Nike strike tests WRC's procedures
By MYRA McGRIFF
News Writer
The Workers' Rights Commission had its first chance to test its procedures for protecting workers' rights when Nike workers in Mexico went on strike.
On Jan. 9, 700 to 800 workers at the Kukdong Nike factory in Atlixco, Mexico went on a work stoppage to protest the management's violation of their rights to unionize. With a newly established working board, the WRC was able to react to the situation.
"We sent a small delegation to investigate on Jan. 23 after receiving a complaint from factory workers. When we got there we were the only monitors there at the time," said Marikah Mancina.
Mancina, a Purdue student and member of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), accompanied the WRC on a trip to the Kukdong factory to verify the workers' complaints. Working along with Cereal, a non-governmental organization in Mexico, the WRC was able to verify the complaints of the workers.
"Workers were not being paid a minimum wage, they were abused physically, and they were served raw meat and food with worms," said Mancina.
Although other monitoring organizations, like the Fair Labor Association (FLA), visited to the Kukdong factory, the WRC was the first to publish a preliminary report. The Jan. 24 report was released not only to the colleges on their register — including Saint Mary's — but also to the public.
The report outlined the code of conduct violations in the factory and suggested actions for universities to take if their apparel was produced in the Kukdong factory. The WRC recommended universities write a letter to Nike urging the factory to reinstate the strikers and let them fairly unionize. The WRC hopes that if a large college endorser sends a letter to Nike, the company will meet the workers' demands.
University Associate Vice President and Counsel Bill Hoye said both the WRC and the FLA have been in contact and told him none of the college's apparel is being produced in the Kukdong factory. Notre Dame did not and will not write a letter to Nike encouraging them to reinstate the striking workers as suggested by the WRC.
"We are working as a member of the FLA and the FLA is taking action. But also our code of conduct does not apply to the Kukdong incident," said Hoye.
After reading the report, the University of Michigan, one of Nike's top college endorsers wrote to Nike.
"The President of U of M wrote a letter to Nike saying that Nike violated its code of conduct and Nike should ensure a safe return for all the workers to their jobs and a fair union election," said University of Michigan student and WRC member Peter Romer-Friedman.
Although most workers have been on a work stoppage for the past four weeks and an agreement between factory management and workers has yet to be reached, students are pleased with the action of the WRC. They feel the WRC took immediate, progressive action to secure workers rights and get them back on the line.
"The FLA is still gathering information before putting these workers back on the line while the WRC is saying these are the findings and this is what needs to happen. These workers need to go back to work and that is what the WRC is trying to insure," said Maureen Capillo of Peace Makers.
All News Stories for Friday, February 16, 2001
