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Last updated Jan. 10, 1997
Check this section often for the latest updates.
Based on its visit to Vietnam, Vietnam Labour Watch has released a detailed report on the facts about working conditions in Vietnam after 6 months of research.
We have confirmed that Nike factory workers are getting $47 per month, $2 above the legal minimum wage in Vietnam. This wage, however, is still not a living wage. In order for Nike to be claiming credits for raising the living standard in Vietnam, it needs to match or better Reebok's wage of $67 per month for entry level workers.
The other violations of Vietnamese laws brought forth by CBS News -- training wage period above 30 days and overtime hours above the 200 hour legal limit per year are still being practiced.
We would like to thank CBS News for bringing to light the problem of Nike workers being paid below the Vietnamese minimum wage. Without CBS, we believe such wage cheating would still be prevalent. Please call CBS News Executive Producer, Susan Zirinsky, 212.975.4848 to thank her for the good news and to ask her for more programs on Nike labor practices in Vietnam.
We also have obtained paystubs of several Nike factory workers. These paystubs prove conclusively that Nike subcontractors definitely violated Vietnamese labor laws as documented by CBS News and in our fact-sheet. Nike, therefore, still owns backpay to its factory workers for enduring wage cheating practices by Nike subcontractors.
Based on our analysis of the paystubs, Nike factory workers are working 26 to 27 days per month plus 40 to 65 hours of overtime. We recognize that Vietnam is a poor country but there must be a level of corporate decency for a US corporation operating in Vietnam -- especially when Nike promises to be a leader in its labor practice and to have 'no finish line' when it comes to the well-being of its factory workers
Another labor union is now allowed at a Nike factory -- On Nov 21, 1996, Tae Kwang-Vina, a Nike factory in Dong Nai district, was notified by Vietnam Confederation of Labor that it needed to establish a labor union as required by Vietnamese labor law by the Chairman of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labor (Chu Tich Tong Lien Doan Lao Dong Viet Nam), Nguyen Van Tu. As of December 1, a labor union is established at the Dong Nai factory. There are now two labor unions established at Nike factories: Sam Yang (Nov 1) and Tae Kwang-Vina (Dec 1).
Tae Kwang Vina is where the incident of sexual harassment of two women workers by their supervisor occured. Not only was the supervisor allowed to go back to Korea, the management of Tae-Kwang Vina even tried to bribe the two women with money in exchange for their silence. At a shareholders meeting in Sept, Nike CEO Phil Knight referred to the incident as a misunderstanding in which a nightwatchman was simply trying to wake up the two workers and must have touched a few inappropriate places.
Another incident of corporal punishment at Nike factory -- On Nov. 26, 1996, 100 workers at the Pouchen factory, a Nike site in Dong Nai, were forced to stand in the sun for half an hour for spilling a tray of fruit on an altar (ba`n tho+` co^ ho^`n) with which three Taiwanese supervisors were using. One employee (Nguyen Minh Tri) walked out after 18 minutes, and was then formally fired. Mr. Nguyen Minh Tri was reinstated after intervention by Nike management and the local labor federation officials. The three supervisors who committed the abuse against workers are still working at the factory. These supervisors must be severely reprimanded or fired.
Even with all the publicity about abuse of women workers at Nike factories, Nike monitoring system must be grossly inadequate to have let another incident of abuse to occur.
Reebok has announced that it is making shoes in Vietnam. It is using a Vietnamese company, Hiep Hung, to make its shoes. The workers at Reebok factories will be making $67 a month which is much higher than Nike workers who are getting $45 a month. The good news about Reebok's announcement is that shoe manufacturers like Nike can no longer use the excuse that Vietnamse companies do not have the expertise to run a shoe factory. This reason is often used by Nike for sticking with those subcontractors even when they have a track record of worker abuse and operating boot camp factories.
Nike workers are definitely the lowest paid in the export production sector of Vietnam. Even within a low pay industry like the textile/clothing industry, we found several Vietnamese factories that pay higher wages than Nike factories i.e. Sewing Factory #10 in Saigon pays $90 a month to entry workers. We also confirmed that Coca Cola's entry level workers are paid $80 per month as reported by CBS News, despite Nike's claims that CBS news used the wrong figure in its 48 Hours report.
LA Times has an article about Nike protest in Costa Mesa, California, organized by Vietnamese American groups on Dec 16, 1996.
Vietnam Business Journal - October '96 made a point that Jang Mi Baek, the Nike supervisor who hit 15 workers on the head at Sam Yang factory, was prohibited from leaving the country until her one-year probation is served. Jang Mi Baek has left Vietnam in October '96. Once again, we found another example of Nike subcontractors disobeying Vietnamese law.
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