NIKE, SAGA Sports Open First Pakistan Stitching Center
SIALKOT, Pakistan, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and its Pakistani subcontracted soccer ball manufacturer, SAGA Sports, today announced the opening of the soccer industry's first stitching center, designed to eliminate the use of underage labor in the manufacturing of soccer balls.
Located in the Pakistani village of Seokee, the center will employ nearly 500 stitchers, and produce soccer balls for the European, Asian and North and South American markets. It is the first of at least five centers that will be built within the next 18 months. SAGA will hire stitchers only after presentation of valid government identification that will ensure they meet the country's minimum working age.
"We are proud to take a leadership position in our industry to eliminate the use of underage workers in the production of soccer balls, a practice that has been part of the economic landscape in Pakistan for generations," said NIKE Chairman Philip H. Knight. "NIKE will not tolerate the use of underage labor in the production of its products and this stitching center, and the others that follow, will ensure that."
Because of its labor intensive nature, the stitching of soccer ball panels have traditionally been outsourced by Pakistani ball manufacturers. These outsourcers, usually located in small villages, hire workers on piece rate, who often take the balls into their homes for their family to stitch. It is at this step that the use of underage labor has occurred.
SAGA is the first manufacturer to eliminate the use of the outsourced stitching system and hire employees directly, ensuring that they meet the minimum age requirement. The stitchers will receive the same benefits as SAGA factory workers, including free medical care for workers and their immediate family; group life and disability insurance; free meals; free transportation to and from work; a fair price shop to sell staples at below market cost; and retirement benefits. The workers at the stitching centers are also entitled to use on-site child-care facilities. This combination of benefits is unprecedented in the Pakistani soccer ball manufacturing industry.
Additionally, SAGA is building schools in the surrounding area and will pay tuition for all stitchers' children. SAGA will also donate books, supplies and necessities to existing schools in each village where it builds a stitching center. The second stitching center will open in April, with an additional three opening in the next year.
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