Workers' and factories' participation in the survey were voluntary. Dusty Kidd, Nike's vice president for corporate responsibility, said the factories surveyed tended to be ones already attentive to workplace conditions and employee health issues. In one factory, managers punished tardy workers by making them clean toilets or run around the factory grounds. Physical abuse tends to escalate, workers told researchers, when managers are under pressure to meet production goals. According to the report, workers also said they believed two deaths in two factories were work-related and tied to the denial of medical attention.
Most factories have on-site health clinics.
Workers also said it was difficult to get time off to visit the clinics. Many women said they couldn't get the two-day menstrual leave to which they are entitled under Indonesian labor laws. No worker should be subject to some of the working conditions reported in this assessment. . . . But we now have a baseline to work with. A grievance process should be in place to allow workers to file complaints without fear of retribution.