Nike, the athletic shoe giant, today became the first major company in the footwear and apparel business to disclose in full its list of suppliers in response to criticism about sweatshop conditions.
The goal as Nike's chairman, Phil Knight puts it is "to be as accurate, complete and honest as we can be about how Nike performs".
For years, activists have demanded that Nike and other major companies reveal where factories are located, so that independent observers could assess the labour conditions. Corporations have been reluctant to do so amid fears that rivals will get wind of trade secrets and advanced products, so Nike's step is another important move in the domain of corporate social responsibility.
By publishing its list of 700 factories that produce its trainers, clothes and other products, Nike is seeking to recapture the moral high ground after having been criticised in the past for work conditions in its factories in the developing world. The Financial Times says Nike has broken new ground in transparency.
From the list, Nike has 124 plants in China contracted to make its products, 73 in Thailand, 35 in South Korea, 34 in Vietnam - with others in Asia, as well as in Latin America, Australia, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Turkey and the US.
According to the report, Nike audited 569 factories in 2003 and 2004 and found abuses it has previously identified. Monitors found cases of "abusive treatment" - either physical or verbal - in more than a quarter of its south Asian factories, and between 25% and 50% of the contract factories in the region restrict access to toilets and drinking water during the work day.
The monitors found that in more than half the south Asian factories, and in over 25% of factories overall, the normal course of business led to work hours in excess of 60 hours per week. In more than one-tenth of all the plants surveyed, refusal to work overtime led to a penalty of some kind, the report said.
"We're 15 years into a process that's going to take decades, but the forward progress is clear," Michael Posner, the executive director of New York-based Human Rights First, told OregonLivecom.
