Midwest
and West Coast Tours - Major Success
In the months of January and February, EFJ Directors Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady addressed huge crowds of students and faculty at high schools and universities in the mid-west and on the west coast. With audiences over 400 at some events, it is a positive sign that interest in social justice issues is growing and that this current momentum must be focused towards concrete positive changes for Nike's workers.
Leslie and Jim would like to thank all of the campus organizers that worked so hard to make each event a major success. Without your help, EFJ would not be able to reach so many people and continue to educate, empower and invite people to take action to end Nike's exploitative labor practices.
We would also like to thank RATM's Tom Morello for his gracious introduction at the University of Southern California and Jake Sexton, RATM's political advisor for making the necessary arrangements.
Leslie
and Jim are looking forward to upcoming campus visits
in March and April and invite all of our campaign
supporters to come out for these events.
back
to top
EFJ
Directors Invited to Present at Jesuit Business
Conference
EFJ Directors, Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu have
been invited to present at the Conference of Jesuit
Business Educators at St. Joseph's University in
Philadelphia, PA - July 19-21, 2002. The theme of
the conference is The Paradox of Globalization &
Economic Justice. Using the Nike Corporation as
a case study, Leslie and Jim will present on the
challenges that globalization presents in light
of Catholic Social Teaching and the Jesuit commitments
to social and economic justice.
For
more information about the conference, please visit:
http://www.sju.edu/hsb/cjbe
back
to top
Action
of The Month:
SUPPORT STANFORD ATHLETES' PUSH FOR WRC
In an unprecedented move in the national student movement to fight sweatshops, Stanford University Athletes have begun to organize to press their university administration to join the Worker Rights Consortium
Following a campus presentation by EFJ, a coalition of athletes placed a half-page ad in the Stanford Daily urging the university, who has a $2 million dollar annual endorsement deal with Nike, to join the WRC.
The letter stated in part:
"As a non-profit educational institution, it is necessary that Stanford holds corporate alliances such as Nike to the same ethical standards it espouses in the Fundamental Standard: morality, personal honor, and most importantly respect for the rights of others. In order to ensure that we do not compromise these values, we must have access to as much information as possible concerning our corporate alliance's practices. Stanford has not pursued the one avenue which could provide us with adequate information: the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC)."
The signatories of this advertised letter included members of the men's volleyball team, women's lacrosse team, men's water polo team, the fencing team, and women's volleyball team. There have also been 112 student athletes to date that have signed a petition requesting the university join the Worker Rights Consortium.
Please show your support for this campaign by writing to Stanford University President, John Hennessy at hennessy@stanford.edu and asking him to honor the student-athletes' and Stanford community's request to join the WRC.
To get in touch with the student-athletes spearheading this campaign, contact Pat Bomhack at pbomhack@hotmail.com.
back to top
Rock
Star and Athletes Team Up to Educate About Nike's
Sweatshops and Globalization
Educating for Justice announced today that it is teaming up with Rage Against the Machine's, Tom Morello to educate students about sweatshops and globalization. As part of their national speaking tour, EFJ Directors, Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady, will present "Starving for the Swoosh" detailing their experiences in August 2000 living in a factory worker's slum in Tangerang, Indonesia on $1.25 a day, a typical wage paid to Nike's workers. Morello, who has been very active on these issues, will introduce their presentation.
The event will take place at 5:30pm on Wednesday, February 20th in the Leavey Library Auditorium on the campus of the University of Southern California.
"We had the pleasure of interviewing Tom for our independent film during our visit to LA last year. His commitment to promote social justice through music is really admirable. We are so excited that he will be introducing us at USC." Said Kretzu, who most recently as a 2002 Olympic Torch Bearer, ran her leg of the Olympic Torch Relay barefoot, as an act of protest and solidarity with Nike factory workers.
Along with Morello's opening words, the event will include Kretzu and Keady's one-hour and fifteen minute interactive multi-media presentation, including slide shows, music, role-playing, and powerful new video footage of Kretzu and Keady's chance encounter with Nike CEO-Phil Knight at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.
back to top
 |
Photo courtesy of Delane B. Rouse, Associated Press
|
EFJ
Director Runs Olympic Torch Relay Barefoot
On December 22nd, EFJ co-Director Leslie Kretzu
ran in the Olympic Torch relay in downtown Philadelphia.
