The following story of a young girl working in a shoe factory will provide a dramatic illustration. Around her on the production line, workers sit or stand elbow to elbow. Many are barefoot. The humid air reeks of paints and glues. The temperature hovers near 100 degrees.
Breathing feels unnatural.
Welcome to the Hardaya Aneka Shoe Industry factory, known as Hasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta. Tri Mugiyanti, slightly built with a heart-shaped face and silky hair that brushes her shoulders, earns 15 cents an hour for her part in the production of your Nikes. Put another way, it would take all of Tri's pay for seven weeks to buy one pair of the Nike shoes she helps to make. After a long day, Tri Mugiyanti, who claims she is 18 but looks barely past puberty, stands outside her home and says she is very tired. But home is hardly a place to relax.