Washington– Women in the labor movement held solidarity actions across the U.S. today, joining the call of Asian garment workers, Global Labor Justice (GLJ), and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance’s (AFWA) Fight the Heist campaign, to demand justice in Nike’s supply chain. The actions call on the sneaker and clothing giant to take responsibility for the human rights crisis supply chain workers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the brand’s actions and to ensure workers are paid enough to avoid future crises. 

In a few weeks, Nike will aim to burnish its image at the Olympic Games in Paris. The women who make some of the company’s fastest running shoes and other gear in Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are demanding Nike negotiate with them and ensure fair wages in its supply chain. 

In actions in eight cities– from New York to Nike’s hometown, Portland, Ore.-- women labor activists called on Nike to make good on its claims to champion racial and gender equality by meeting workers’ demands.. 

Nike spends billions of dollars on advertising, much of it extolling its support for women and girls in sports as it reaps huge profits from the exploitation of the women who make its shoes and clothing.

“To meet the basic needs during COVID, my husband and I were forced to borrow money from relatives and banks, using our belongings as collateral. And until now I am still paying interest on debts,” Said Siti Chaerunissa, a member of the labor union Serikat Pekerja Nasional (SPN) and worker at a Nike-supplier factory in Indonesia. “We often hear people say that Nike talks about equality. As workers who make high-quality products, we should also be treated as equals.” 

In New York City, women union members and allies rallied outside the New York Stock Exchange, calling on industry investors attending the Footwear Distributors and Retailers Association Supply Chain Summit to demand Nike come to the table with its supply chain workers and their unions to negotiate an agreement that ensures fair wages and benefits for workers in its supply chain. 

“Nike likes to talk a lot about equality. Until it pays the women who make Nike clothing and shoes a decent wage, we know it’s all talk,” said Yolanda Pearson, leader of the Communication Workers of America’s Women’s Committee. “So we’re calling women and union activists across the U.S. to take action in support of our sisters in Asia.”

“As Nike gears up for the Olympics, today women workers linked arms from Jakarta to New York to tell Nike to do better for women and pay living wages,” said Jacob Horwitz, Field Director of Global Labor Justice. “Nike makes massive profits from the labor of women garment workers in Asia and by selling the image of women athletes and stars in the U.S. Today women in the labor movement called on Nike to put its money where its mouth is and pay living wages.” 

A Sri Lankan worker in Nike's supply chain would need to work for 2,000 years to make one month of Nike CEO John Donahoe’s compensation. And while women garment workers in Nike’s supply chain struggled due to stolen wages during the COVID pandemic, Nike spent billions on stock buybacks. 

The workers are fighting back, and allies around the world, including U.S. unions are standing up in support. Over 20 garment sector unions from six countries along with Global Labor Justice and Asia Floor Wage Alliance launched the Fight the Heist campaign to demand Nike ensure fair pay in its supply chain. In addition, unions representing workers at Nike factories have filed an OECD complaint with the U.S. National Contact Point. It alleges that Nike has contributed to “severe human rights impacts” for garment workers in its supply chain but has not addressed and remediated the impacts according to the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct.

"Women garment workers in Asia have been organizing and fighting for years for decent work in the supply chains of U.S.-based companies,” said Abiramy Sivalogananthan, South Asia Coordinator of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance. “When they win, it will be a victory for women everywhere."

Today allies, including the CWA Women and Civil Rights Committees and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Jobs with Justice, UNITE HERE, RWDSU, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the University of Oregon Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), brought the voices of women garment workers to the doorstep of Nike and its partners. 

• In Washington, D.C. are holding a rally at the Washington Trade Symposium's Cocktail Reception demanding Nike negotiate with workers and unions to create a plan for fair pay in its supply chain. 

• In Boston, a group of allies are delivering a letter to the Converse All Star Headquarters calling upon NIKE to negotiate with the garment unions that represent their supply chain workers. Converse All Star was bought by NIKE in 2003.

• In Portland, a group is delivering a letter with their demands to the office of Sport Oregon, a nonprofit dedicated to driving sports tourism to the state to support local economic development. NIKE is a sponsor of Sport Oregon and also sits on the organization's board of directors. 

• In Eugene, a group of worker allies led by the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation are delivering a letter with their demands to Eugene, Oregon's, NIKE store. The store is close to the campus of the University of Oregon campus, where Nike co-founder Phil Knight is a trustee and has wielded great influence over the University's development.

• In Chicago, allies are rallying and delivering a letter with their demands to the NIKE store on Michigan Ave. calling on NIKE to negotiate with the garment unions that represent their supply chain workers.

• In Tucson, a group of worker allies are delivering a letter to a NIKE store calling on NIKE to negotiate with the garment unions that represent their supply chain workers. 

• In Philadelphia, allies are delivering a letter to luxury sneaker store Lapstone and Hammer– after the store's July 15 release of a new Nike sneaker– calling on NIKE to negotiate with the garment unions that represent their supply chain workers. 

See photos from the actions on X: https://x.com/global_labor/status/1813251250068103369

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Global Labor Justice (GLJ) is a non-governmental organization that works transnationally to advance policies and laws that protect decent work; to strengthen freedom of association and workers’ ability to advocate for their rights; and to hold corporations accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains. 

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) is an Asian labor-led global labor and social alliance across garment producing countries (such as India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and consumer regions (USA and Europe) for addressing poverty level wages, gender-based violence, and freedom of association in global garment production networks.