THIRD INTERNATIONAL DAY
TO PROTEST NIKE
Campaigners Gear up for Third Nike Protest
As no sweats campaigners gear up for the third anti-Nike mobilization
on Saturday, October 17, Nike executives are scrambling to cope with
the fall-out from the Asian financial crisis, a decline in demand for its
overpriced running shoes, falling stock prices, and continuing criticisms
of sweatshop practices.
The footwear and apparel giant is on the defensive, and Nike
campaigners are hoping to win important gains on core demands.
On May 12 Nike CEO Philip Knight announced a series of "New Labor Initiatives" for their overseas factories. The initiatives presented--which include independent monitoring of factories, new health and safety standards, and expanded educational programs for factory workers--represent an important victory for workers around the world and consumers who have mobilized in protest of unfair labor practices. It is no accident the announcement comes on the heels of a series of actions damaging Nike's image: the 2nd International Nike Day of Protest on April 18, campus organizing, Michael Moore's film The Big One exposing Nike's corporate practices, the California law suit accusing Nike of consumer fraud, two year's worth of letter-writing and a sharp decline in stock prices.
The Nike Labor Initiatives are the first step toward improving labor conditions, and as such, we welcome the announcement. However, we recognize that adopting standards and announcing intentions are only the beginning. Workers must be paid livable wages (deliberately left out of the Initiatives), policies must be turned into practices, workers must be trained, and standards must be monitored by local non-governmental organizations who speak the language and have the trust of workers.
PROTESTS WILL BE HELD IN EDMONTON AND CALGARY
WATCH HERE FOR UPDATES.
For years, the Nike name conjured up heroic
images of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. The swoosh made many people
feel as if they were winners.
That Nike cachet has been clouded by a new image - of Asian workers in hot,
noisy factories, stitching together shoes for as little as 80 cents a day.
Suddenly, Nike doesn’t seem so cool anymore. The biggest swoosh now is the
sound of falling profits.
"I don’t want to be a billboard for a company that would do these things," said
James Keady, a graduate assistant soccer coach at St. John’s who quit this year
rather than wear the swoosh as part of an endorsement deal between Nike and
the largest Catholic university in the United States.
Ottawa has become the first municipality in Canada to introduce ethical screening for potential corporate sponsors. Yesterday city council voted 6-5 in favour of paying for an independently researched report on every company offering to sponsor a city event, facility or improvement worth more than $50,000. The screening reports are to include a summary of the company's human-rights record. The decision comes in the wake of a controversy that erupted after Nike offered $50,000 for a new gym floor for the Carlington Gym this spring. The Caldwell Avenue gym serves youth in a neighbourhood with a lot of low-income housing. The new floor was to include Nike's "swoosh" logo. But Nike withdrew its offer and gave the money to the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa-Carleton instead after a group of city councillors led by Richard Cannings criticized the sneaker giant over labour practices in its Asian plants.
NO NIKE DEMO
AT FORZANI'S SPORTCHEK
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
Over twenty five people gathered in front of the SpotChek at 3737-37 St. on Saturday to protest Nike's exploitation of women and children workers. Members of the Calgary District Labour Council, their Human Rights commitee, The Calgary Common Front, Calgary Wear Fair Coalition and Albert New Democrats and the Raging Grannies were joined by members of Citizens Concerned About Nike and the IWW Branch who had come down from Edmonton.
The Demonstration was a first for Calgary.
Demonstrators wore anti-Nike Shirts and buttons. The Store Manager called police to remove
the demonstrators from the property. However no altercations had happened as customers were allowed to go in and out of the store.
Finally after about twenty minutes the demonstrators moved to the main sidewalk after having leafleted the cars in the parking lot.
A successful demonstration that was vcvoered on the news by the A-Channel. This was a first for Calgary but enthusiasm is mounting for another
action on October 17.
Below is part of one leaflet distributed by the Demonstrators.
NIKE: The Calgary Connection
We are protesting at Sport Chek a franchise of the Calgary based Forzani Group. Forzani and Nike have more than just a retail relationship they are corporate partners. Being a partner with Nike means being a partner in the exploitation of women and children in Nikes factories!
