Thanks to everyone who supported the Fight the Heist day of actions last week from dozens of unions across the country! We had over 130 participants in actions across 9 cities, hitting targets from fashion trade association meetings to Nike stores.

Nike is aiming to burnish its image at the Olympic Games in Paris. The women who make some of the company’s fastest running shoes and other gear in Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are demanding Nike negotiate with them and ensure living wages in its supply chain. 

“To meet the basic needs during COVID, my husband and I were forced to borrow money from relatives and banks, using our belongings as collateral. And until now I am still paying interest on debts,” said Siti Chaerunissa, a member of the labor union Serikat Pekerja Nasional (SPN) and worker at a Nike-supplier factory in Indonesia. “We often hear people say that Nike talks about equality. As workers who make high-quality products, we should also be treated as equals.” 

Nike spends billions of dollars on advertising, much of it extolling its support for women and girls in sports as it reaps huge profits from the exploitation of the women who make its shoes and clothing. From New York City to Jakarta, women workers are linking arms to tell Nike to do better for women and pay living wages.

“Nike likes to talk a lot about equality. Until it pays the women who make Nike clothing and shoes a decent wage, we know it’s all talk,” said Yolanda Pearson, leader of the Communication Workers of America’s Women’s Committee. 

Allies, including the CWA Women and Civil Rights Committees, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Jobs with Justice, UNITE HERE, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the University of Oregon Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, representatives from the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Model Alliance, Warehouse Workers for Justice, the Chicago Federation of Labor, Americans for Financial Reform, Massachusetts Central Labor Council, Chinese Progressive Association, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Workers United-SEIU, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Boston Teachers Union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters brought the voices of women garment workers to the doorstep of Nike and its partners. 

U.S. labor women held rallies and delivered letters to Nike and some of its affiliated organizations in New York City, Washington, D.C.; Boston; Portland and Eugene, Ore.; Chicago; Tucson; Phoenix, and Philadelphia.

Last year, over 20 garment sector unions from six countries along with Global Labor Justice and Asia Floor Wage Alliance launched the Fight the Heist campaign to demand Nike ensure a living wage in its supply chain. In addition, unions representing workers at Nike factories have filed an OECD complaint with the U.S. National Contact Point. It alleges that Nike has contributed to “severe human rights impacts” for garment workers in its supply chain but has not addressed and remediated the impacts according to the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct.

Please share our video on Facebook, Instagram and X with the hashtag #NikeInequality and tag us!

If you are a part of an organization that would like to meet Asian garment workers and join our growing campaign, contact Jeeva Muhil at [email protected].  

Our global fight for living wages continues!

Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum

GLJ Executive Director