January 25, 1997
President Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C 20500
Dear President Clinton:
We, the undersigned, welcome your Fair Labor Coalition. We agree with you that there is a desperate need to develop strategies to assure American consumers that the products they purchase are produced under acceptable labor conditions abroad. The coalition's work is important both to American businesses and consumers, as well as to foreign workers of US corporations. The integrity of your Fair Labor Coalition is crucial and therefore members of this coalition should not include companies that have knowingly violated their own business codes of conduct and the local laws of other countries.
We have enclosed documentation which shows that Nike did not pay its Vietnamese workers the country's legal minimum wage. Pay stubs also reveal other labor law violations. These illegal practices were discovered and publicized by CBS News. CBS News also has documented that Nike factory supervisors have abused factory workers. Nike factory workers were also found by other organizations to be working under military-style, boot camp conditions where they are frequently humiliated and corporal punishment is often employed.
We have provided the same information to Nike and have asked the company to address these specific labor problems. So far Nike has not taken steps to remedy its practices in Vietnam. Nike has not provided backpay to its Vietnamese factory workers to compensate for prior underpayment. The company also has not addressed the abusive behavior of Nike subcontractors; more incidents of corporal punishment have occurred since CBS News highlighted these problems. Even more disturbing, workers who refused to accept the abuse have been fired.
In light of Nike's labor law violations in Vietnam, we seek for your help in asking Nike to address these labor issues in Vietnam as well as to provide some forms of compensation to workers who have suffered many months of wage cheating.
Sincerely yours,
To sign this letter to President Clinton, simply send an email message to to Nike Protest, [email protected] and indicate which letters: 1) President Clinton, 2) Nike CEO or 3) Both. Thank you for your support.
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