Sport Chek is owned by the Forzani Group Ltd which is Canada's largest specialty sporting goods retailer in Canada, Forzani owns and operates 139 corporate stores and 151 franchise stores. Its Calgary owner John Forzani, the ex-Stampeder, chairman and CEO was honored with NIKE Canada Ltd.'s Community Award of Excellence. NIKE donated $10,000 to Calgary's Peter Lougheed Centre's Heart Health Program on behalf of Forzani. Nike is generous with its donations but less generous in what it pays its workers.
NIKE Canada's P.L.A.Y. (Participate in the Lives of All Youth) program, Sport Chek and the Calgary Herald recently sponsored a two day symposium in Calgary entitled: Understanding Girls in the '90s. Part of the symposium was a NIKE Girls Sports Clinic. Girls were invited to participate in the NIKE Girls Sport Clinic through various agencies such as the HERA Program, Big Sisters, the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary, StreetTeams, the Skill Factory and the EXIT program. NIKE Canada also donated 1,000 T-shirts to the Hera program to benefit their fundraising efforts.
While Nike exploits young women in its factories in Asia it aims its consumer marketing at young women here in Canada. Nike’s record of child labour, forced overtime and poor pay in its factories clearly shows it has very little real concern for the ‘Lives of All Youth". Nike’s charitable and community work is simply another form of product promotion.
What You Can Do
Start asking questions of sales staff and managers in stores
selling Nike products:
When will Nike guarantee its production workers a living wage
and decent working conditions?
Why are Nike production workers routinely fired for trying to
improve their wages and working conditions?
When will Nike agree to independent monitoring of its contract
factories by local human rights organizations?
Call the Forzani Group: (403) 230-8200
tell them that they should end their partnership with Nike
Airtight Magazine Interview
Airtight, the quarterly magazine of CJSR FM Radio (88.5 FM in Edmonton) student radio at the University of Alberta has published an interview with Eugene Plawiuk of Citizens Concerned About Nike.
It can be found at
International Day of Action Against Nike
Interview with Eugene Plawiuk by Eddie Martinez
"Let's call a spade a
spade. What we're
talking about here,
when we hear
Ralph Klein or Jean
Chretien say 'global
competitiveness' it's
just good old style
robber baron,
heartless,
Dickensian
capitalism.
Ebenezer Scrooge
at large across the
face of the world."
Successful Nike Protest at Local Hoop It Up Competition
June 21, 1998 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
by Eugene Plawiuk
Twenty local activists, members of the Edmonton based; Citizens Concerned About Nike (CCAN), held a successful protest at the annual Hoop It Up competition at West Edmonton Mall, Fathers Day. The activists were made up of students, members of the Edmonton East Timor Alert Network and trade unionists.
Many of us wore locally made Anti-Nike T-shirts. They have the Nike Swoosh on the front with the slogan; 'Don't Be Naïve'. On the back the shirts compared the salary of Michael Jordan and wages earned by Nike workers in Indonesia and Pakistan.
We entered the overflow parking lot, across the street from the famous Mall, which held thousands of young people playing B-Ball for fun and as part of a national competition. Those in the competition and playoffs had to pay registration fees between $94 and $106. The parking lot was festooned with Nike Swoosh banners as well as oversized inflatable balloons for Footlocker, Spalding and Right Guard. It was a commercial orgy for the corporate sponsors and the NBA.
We had issued a press release to local Media on Friday as well as reminder that morning. When we began handing out pamphlets opposing Nike and Footlockers sweatshop practices to those playing and watching, we were swarmed by the media for interviews. Unfortunately we only got in about ten minutes of leafleting before security jocks began to confront us and the media telling us we had to get out as we were on 'private property'. We ignored them and continued leafleting and doing interviews. We finally were escorted off the property by West Edmonton Mall Security, who were apologetic as well as sympathetic.
On the Public Sidewalk we unveiled signs and banners denouncing Nike's practices. We continued to leaflet kids and families entering and leaving the competition area. Even the local police were sympathetic leaving us alone except to engage in a conversation on what was wrong with corporations that engaged in sweat shop practices. While we got many of the expected 'Nike Rules Man' comments, many young B-Ball players we talked to, as well as those interviewed by the media, were aware that the Nike used sweatshop labour and said they were opposed to it. This surprised some of the media types doing interviews. Interestingly the Nike spokesperson had left the area before we arrived, so was unavailable for comment.
