ACADEMICS STUDYING NIKE - AUSTRALIA NIKE SUBCONTRACT (Home-based) FACTORIES

The Big issue in Australia seems to be home-based subcontract labor. 

EXHIBIT 1 - FairWear

"Pamela Curr of FairWear says " Nike's treatment of workers both in Australia and overseas is the issue. Nike has an appalling record in the lowest wage countries in the world. Here in Australia we are trying to eliminate the notorious exploitation in the clothing industry with a voluntary industry Code. FairWear asks Nike as an Olympic sponsor to lift their game, Just Do It and sign the Australian Homeworker's Code of Practice." CONTACT Melbourne FairWear Pamela Curr 0417517075 Email fairwear@vic.uca.org.au  ... The court case against Nike on Tuesday went well, with Nike admitting fault and settling with the Australian clothing union (TCFUA). Unfortunately Nike is still refusing to sign the Homeworkers' code of practice in Australia, which requires companies to open their production process in Australia up to scrutiny to ensure that no homeworkers are being exploited (Reebok and Adidas and 120 other companies have signed).(Source, CIC 2000)

September 11, 2000- A Victory of Right Over Might Nike Admits Guilt and Pays the Penalty

Exhibit 2 - Press for Change

EXHIBIT 3 - Ami Carpenter - New Mexico State University - SEAM  Class Project

SEAM (Socio Economic Analysis of Management) of Nike Homeworkers' Strategy in Australia

Ami Carpenter

This is an excellent analysis of the Australian Homeworker problem and Nike's corporate strategy for dealing with it.

For more on SEAM Methodology - Please consult SEAM Website http://business.nmsu.edu/~dboje/sbc/

EXHIBIT 4 - Tennis Protest in Australia - Nike Watch

EXHIBIT 5 - Australia Protest -  Scumbags

EXHIBIT 6 FAIRWEAR April 1, 2001 update

Fair Wear, a coalition of community, church and union groups working together to stop the super-exploitation of home-based outworkers in the clothing industry, has been campaigning against Nike for many years, and supports the weekly pickets.

• “For every one factory worker there are 15 outworkers.”
• Pay for Homeworkers $2 an hour
• Nike continues to refuse to sign the Homeworker’s Code of Practice

See http://www.nosweatshoplabel.com/ for more on the No Sweatshop Information Campaign which accredits no sweat factories in Australia.

See Nike Fake Billboard

Storyline indymedia.org coverage

EXHIBIT 7 - JANUARY 9, 2001- More than 250 police and tens horses violently attacked protestors outside the Nike superstore on June 1, the tenth Friday running in which nearly 300 people gathered to highlight Nike's exploitation of child labour, slave wages and anti-union attacks.

April 11, 2001 - Nike in Australia - A few months ago, a large group of Aussie Protesters set aside their political allegiances and banded together for a single cause - to shut down the Nike stores Australia wide on MAY 1ST 2001. http://www.bantheboot.com/

STORY: Nike has recently started a marketing campaign in Australia featuring a fake campaigning organization, the FFFF, who are supposedly campaigning for fairness in football by seeking the abolition of "unfair" high tech Nike football boots. The billboards and posters impersonate activist posters, and the ffff.com.au website [currently down] looks a lot like anti-Nike websites. The sub-text is clear - don't believe everything some fringe group puts on the internet. M1 activists in Melbourne have set up a website that looks very similar to ffff.com.au site (www.bantheboot.com) but which features info on Nike working conditions (as well as a couple of unfortunate obscenities). See article from The Age below:

FROM THE AGE ON-LINE Protesters target Nike ads INTERNET REDIRECT By XAVIER LA CANNA  

New billboards are to be targeted by protesters trying to send readers to an anti-Nike Internet site. As part of a new campaign to market "offensive "football boots on 900 billboards across Australia, Nike has created an advertisement designed to look like it has  been defaced by vandals.

