Salt of the Earth: Activists to "earn" Nike wages

Salt shakers
July 2000

Activists to "earn" Nike wages during Olympics
Two Catholic activists plan to see how well they can get by on the prevailing Nike wage in Indonesia as the world focuses its attention on the Sydney Olympics and many of the Nike supported athletes who will be participating there. Press for Change's "Olympic Living Wage Project," done in collaboration with the Nicaraguan Solidarity Committee and NikeWatch, will focus on the daily lives of Nike's Indonesian shoe factory workers. The two project participants, Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu will adopt the lifestyle, diet, customs, and culture of the factory workers and live on their prevailing wages over approximately a two-month period and will document their experiences through an online diary.

Keady is a former assistant soccer coach from St. John's University. While coaching, Keady was was researching Nike's labor practices for his MA in theology. Citing Nike's use of sweatshop labor, he began to publicly protest the university's relationship with Nike and refused to wear the equipment that Nike provided. In May 1998 was told by university officials to "wear Nike and drop this issue publicly or resign." He resigned. Since then, Keady has been active in the anti-sweatshop movement.

After a press conference in Sydney, Australia, the pair plan a 10 week U.S. speaking tour. Organizers hope the online immediacy of the project will encourage others to use electronic media in creative ways to "bring those in the 'first world' into a human relationship with those in the developing world." Finally they want this project to add to the ongoing dialogue on the ethical issues inherent to the daily operations of multinational corporations.

The project will be taking place during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. This time frame was chosen to draw attention to the world class athletes who benefit most from Nike's exploitative labor practices. While these athletes play and receive lucrative endorsement contracts for doing so, the factory workers are forced to live and work in subhuman conditions.

Since the 'sweatshop' controversy gained prominence in the summer of 1996, scores of newspaper stories and TV exposes have drawn attention to Nike's brutal contractors. Students on many campuses have begun to protest deals which university administrators have negotiated with Nike

For more information:
Press for Change

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