We also left leaflets on car windshields in the parking lots surrounding the basketball area.
We got TV coverage on all three local channels as well as coverage on CBC radio. Coverage on ITV went across the province. Unfortunately even though the Edmonton Journal did extensive interviews and photo's the story was spiked and didn't run in Monday's paper. The Edmonton Sun had contacted us after the news release but didn't follow up, no surprise considering they were a local media sponsor of the event. The Journal appears to have a campaign against covering our actions. They too are a corporate media sponsor of Basketball Alberta.
Overall though we are pleased with the media coverage we did get, and the fact we were able to get thousands of leaflets distributed at this event. The Nike/Canadian Tire/NBA Hoop It Up competition will continue in cities across Canada with finals to be held in Toronto, in July.
BACKGROUNDER:
Hoop It Up was sponsored by Nike, Spalding, Canadian Tire and the NBA, in Alberta it's local sponsor and promoter is Basketball Alberta.
Basketball Alberta is a non profit amateur B-Ball association that organizes all level of B-Ball competition in the province. This includes high school, college and university teams as well as boys and girls and men's and women's teams. In 1997 Basketball Alberta signed a three year contract with Nike for it to become the sole apparel supplier for Basket Ball Alberta. Basketball Alberta says that under the contract juvenile, junior zone and provincial teams will be outfitted in Nike apparel when they represent the province in competitions through out Canada and the United States. This includes: Nike shoes, socks, practice jerseys, T-shirts, athletic bags, warm up suits, coaches golf shirts and hats. These items are not donated by Nike but are being purchased by Basketball Alberta and those teams that it supports!
Nike, Inc. announced today June 4, 1998, the formation
of a new hockey category business unit. The new unit, to be based in Montreal,
Quebec, combines Nike's and Bauer's global hockey organizations into a
standalone business unit, while maintaining both brand names.
This is the final nail in the coffin of the former Candian owned Bauer. It now gives Nike a major
monoploy over the hockey market as predicted in my article:
SWOOSH! Will the NHL become the Nike Hockey League?
Nike buys out Canadian Hockey Equipment maker Bauer and sets itself up to dominate the hockey equipment and inline skate market (thanks to FTA & NAFTA).
In order to complete its monopoly
it began by closing of Bauer Canada's, Cambridge plant last year.
on Selling Our Schools To Corporations
The board is asking for public input on what we think of them selling off our schools to corporations.
With a captive audience of 70,000 students the District hopes to use these meetings to justify its hidden agenda of corporatizing education.
In 1996 the Board was in partnership with Nike and the Edmonton Oilers.
Despite public protests they still refused to hold public hearing on their partnership with Nike.
A simple letter from the Nike Canada PR department assuaged them that all was well
with Nike and the World.
With a policy of promoting school business partnerships as well as district wide solicitation of business, it is an invitation for corporations to commercialize our public education for their own
interests.
Golden Arches over schools and oil companies running environmental courses are not that fantastic to imagine.
It is important people attend and Voice Their Opposition to the school boards plan.
The last meeting only 9 people showed up.
The Board is using these meetings as a smoke screen, We Must Expose them for what they are doing.
They are taking advantage of shoving this policy through before
the October Municipal Elections. We need to make this an Election Issue!
Tell Them This Is An Election Issue! No Sell Out To Big Business!
EDMONTON & CALGARY MAY 28-June 15
Mike & Nike Michael Moore Page On Nike, Phil Knight, & his movie the Big One
The May 28 presentation of The Big One was a fundraiser to support the Parkland Institute, a provincial research institute on political and economic issues affecting Albertans and The Centre for International Alternatives (Edmonton) and The Arusha Centre (Calgary). Both provide resources and programs on global justice and local issues.
Alliance Releasing and Michael Moore have been donating tickets and theatre operating costs to local
social activist organizations around North America.
Instead of the usual Press Night screening, the opening night showing in
Edmonton and Calgary allowed the event to be used for promoting a variety of social issues, including
the MAI and of course Nike.
Citizens Concerned About Nike (CCAN) spokesperson; Eugene Plawiuk, made a presentation before the opening of the film on Nike and gave an update on Nike's recent announcements on Child Labour. Over 300 people attended the Edmonton opening, and Nike information sheets, No Nike buttons and T-Shirts were available in the lobby.
