Nike, an ethical brand?

Although Nike is one of the largest athletic clothes brands, many critics accuse the company for paying low wages and offering bad working conditions. Nevertheless only few people know that there clothes are manufactured in sweatshops. Nike has tried to improve the working conditions, but has it become an ethical brand?

Nike was founded in 1972 and all clothes and shoes were produced in China and Vietnam, where minimum wages are the lowest in the world, which means less costs. These unethical activities were discovered by groups such as Education for Justice, Students Against Sweatshops, etc. Nike is not the only company who acted in an unethical way, but these groups focused on Nike, because of its leading role. In 1987 the factory workers began to protest. Because of the political and public pressure, Nike decided to improve working conditions and increase the minimum wage. Eventually all factories got a company Code of Conduct, which ensures that the conditions of safety requirements are respected. But despite this code, it seems that the human rights are still ignored.

As one of the major player on the market, Nike should pay respect to the human rights. This would not necessarily mean that their benefits would be less. On the contrary, if people would know that their products are produced ethically, they would be willing to pay a little more. What do the others members think about Nike and his activities?

Used sources:

http://www.ehow.com/about_5485125_nike-sweatshops.html

http://thedawgdude.blogspot.com/

Cornette Guillaume