AUGUST 7, 2001 - Capitalizing on the Anti-Capitalist Movement  Alicia Rebensdorf, AlterNet -- Nike's recent soccer ads in Australia, however, have appropriated both the techniques and the language used against them. The campaign involved posting billboards that boasted "The Most Offensive Boots We've Ever Made," pseudo-marring them with stickers that read "Not Fair Mr. Technology," and even creating a fake grassroots protest group called Fans Fighting for Fairer Football (F.F.F.F). Although this fuzzy people-power group had "banded together for a single cause that they believed was fair and just," they were not activists fighting for fair working conditions; these were "actorvists" arguing that Nike shoes gave their wearers an unfair advantage... another chapter in the age-old story of corporate marketers co-opting a cultural movement. But this is commodification with a twist -- because, essentially, Nike is trying to capitalize on the anti-capitalism movement.

Weekly Nike Protest

• Melbourne August 31, 2001 http://www.s11.org/o3/events.html#aug31nike

• Non-violent Civil Disobedience in Australia http://www.s11.org/o3/home.html

• s12 - Union March and rally to protest WEF at Crown Casino, Melbourne (Sep 12, 2000 photos) 2nd photo essay

NIKETOWN MELBOURNE - The Blockade

Source Indymedia Friday May 4, 200; also Protestor' Side of the Story

A Report from the WEF Forum Blockade, Melbourne Sept 11-13  From: Ciaron O'Reilly

Photo: The Police Blockade NikeTown against the Demonstrators' Blockade 15 June, 2001 (Source and Story)

Police tries to take head off of peaceful demonstrator (who is violent here>)

EXHIBIT 8: Police Shut Down Nike Protest

Nike: The most offensive company we’ve booted yet!

What’s disgusting?
Union busting!
What’s outrageous?
Sweatshop Wages!

http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=9851&group=webcast

Subject: charged with besetting a premise and obstructing police

AAP NEWSFEED - June 3, 2001, Sunday

HEADLINE: Aust police on standby in case of more protests at Nike store

 Vic: Police on standby in case of more protests at Nike store

 MELBOURNE, June 2 AAP - Victoria police will be on stand by to break up further protests outside the Melbourne city store of sports giant Nike following the arrest of five people last night.

 Up to 150 protesters have been blockading the store every Friday night for the past nine weeks, claiming worker exploitation.

 Police moved in last night after issuing four warnings to protesters to leave the premises and enable the store to reopen.

 Acting Commander Doug O'Loughlin, of Region 1 Command, today  said the blockade had caused much inconvenience for the community and business over the past nine weeks.

 He said the police, City of Melbourne, Trades Hall Council and Nike had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with  protesters to resolve the issue.

 "Every person has a right to demonstrate or protest, but they do  not have a right to interfere with or prevent the community going about their business," he said.

 Acting Commander O'Loughlin said they had video evidence to prove protesters had been given reasonable time to leave, and they had not dispersed until police began making arrests.

 But anti-Nike protester Sarah Peart said police had violently attacked the peaceful anti-exploitation blockade as protesters were leaving.

 Acting Commander O'Loughlin said he hoped the arrests sent a strong warning to protesters that police were prepared to make more  arrests this coming Friday if the demonstration was not peaceful.

 Nike Australia today issued a statement that said Nike had been very patient with the demonstrators, but public safety had become an increasing concern.

 Communications Manager, Kate Meyers, said Nike had always  respected the right to peaceful protest and the company's critics had previously respected their right to trade.

 "However, this particular group of protesters do not respect that right," she said.

 "Only two weeks ago fire rockets were ignited and sent into the crowd, an effigy was burnt and wilful damage was done to the exterior of the store."

 Ms Meyers said Nike supported and encouraged the efforts of people who wanted to work together to improve working conditions for workers around the world, but the protesters had refused to be involved in "constructive dialogue".

