Nike faces "a tough sales job" for its factory-
improvement program, judging by "skeptical reactions" from
Indonesian Nike workers, according to Richard Read of the
Portland OREGONIAN, reporting from a Nike-contracted factory
in Tangerang, Indonesia. Factory worker Dominguez Pirida:
"What can you expect from something grand like this from
Nike? Factory managers lie so often, I don't think I can
trust it." More Pirida: "I don't really know what to think
of [Nike Chair] Phil Knight. Even during Nike's heyday, the
wage increases were meager" (OREGONIAN, 5/14).
OTHER VIEWS: In Portland, an OREGONIAN editorial stated
that Nike "gets it now," and that its planned reforms "seem
significant. ... Give Nike credit for doing better by its
workers -- and for potentially setting a new, higher
standard for other companies doing business in the world's
poorest countries" (OREGONIAN, 5/14). The Minnesota STAR
TRIBUNE editorializes that Nike's announcement "is plainly a
victory for its Asian workers and for human-rights
advocates." It states: "Nike has been an industry pioneer
in one concept after another -- global sourcing, celebrity
endorsements, saturation marketing. This week's
announcement should pave the way for another industry trend:
a framework for globalization that serves the shoemaker in
Vietnam as well the shoe buyer in Minneapolis" (Minneapolis
STAR TRIBUNE, 5/15). A DETROIT FREE PRESS editorial states
that Nike's "laudable efforts are only a few of many
important changes Nike needs to make," including raising the
minimum wage at its factories: "The changes announced this
week are a good start -- but should be just a start. Come
on, Nike. Just do it" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/15). In N.Y.,
Phil Mushnick writes that for a company that "for years
insisted that there are no problems in its Third World
factories, Nike now seems extremely eager to let us know
that it plans to spend a lot of time and money to fix
problems that don't exist" (N.Y. POST, 5/15).