For more information on the sponsoring organizations contact them at
PARKLAND INSTITUTE
PH 492-8558
e-mail: parkland@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca
Centre for International Alternatives
PH 439-8744
e-mail: edtnlctr@web.net
Arusha Centre
PH 270-3200
e-mail: arusha@cadvision.com
Sponsored by AllianceReleasing
Media sponsors
CKUA Radio, Vue magazine (Edmonton) FAST FORWARD WEEKLY(Calgary)
40 people gathered for a Nike Teach In at the International Centre at the University of Alberta. Many were students, which is amazing since it is exam week on campus.
Eugene Plawiuk of Citizens Concerned About Nike, and a member of CUPE Local 474, lectured on Nike and Global Capitalism. Materials on Nike and footlocker were distributed as well as information on the Toycott campaign, the MAI and East Timor.
Presentations were also made by Ester Kuzyk of the Alberta Federation of Labour, Codes of Conduct Committee and Anna Dashgardt of Albertans Against the MAI. Many members of the newly formed ETAN [East Timor Action Network] were also present as were members of the U of A student activist group STORM.
CFRN TV filmed us and we got good coverage prior to the teach in from two local cultural weeklies:See and Vue magazines. A letter written to the Edmonton Journal on their expose on Nike in Vietnam was published the Friday before the teach in giving us more publicity and a chance to finally reply to their pro-Nike anti-boycott editorial they published last June. A copy will be posted here later.
We now have a very large mailing/phone list of people who want to be more active and many of those in attendance left prepared to call Nike and Footlocker with the 1-800 numbers provided on leaflets.
Material on child labour in the Philippines, The Dole Campaign was also distributed.
There will be a Free The Children Conference in Fort McMurray, Friday May 22 and Nike information will be presented there. Nancy Riche Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) will be speaking. For more information contact: Lyn Gorman, Fort McMurray District Labour Council phone: 403-743-3933 or Fax: 403-743-4469.
[Anti-]Swoosh buttons sold well, and local skateboarders are distributing Just Don't Do It! stickers.
We are looking into sponsoring Michael Moore and his film the Big One for showing in Edmonton. We will be taking action around the upcoming Alberta Basketball Association Hoops Tournament in June, which is sponsored in part by Nike.
A suggestion is that we have a No Nike fun run and walk for labour day weekend in September. The entry fee would be used for campaign materials and participants would bet a t shirt and button. Local activists are producing No Nike T Shirts.
We have a contact number (403) 988-3022 that we leave messages on and of course the Just Do It! Boycott Nike Web Page at: http://geocities.datacellar.net/Athens/Acropolis/5232 We have had over 40,000 hits on the site since January 1, 1998 So far since last year when the site was launched we have had 160,000 visitors to the anti-Nike site.
All in all while we didn't leaflet stores (which are mainly in malls) the Teach-In proved to be a much better idea and gives us a base not only for keeping the campaign here going but expanding it in the Fall to include a campus code of conduct campaign).
Eugene Plawiuk Citizens Concerned About Nike
For Information Contact:
CITIZENS CONCERNED ABOUT NIKE
Phone: 988-3022 and leave a message
OR CONTACT US BY EMAIL AT:boycottnike@hotmail.com
March 27,1998
Grande Prairie, Alberta.
200 delegates at the annual Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Alberta Division Convention endorsed the Canadian Labour Congress No Sweat Campaign against sweatshops.
The delegates also endorsed the North American Nike protest April 18, and called on CUPE Alberta members and our affiliates ( The Alberta Federation of Labour, CLC and CUPE National) to Boycott Nike until the company provides its workers around the world with a living wage, the right to join unions and independent third party monitoring for human rights abuses.
CUPE Alberta had endorsed the Nike campaign launched last year, but went further in light of Nike's closure of Bauer hockey plants in Canada. These are some of the few unionized workers in the Nike chain of plants and they face a self off of their plants while Nike moves towards offshore production of hockey equipment.
Delegates were outspoken in their support of workers in the developing world currently being exploited by Nike.
While the Nike campaign can be called many things, delegates decided to call it a boycott, "No matter what you call it amounts to the same thing, we won't buy or support Nike until they change the way they treat their workers" said one delegate.
