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Mural from the Mission District in
San Francisco |
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August 2006
Sneakers & Sweatshops
Oxfam International’s report
"Offside!
Labor Rights and Sportswear Production in Asia"
examines how sports brands are tackling the problem
of sweatshops in their industry, with a particular
focus on workers’ freedom to form and join
trade unions. The report assesses how much effort
sports brands have made to improve labor rights
for all workers who make their products.
Documentary Picks of
the Month!
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Nominated for an Academy Award, ENRON
is the inside story of one of history’s
greatest business scandals, in which top executives
of America’s 7th largest company walked
away with over one billion dollars while investors
and employees lost everything. Based on the best-selling
book The Smartest Guys in the Room by
FORTUNE reporters Bethany McClean and Peter Elkind
and featuring insider accounts and incendiary
corporate audio and videotapes, this documentary
is a wake up call.
An
Inconvenient Truth
If the vast majority of the world's scientists
are right, we have just ten years to avert a major
catastrophe that could send our entire planet
into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving
extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and
killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever
experienced. If that sounds like a recipe for
serious gloom and doom -- think again. From director
Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival
hit, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which offers
a passionate and inspirational look at one man's
fervent crusade (former VP Al Gore) to halt global
warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing
the myths and misconceptions that surround it.
Immersion Experience:
Bolivia
Witness for Peace
is offering an immersion experience in Bolivia
from November 9-17, 2006. Meet with Bolivians
firsthand and see for yourself the rebirth of
this nation and the evolution of a society. There
will be a special focus on indigenous rights,
natural gas and drug policies. For more information,
visit Witness
for Peace's website.
Behind the Swoosh Campaign
We are seeking your help to demand that Nike source
its products from factories where workers' rights
are respected and living wages are paid.
When the truth about Nike's overseas factory
conditions broke into the international consciousness
in the mid-1990's, Nike fought back with a vengeance.
With a multi-billion dollar advertising budget
and the top public relations executives, they
used every available tactic to deflect the criticism.
Because of Nike's relentless efforts to manipulate
the facts, when the phrase "Nike sweatshops" is
now uttered, many people say, "I thought Nike
fixed all of those sweatshop problems."
No. Nike did not fix all of those sweatshop problems.
While Nike may have taken some strides in addressing
violations of workers' rights, they are nowhere
near a standard that most Americans would consider
fair and just.
Here are some of the latest resources on Nike's
sweatshops:
Here is the action you can take to help this
campaign:
Write to Phil Knight, Nike's Chairman of the
Board, and demand:
- That Nike pay their subcontracted workers
a living wage;
- That Nike guarantee that their subcontracted
workers are free to form independent trade unions;
- That Nike and their subcontractors bargain
with these independent trade unions in good
faith;
- That Nike make a 20-year commitment to ordering
from those factories that pay living wages and
establish collective bargaining agreements.
Contact Information:
Phil Knight, Chairman of the Board
Nike, Inc.
One Bowerman Drive
Beaverton, OR 97005
e-mail: lisa.mckillips@nike.com
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