Team Sweat

Colin,

Here are a few quick thoughts on your post. I covered these at my talk in Willamette, that is why I asked if you had attended.

1. I am not asking for minimum wages laws to be passed. A minimum wage law already exists in Indonesia, that is what Nike workers are currently paid and it is a poverty wage. We are asking Nike to pay a living wage (double the current minimum). ... Read more

2. If Nike were to double the current wages to their workers in Indonesia, this would cost them approximately $2.50 more for a pair of sneakers. If Nike ate that added cost, it would be the equivalent of 7% of their advertising budget. If Nike passed that cost on to consumers, it would make a $75 pair of Nike's cost $77.50. That is not a major increase for US consumers and I am confident that they would pay the difference, especially if they were educated about why the increase happened (i.e. so workers could live with dignity).

3. I agree with you that the the broader problem is global capitalism and that we need to foster new ways of structuring the global economic order. One way of creating something new in the shell of the old structure is to create companies where workers have a true democratic voice through effective independent trade unions and/or worker-owned cooperatives. This is what we are fighting for with Nike.

I hope this is helpful.

Peace, JWK