 Community Campaign Fairwear, who were conducting a separate peaceful protest outside the Nike store at the time of the arrests, said that in Australia Nike was refusing to sign the homeworkers' code of practice.

 But Ms Meyers said they did not believe in signing a code for the sake of it, and the company did not employ homeworkers.

 Four men and one woman have been charged with besetting a premise and obstructing police in the execution of duty, and summonsed to appear on July 4.

JUNE 5 - 5 NIKE PROTESTORS ARRESTED -- http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/melbourne/nikeh2.ram

JUNE 9, 2001- MELBOURNE Protests and Police Violence http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MainLineNews/message/16147

See "Anti-Nike campaign scores a victory" BY KYLIE MOON & AVANTIKA CHANDRA

MELBOURNE — On July
5, an embarrassed Nike
management was forced to
rescind the 20% discount it
offered to police, following
the announcement by
Victorian police
commanders that they might
ban their officers from
accepting the discount.

More than 250 police and tens horses violently attacked protestors outside the Nike superstore on
June 1, the tenth Friday running in which nearly 300 people gathered to highlight Nike's exploitation of
child labour, slave wages and anti-union attacks.

The police contingent included 200 members of the Force Response Unit, established by the Kennett
Liberal government to break strikes and smash anti-Kennett campaigns...

On Friday, as protestors assembled, it became clear that we could expect something different from other
weeks. For the first time in ten weeks, two ambulances and television crews(tipped off by police) were
present on the scene, while round the corner to the north and south of the protest brawler vans(used for
mass arrests) and bus-loads of police were parked and waiting for the signal to attack.

About thirty minutes after protestors formed a symbolic blockade of NIKE(allowing shoppers in and out
at either end of the picket lines), the Police gave their first warning for the crowd to disperse. By the
time of the second warning protestors had agreed to move on. However just as protestors had broken their
blockade lines and were assembling to march off, the police moved in with force.

Police attacked indiscriminately, harassing and attacking shoppers, commuters and protestors alike,
and forcing the crowd onto the street. The police continued to move in on protestors and the general
public who were doing nothing but standing on street corners. They attacked anyone with a megaphone,
violently seizing the equipment from them. They then proceeded to make arrests while periodically charging
in waves at demonstrators who were either trying to observe those being arrested or make their way to the
other side on the street. Meanwhile passers-by lookedon horror at the sheer thuggery and brutality of the
Victoria Police.

In the end five protestors were arrested and charge with "besetting a premises". A law that has been used
against inion picketers in the past. The anti-NIKE 5 were forced to sign a bail condition stating that they
would not return to the Central Business District (basically the entire city area!).

Once again NIKE has shown that it cares more about profits than child labour, slave wages, union rights
and peoples well being. Three hours of extra trading is obviously worth a few cracked skulls. And once
again the police have shown whose side they are really on.

However despite the violent attack, nearly 200 protestors regrouped and held an emergency meeting at
which it was unanimously agreed to keep the protests going and to build them bigger and bigger. All were
quick to recognise that the response by Nike and the Police were a direct result of the impact the protests
were having. The mood was clearly one of defiance and determination to carry on. The campaign in now
attempting to win massive union and community support or continuing mass action against Nike.

For more information about the campaign
internationally, go to:
No Sweat (UK)
http://www.nosweat.org.uk/
United Students Against Sweatshops (US)
http://www.usasnet.org/
Fairwear(Australia)
http://www.fairwear.org.au

JUNE 22, 2001 POLICE STATE - http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=12461&group=webcast

Weekly anti-Nike protest Number 13 took place outside the Nike store in central Melbourne after 5pm today. Again the demonstrators held their ground and asserted their right to hold a political gathering in the public space. ... According to Nike, the bad publicity arising from these protests is costing the company about $10,000 to $15,000 per week. And Melbourne is just one part of the worldwide protest against Nike. ..

