Nike’s PR manager Graham Anderson has admitted that the leading
sports shoe manufacturer has failed to properly communicate its attempts
to clean up its ethical record, prior to this Saturday’s Worldwide Day
of Action against sweatshop labour.
Anderson told PR Week that the company has not conveyed its
anti-exploitation actions proactively enough, but says Nike is working
hard to address the issue.
Last month Nike announced that it had severed its links with four
Indonesian-based factories which failed to fulfil its working conditions
requirements.
It was the first company to have a code of conduct in 1992, and this
year invited US Senator Andrew Young to visit supplying factories and
publish his findings.
Adidas spokesman Peter Csanadi feels that individual codes of conduct
have limited power. ’It doesn’t solve the problem, it just relocates it
either geographically or into other industries.’
Csanadi argues that Adidas’ responsibility is to ensure that the laws of
the country are fully observed by suppliers. He says the company has yet
to be directly accused of worker exploitation.
Nike has taken the brunt of criticism of the industry, mainly because
the media has focused on the contrast between low wages and the high
profile sponsorship deals it brokers with sports stars like Michael
Jordan.
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