike's internal monitor, the ILRF (International Labor Rights
Fund)lawyer, and the WRC report all agree that Kuk Dong has been
discriminatorily firing workers who want an independent union. They all
recommend that all workers, including those who have "voluntarily" resigned,
to be reinstated immediately. (In addition, Reebok has also stated publicly
that the workers should be able to have an open and free election for the
independent union and they are very concerned about the current situation.
Reebok only has 15% of the production on and off, but has responded to the
situation by sending their Human Rights Monitor in Mexico to Atlixco to meet
with the factory and to meet with workers.)

3) Perhaps most importantly, the FLA statement and the Nike statement
contradict each other in terms of the legitimacy of giving workers severance
to resolve the labor dispute. In the FLA statement, Sam Brown, the
Director, notes that the FLA code stipulates that "Employers shall not offer
or use severance pay ... as a means of restricting union formation or union
operations.” The Nike statement notes that as part of Kuk Dong's effort to
resolve the issue (which they are implicitly supporting in their statement),
the company has been offering severance to all workers who wish to take it.

Here we see that Nike is openly violating its own code by allowing the
offering of severance to resolve the labor dispute rather than asking Kuk
Dong to create an environment that is safe for workers who support the
independent union.

Lastly, Nike and Kuk Dong have agreed to allow the presence of human rights
observers at the factory until the end of this week. They should commit
"allow" observers to be there until this situation is resolved.

***Let Nike know how you feel. ACT NOW!!!***

Whether you are a student, a human rights activist, a university
administrator, a labor activist, a concerned citizen etc...you can help the
workers at in Atlixco and you can put the pressure on Nike to "Just Do the
Right Thing".

The Main Demands are:
-Let the workers form an independent union
-Stop repressing the organizers. Let them return back to work. Once they
are able to return, others will also return.
-Allow all workers to return to work at KuKdong without reprisal
-Allow for the presence of human rights observers at the factory until this
situation is resolved, or neccessary.

1) CALL, FAX and E-mail NIKE AND KUKDONG!
-Kukdong International-Mexico, SA de CV
Fax: 011-52-244-610-24
E-mail: Kukdong [at] avante.net.mx

-Philip H. Knight, Chairman and CEO NIKE, Phone: 503-671-6453
-Vada Manager, Public Relations Representative for Nike on these issues at:
800-642-8170 or e-mail vada.manager [at] nike.com
-Amanda Tucker, Corporate Responsibility Director at 1-800-642-8170

You can FAX Nike directly from Global Exchange's Website at any of these
sites:

http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/actions.html
http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/corporations/nike
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/nikekukdongfax.html

2) ORGANIZE AN ACTION ON YOUR CAMPUS OR AT A NIKETOWN!

Kukdong is a Korean-owned factory that makes sweatshirts for the
Universities of North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, Arizona, Penn State,
Georgetown, Michigan State, Oregon and CalBerkeley among others.

Let's start the next wave of actions. This struggle is not over! Please
call United Students Against Sweatshops at 202-667-9328 to find out about
mobilizations in your area. You can also call Leila at Global Exchange at
1-800-497-1994x355 if you would like to help organize an action in the Bay
Area of California.

3) MAKE A DONATION TO THE WORKERS!
Any donations to the Kuk Dong workers can be made out to US/LEAP and sent to
our address with "Kuk Dong" in the memo. These donations are not tax
deductible. We will forward these funds to the workers as quickly as
possible.

U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project
P.O. Box 268-290
Chicago, IL 60626
773-262-6502
Fax: 773-262-6602
usleapja [at] mindspring.com
http://www.usleap.org

Seven members of United Students Against Sweatshops were arrested at Chicago's Niketown store Saturday (Jan. 27) on disorderly conduct charges for dropping several hundred small flyers and unfurling a sing that read: "Kukdong Workers Demand JUSTice. DO IT NIKE!," according to Sgt. Richards of the Chicago Police Department's 18th district.

The demonstration-organized by activist from USAS chapters at the University of Indiana Bloomington, Western Michigan University, Loyola University (Chicago) and Northwestern University-was staged to bring the plight of Nike sweatshirt makers in Puebla, Mexico to the publics attention.

Full story at

http://chicago.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1069