Nike
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■Although both organizations have like goals, Nike argues
the Fair Labor Association has more reasonable protocol
By Ben Romano
Oregon Daily Emerald
Nike weighed in on the issue of
labor rights monitoring agencies
Monday in no uncertain terms.
The apparel industry giant
clearly endorses the Fair Labor As
sociation, an organization with
stated goals similar to those of the
Worker Rights Consortium, which
the University recently joined.
A statement released late Mon
day announced that Nike CEO
Phil Knight will halt all future per
sonal donations to the University.
Knight said that the WRC “has no
protocols, no credibility, no role
for the companies whose busi
nesses are being monitored and no
independence.”
Earlier Nike statements have
lambasted the WRC calling it “a
loosely formed organization whose
operating tenets include a ‘gotcha
monitoring’ system and an ambigu
ous living wage provision.”
The company made its position
on the WRC clear late in March
when it pulled out of a contract
with Brown University, one of the
founding members of the WRC.
After the Rhode Island liberal arts
school stipulated that all of its
trademark licensees comply with
the code of conduct of the WRC,
Nike stopped supplying Brown’s
hockey teams with equipment.
In a letter to the Brown commu
nity dated March 28, Nike decried
the WRC for excluding some par
ties from the negotiating table:
“We fundamentally believe that
the only effec
tive way to make
progress in im
proving factory
conditions
around the
world is to have
all stakeholders
at the table. The
WRC directly re
jects this premise, choosing in
stead to exclude industry and oth
er key stakeholders. ”
Nike is participating in — and
loudly endorsing — the FLA, a
product of the Apparel Industry
Partnership, which is a group of
manufacturers, universities and
consumer, labor and human rights
organizations, started by the
White House in 1996.
The FLA allows industry repre
sentatives on its board of directors.
It also allows companies to pick
their own monitors, and factory
monitoring visits are pre-an
nounced.
Those who are pulling for the
WRC as the factory monitoring or
ganization of choice criticize the
FLA for letting the garment indus
try monitor itself.
“I’m sure that there were no
Nazis on the Nuremberg war tribu
nal,” said Randy Newnham, a
spokesman for the Human Rights
Alliance campus organization. He
said he doesn’t think that clothing
manufacturers have a right to be at
the table.
Because of the FLA’s structure
and monitoring, groups like the
HRA lend it no credence.
“Basically, this is just a PR stunt
of the garment industry and the
Clinton administration,” Newn
ham said.
The WRC is not free from criti
cism either, however.
The New York-based group has
been criticized for blocking media
from attending its inaugural meet
ing April 7.
Others have problems with the
WRC’s board member selection
process and the amount of influ
ence that universities will have.
Critics have also noted that the
WRC, with no business represen
tation at all, is imbalanced.
Excerpts from Nike CEO Phil Knight’s statement regarding the University
In recent days, there have been nu
merous media reports and specu
lation regarding my personal phi
lanthropy and relationship with
the University of Oregon. As a lifelong
Duck and in fairness to the many
alums at Nike and around Oregon, I
feel obligated to address this person
ally.
I was shocked on Friday morning,
April 14 at 9 a.m. to find out that the
University of Oregon had joined the
Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). With
this move, the University inserted it
self into the new global economy
where I make my living—and insert
ed itself on the wrong side, fumbling a
teachable moment.
Nike did not invent the global econ
omy but has been determined to be a
leader and to show its good citizen
ship. We are very, very serious about
providing good factory working condi
tions and continuously improving the
work experience for all 500,000 peo
ple who make Nike products. We also
have been consistent in cal ling for one
strong external code and one monitor
ing system for the entire industry that
puts us all on a level playing field. We
believe the president’s and the De
partment of Labor’s Fair Labor Associ
ation (FLA), representing a coalition of
human, consumer and labor rights
groups, industry and universities, is
such a system although it is taking too
long to get active....
No university, including the Univer
sity of Oregon, can meet the WRC liv
ing wage and other code standards for
food service employees, grounds
keepers, clerical personnel or teaching
assistants.
My history with the University of
Oregon goes back a long way.... Nike
will honor its contractual commit
ment. But for me personally, there will
be no further donations of any kind to
the University of Oregon. At this time,
this is not a situation that can be re
solved. The bonds of trust, which al
lowed me to give at a high level, have
been shredded.
_Q—Dthe w e h ^
www.dailyemerald.com
Knight
continued from page 1
and administrators will meet
within the next few days to dis
cuss possible changes to the ex
pansion project.
Knight, a University alumnus
who noted in his statement that he
has personally donated $50 mil
lion to athletic and academic pro
grams in the years since his 1959
graduation, said, “Nike has a lot of
pride and has been my life. It is the
source of any dollars I am able to
give. To accept the University of
Oregon’s endorsement of the WRC
would be to place my company,
our employees, our university-re
lated manufacturers and their em
ployees in unknown hands and
under undefined monitoring that
has no protocols, no credibility, no
role for the companies whose
businesses are being monitored
and no independence.”
Nike and Knight have endorsed
the Fair Labor Association, a mon
itoring agency similar to the WRC
with a mission to improve work
ing conditions in its factories. The
fundamental difference between
the two is that the FLA has six ap
parel industry representatives on
its 14-member board of directors
while tjip WRC pillows np Ji)4ustry
Knight's University
ties and donations
1959— Knight graduates.
19%—The Oregon Campaign,
started in 1992to increase private
gift support, nearsthe initial $150
million goal when Kni^Hdonates
$25 million.
Dec, 31,1998—Hie Oregon ta m
paign ends, with $2553 million
raised; Knight’s donation is the
largest one announced,
Nov. 1999—Knight reportedly
pledges $30 million to the Universi
ty’s $80 million plan to renovate
Autzen Stadium.
April 12,2000—Rohnmayer signs
University on with the Worker
RightsConsortium. a labor-moni
toring organization.
April 19— Rumors begin that
Knight has pulled private dona
tions to the University,
Monday—Knight officially con
firms that he is ending all future
donations; in a released statement
he says that he has given $50 mil
lion to the University,
SOURCES Campaign Yearbook and
Emeratdardmes
participation in decision making.
The University’s apparel con
tract \vjth Nike — the licensing
agreement that puts “Swoosh” lo
gos on Duck uniforms — will not
be affected by Knight’s announce
ment. The contract expires in the
spring of 2003.
"Nike will honor its contractual
commitment,” Knight said.
University President Dave
Frohnmayer released a statement
shortly after Knight’s announce
ment.
“We are very disappointed to
hear that he plans to curtail future
contributions to the University of
Oregon,” Frohnmayer said.
Early Monday, the University
administration was trying to set
up a face-to-face discussion be
tween Frohnmayer and Knight to
resolve the matter between the
two principle players, whose rela
tionship has been characterized as
a friendship.
“I still hope to speak with him
in person, and look forward to
working with him in the future,”
Frohnmayer said.
Knight indicated that future re
lations with the University may be
strained at best.
“At this time, this is not a situa
tion that can be resolved,” Knight
said. “The bonds of trust, which
allowed me to give at a high level,
have been shredded."
Emerald reporter Mirjam Swanson con
tributed to this article.
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