Despite the 35 degree weather, she ran barefoot
as an act of solidarity with Nike factory workers
whose demands for human rights continue to go unrecognized
by Nike, a sponsor of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter
Games and outfitter of both women's and men's U.S.
Olympic ice hockey teams as well as the U.S. speed-skating
team.
By
running barefoot, Kretzu sought to raise awareness
about the conditions under which Nike apparel and
athletic gear is made. "The Olympic charter
calls for 'encouraging the establishment of a peaceful
society concerned with the preservation of human
dignity'. The International Olympic Committee and
Olympians need to be aware that sponsors like Nike
blatantly violate this charter and undermine the
very ideals upon which the Olympic Games were founded.
It is time that the IOC and Olympic athletes actively
pressure multinational sponsors to live up to this
Olympic ideal."
EFJ teamed up with the Free Burma Coalition to call
attention to the International Olympic Committee's
decision to purchase Torchbearer uniforms from Burma.
The democracy movement in Burma, much like that
of South Africa in the 80's, has called for an end
to foreign investment which keeps the ruling military
regime financially stable and functional. Multinational
corporations have been pulling out of Burma by the
dozens due to pressure by activists; however, the
International Olympic Committee, who should be well
versed on the political situation in Burma, chose
to have their uniforms manufactured there, despite
the call to avoid business in Burma from the democracy
movement and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, Burma's freely elected leader, who
is currently under house arrest by the ruling military
regime.
To learn more about the labor situation in Burma,
visit www.freeburmacoalition.org.
If you would like to write to the IOC and express
your concerns about their decision to purchase goods
from Burma, send your letters to:
Jacque Rogge
International Olympic Committee President
Ch‰teau de Vidy
Case Postale 356
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland
Sandra Baldwin
President United States Olympic Committee
One Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs,
Colorado 80909
back
to top
Worker
Education and Resource Center: Update
EFJ's plans to build a Worker Education and Resource
Center in Tangerang, Indonesia are continuing to
move along smoothly. In the past month, we received
the site plans from our Indonesian-based architect
and our Indonesian-based staff has chosen a plot
of land for the center. This past week, Sobirin,
our Indonesian team leader, was to meet with the
Director of the Jesuit-run Jakarta Social Institute
(ISJ), with the hope of solidifying a relationship
with ISJ as our primary program partner.
back
to top
Two
Internships Aavailable with EFJ
Educating
for Justice is currently seeking to fill two internships
to assist in our Nike Corporate Accountability Campaign.
The interns will help EFJ with the development of
focused pressure campaigns with measurable results
for workers in Nike's 13 Indonesian production plants.
Interns will work from their home locations and
will have guided support via email and telephone
from EFJ Directors, Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu.
Interested students should send a letter of interest
and a resume to educate4justice@aol.com.
Women and people of color are strongly encouraged
to apply.
back
to top
Action
of The Month:
Write
to Nike-Sponsered USA Hockey
Please
take the time to write to the Head Coaches of the
Nike-Sponsored USA Hockey teams, who will compete
in the 2002 Olympic Games, and ask them to require
Nike to disclose the names and locations of the
factories that produce ALL of their team equipment.
Getting disclosure of factory locations is a MAJOR
campaign goal to ensure that effective and objective
research and monitoring is done at these locations.
To date, Nike has reluctantly disclosed roughly
35 of their 700 global manufacturing plants, due
to pressure by concerned consumers, students, athletes,
and activists. You can write to the coaches at the
following address:
USA Hockey, Inc.
1775 Bob Johnson Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80906-4090
Phone: (719) 576-USAH (8724)
Fax: (719) 538-1160
E-Mail: usah@usahockey.org U.S.
Women's Team Head Coach: Ben Smith U.S.
Women's Team Captain: Cammi Granato U.S.
Men's Head Coach: Herb Brooks.
back
to top
HOME
|
