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Nike workers stage strike in Indonesia;
Thousands take to the streets in a dispute over minimum wage
BY TIM SHORROCK
April 24, 2026, ThursdayThousands of workers at an Indonesian company that makes running shoes for Nike Inc. staged a one-day strike this week over a dispute about the minimum wage, Nike and human rights groups said Wednesday.
Nike and labor activists disagreed, however, about the reasons for the strike. Nike characterized the walkout as a ""misunderstanding'' over a small reduction in incentive pay that has been settled.
""It's over,'' said Nike spokesman Jim Small.
He said Nike has told its subcontractors to pay the Indonesian minimum wage ""and they're doing that, period.'' Activists see it as part of a broader problem involving work practices at foreign factories.
The dispute comes a week after Nike and other companies signed an agreement with the Clinton administration and human rights groups to eliminate overseas sweatshops, pay workers the minimum wage and respect workers' rights to organize.
Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, a San Francisco group that monitors Nike, said the Indonesian strike illustrates the weakness of the White House agreement.
""It's unbelievable given that Nike had promised everyone in the task force they would pay the minimum wage,'' she said.
On Tuesday, 10,000 workers at PT Hasi, a Nike subcontractor 30 miles west of Jakarta, walked off their jobs and staged a protest march, according to press reports and the company.
NOT ENOUGH BATHROOMS
Fauzi Abdullah, a human rights activist who provides legal services to workers, said the workers wanted Hasi to restore a 20 cent-a-day incentive pay that was cut earlier this month after Hasi began paying its workers the minimum wage of $2.46 a day.
In addition, workers were angry over working conditions at the factory, including a lack of bathrooms, he said.
There are only seven toilets available for Hasi's 10,000 employees, who work 10 to 12 hours a day for six days a week, he said.
""The working conditions are quite bad,'' Mr. Abdullah said.
Mr. Small said Nike has people at the plant ""looking out for the workers' health and welfare'' and will soon allow nongovernmental groups into its factories in Indonesia, Vietnam and China for spot checks.
Hasi, which does all its business with Nike, was one of three Nike subcontractors that won an exemption last year from Indonesia's minimum-wage law.
REDUCED-INCENTIVE BONUS
Earlier this month, the three companies again sought an exemption when the minimum wage was raised to $2.46 from $2.26 a day.
That request was rejected by Nike, which told the subcontractors to pay the minimum.
""There is a business incentive for them to do that,'' Mr. Small said. ""We represent all their business.''
Despite the reduced-incentive bonus, Mr. Small said, net pay was higher than it was last year. The workers were angry, he said, ""because they were misinformed about what those changes were.''
Jeff Ballinger, who ran an AFL-CIO institute in Indonesia for two years, said the dispute won't end there.
""I know what happens next,'' he said. ""Dozens of strikers will be interrogated, and some will be fired.''
He said strikes would not occur if Nike paid its workers a liveable wage and were allowed by their government to organize independent unions.
In a recent visit to Indonesia, civil rights leader Andrew Young was told by Nike workers that ""there is no grievance procedure and independent unions are not allowed,'' according to a summary of the meeting obtained by The Journal of Commerce.
Doug Gatlin, an aide to Mr. Young who was part of the delegation, did not dispute the summary but said he could not comment.
Mr. Young is writing a report for Nike about its code of conduct for its overseas suppliers that will be completed in a month.
Mr. Small said Nike supports the concept of independent unions.
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