Outside the store, lines of protesters stood shoulder-to-shoulder along the footpath in front of the Nike's doorway at the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets but, as usual, we deliberately left a space of a couple of metres between us and the doorway so that Police Superintendent Tony Warren could not accuse us of the ancient (and abominable) "crime" of "besetting premises".

 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 - Blockade Nike! Melbourne - Half-day blockade outside Nike superstore, at Bourke & Swanston Sts. Tues Sept 11 from 9am. (Green Left.org).

EXHIBIT 9: CARNIVALESQUE PROTEST -

Non-Violent Action

Melbourne protester INDY MEDIA - 5:18pm Tue May 1 '01 Source

Protester highlights slave wages of Nike corporation

NIKE AND CARNIVALESQUE PROTEST

June 10, 2001 - A Fine Circus, Just Grab A Picket by John Elder. The Sunday Age, p. 3,  Melbourne's only Sunday Broadsheet - circulation approx400,000.

Friday night shopping, Bourke Street, looking for entertainment: The fellow who twists balloons into poodles isn't here, nor the blind girl who plays the accordion. But that old bloke with the white hair and Bible is on the post office steps preaching Jesus. And those two groovers who play Spanish guitar are in their favorite spot, just outside David Jones.

  Further east - across Swanston Walk, where the Nike superstore's front door is angled such that it faces the corner's apex - is the circus. In its 10th week, with the season showing no signs of ending.

 Rather, it's getting bigger, stranger.

  Lined up against the store's window, on the mall, are 36 police officers, standing squashed elbow to squashed elbow, quiet and unblinking as a woman's amplified voice cuts the evening. She's talking about them, about how they have been ``sent to intimidate us''.

  ``Us'' being the thick huddle of people - 200 or 300 - waving protest placards, and barking mad at the Nike corporation and its exploitation of child workers in Third World countries. In the half-light, it's hard to read many of the placards, beyond the words ``$2 a day''.

  Last Monday, a bail justice banned five protesters from the CBD for a month following their arrest on charges of besetting premises and obstructing police. On Thursday, a magistrate lifted the ban on condition that they wouldn't obstruct Nike's doorway.

  Just in case they get cheeky, there are police standing sentry on either side of the store's door. Further up, six police horses are parked in a row against the footpath, like bicycles. In a dark doorway, three senior officers talk quietly while watching the placard people. In surrounding blocks, police have taken over the crossings from the traffic lights.

  For the shoppers, the circus is something else to look at - or, for most of them, to ignore. Some of them duck their heads as they drag their children by the hand through a velvet gauntlet of police, on the one side, and television news reporters talking grim to their cameras on the other. Others walk through as if they're taking a sedated stroll down sideshow alley, nodding vaguely at the protesters offering them leaflets, nodding and walking on as you do when declining to play the Laughing Clowns.

  If you stop to stand among the protesters, you're immediately assumed to be one of them. Three seconds there and a man - middle-aged and small -walks up, asks if I've heard about Marcus Brumer's troubles with the law. Brumer is the silly lad who gave the Premier a cream-pie beard. I actually gave Brumer his first job, as a cadet reporter at Truth. Had talent. Wished he stuck at it. But this man - this official Friend of Brumer - doesn't want to hear any of it. He wants to talk. About Brumer going to court, to jail. And how typical, eh?

  Then he urges me - with the gravity of one who can hear bombers coming overhead - to listen to what's being shouted over the megaphone. But it's clear the megaphone people are struggling to find something new and fresh to say.

  Meanwhile, across the street, two girls, having wrestled their protest placards into a phone booth, are now wrestling with the phone itself. Both trying to talk, both trying to listen. Giggling and wriggling.

They're so excited you would think they had just been kissed at a school dance. ``It's so much fun. You've got to come down. Yeah! It's even better than last week.''

NikeWatch Site - http://www.caa.org.au/campaigns/nike/

EXHIBIT 10- SYDNEY NIKETOWN BLOCKADE

DAY OF ACTION- September 13, 2001