It's low-tech assembly work that hasn't changed much since Nike chairman Phil Knight first started sourcing sneakers in Japan 35 years ago. Since then, the work has migrated in search of ever cheaper labor. I work here because I have to earn a living, but it's boring work. The company provides meals and living quarters in spartan although adequate dorm rooms that sleep 12 and offer individual storage closets and ceiling fans for the summer. Indisputably, there have been cases where supervisors abused workers, including a well-known incident at Pou Chen's Bien Hoa plant in Vietnam when several women fainted while being forced to run laps around the perimeter of three warehouses as a punishment.
Workers there have no confidence in the grievance system, and some still fear reprisal from bosses.
When we don't and there's a gap, they force us to work extra to meet the quota. Workers have also complained that they were paid as temporaries for longer than the law allowed, and not given automatic raises after one year, as required. Nike says it has fixed those problems. Another huge issue is the question of a fair wage. The short answer is no.