Copyright 1996 Canada NewsWire Ltd.
Street Action On Nike Outside Sporting Life
TORONTO, Dec. 13 To bring attention to "sweatshop" conditions of workers making products for Nike in Asia and Latin America, Development and Peace, and the Labour Behind the Label Coalition will be leafletting outside Sporting Life, 2665 Yonge, at noon on Saturday, December 14th. The action is part of a North American wide focus on Nike on December 14th. Development and Peace is urging Nike to ensure adherence to their own Code of Conduct. Almost 99% of the 90 million shoes NIKE sells every year are produced in Asia by sub-contractors employing over 75,000 people. The majority of workers are young women who work ten or more hours per day, six days per week for as little as $ 1.80 per day. Children in Pakistan are paid 60 cents a day to stitch together Nike soccer balls. While Nike has signed a Code of Conduct, poor working conditions and wages below the subsistence level persist in the factories where their products are made. Signing a Code of Conduct is not enough. The action on Saturday is part of the National People First Campaign, which urges Nike to accept independent monitoring of their factories to ensure adherence to the Code of Conduct which they signed. Development and Peace is the official international development agency of the Catholic Church in Canada. The organization supports hundreds of people-centred, socio-economic projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America and conducts an extensive program of education and action in Canada.
For further information: Anne-Marie Jackson, Regional Animator, (416) 922-1592, ext. 25; Jack Panozzo, Communications Officer, (416) 922-1592, ext. 22
Home Page