For the past few weeks, EFJ has been gathering information from our Indonesian and international contacts regarding Nike's latest move to eliminate nearly 7,000 jobs from PT DOSON in Tangerang. We have compiled a preliminary report on this case. We also ask that you read the news articles
about this case, which are located below in the Other Campaign News section.
Write to Nike CEO, Phil Knight, about Indonesian Layoffs
Once you have read the report, we ask that you please send a letter to Nike CEO, Phil Knight about this situation. Click here for a sample letter.
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EFJ's "Team Justice" returned in late June from a near month-long research and filming trip to Indonesia. Joining EFJ Directors, Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady on this trip were, Mike Pierantozzi - EFJ's Creative/Marketing Director, as well as two staff members from Rainlake Films: Kat Patterson – Director of Photography, and Joel Pomeroy – Field Producer. Jim and Leslie focused heavily on gathering the most recent information on wage levels, costs
of basic goods and union organizing efforts. They also facilitated educational discussion groups with workers and union leaders from 6 of Nike's 10 shoe production plants. Mike, Kat and Joel spent their time filming interviews with workers, Jim and Leslie's interactions with workers, and other necessary footage for the production of the upcoming film being produced by EFJ and Rainlake Films, SWEAT – A story of solidarity.
The success of this trip would not have been possible without the stateside technical support of EFJ's webmaster Jeff Lyons, as well as Kim Connell and Mitch Riley, Presidents of Rainlake, LLC.
EFJ would also like to thank the MD Province of the Society of Jesus and Saint Joseph's University for financially underwriting this trip.
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The Independent Features Project (IFP) has chosen SWEAT – A story of solidarity, a co-production of EFJ and Rainlake Films, to be screened as a "Documentary Work in Progress" at the IFP Market. The Market, to be held in NYC from September 29 – October 4, 2002, was launched in 1979 as a sidebar to the New York Film Festival
by a small group of filmmakers in response to the increasing institutionalization of Hollywood films and the trend towards big-budget blockbusters. The IFP Market is now in its 24th successful year.
In recent years, some of the leading independent films discovered at the IFP Market have included: Clerks, The Brothers McMullen, Roger and Me, El Norte, Metropolitan, One False Move, Paris is Burning, Poison, Reservoir Dogs, Slacker, Stand and Deliver, Blood Simple, Stranger than Paradise, Swoon, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and recent Academy Award Nominees, The Farm: Angola, USA, Dancemaker, and On the Ropes.
With a nationwide network of organizations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and Miami, the IFP is now the largest association of independent filmmaking professionals in the United States. More than 10,000 filmmakers and industry professionals enlist the IFP for year-round assistance and guidance.
If you would like to help EFJ with the production and distribution of SWEAT, click here.
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Dates are filling up quickly for EFJ's 2002-2003 National Speaking Tour…
The Human Side of Globalization: Nike in Indonesia – A Case Study
If you would like more information on the type of event EFJ can bring to your campus or community, click on the link above.
If you would like to book an event, please contact EFJ Director, Jim Keady at JWKeady@aol.com or 732.988.7322.
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EFJ Directors, Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady, had the pleasure of attending and presenting at two major conferences this summer for business professors from Jesuit universities. The first conference in early June was the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools' Conference held at Fu Jen University in Taipei, Taiwan. The
three-day conference titled, "Supply Chain Management in the Global Economy: Ethical, Legal, Environmental, Cultural, Social and Technological Issues," was attended by business professors from Columbia, India, Indonesia, Belgium, Brazil, Philippines, Spain, Taiwan, Lebanon, Mexico, and the United States.
During the conference Keady delivered a paper he co-authored with Fr. Jim Spillane, SJ, a business ethics professor from Sanata Dharma University, the Jesuit University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The title of the paper was, "Neoliberalism and the Footloose Global Footwear Industry." Keady did a second presentation with Kretzu titled, "Out of the Textbooks and into the Trenches: A Call to Action for Jesuit Business Educators – Nike in Indonesia – A Case Study."
Both presentations were well received. Robert Mefford from the McLaren School of Business at the University of San Francisco commented, "I felt that your presentations and presence at the IAJBS conference was valuable and consciousness-raising. It made some of us question our assumptions about globalization and our complacency about these issues. Since arriving back in SF, I have revised the paper I presented at the Taipei conference to incorporate more of the sweatshop labor issues, particularly the production
rationale behind showing these MNC's that it is really in their best long-run interests to provide decent working conditions to their workers."
The second conference Leslie and Jim attended and presented at was the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education Conference, at their alma mater, St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA. The conference was held from July 19-21, 2002 and was attended by business professors from 20 U.S. Jesuit universities, as well as representatives
from the World Bank, U.S. business leaders, and fellow international human rights activists.
The second day of the conference titled, "The Paradox of Globalization & Economic Justice," had a heavy focus on sweatshops, with Leslie and Jim's presentation sandwiched between powerful workshops by Laura Hartman, professor of business ethics at DePaul University, and Charles Kernaghan, Director of the National Labor Committee.
One of the more exciting outcomes of the conference has been the invitations EFJ has received from business professors and deans of business schools to have Leslie and Jim present at their respective campuses.
EFJ would like to thank Tom Bausch from the IAJBS and Denny Yeh from Fu Jen University for bringing Leslie and Jim to Taipei. We would also like to thank David Steingard and Steve Porth from the Haub School of Business at St. Joseph's University for bringing Leslie and Jim to the CJBE conference in Philadelphia.
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EFJ Directors, Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady, attended and presented at the National Association of Women in Catholic Higher Education (NAWCHE) conference held at Santa Clara University from July 11-13, 2002.
The NAWCHE is an organization made up of faculty, administrators, staff and students from Catholic colleges and universities. The spirit of the association is one of sisterhood and solidarity. Its objectives are to facilitate support of one another as women, to create, organize, and disseminate work for justice in the academy, and to provide a forum for members to speak out on issues relevant to women in the academy especially those issues unique to Catholic institutions.
The conference was attended by mostly women educators from nearly 30 colleges and universities across the United States. Leslie and Jim's presentation, "Out of the Textbooks and into the Trenches: A Call to Action for Jesuit Business Educators – Nike in Indonesia – A Case Study," was a perfect fit for the theme of the sixth-annual conference, "Making Connections: Connecting Academia and Activism."
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Just this past week (August 19-21, 2002), EFJ Directors, Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady attended and presented at the 2002 Minnesota AFL-CIO Convention in Duluth, MN. Nearly 1000 delegates, representing over 400,000 working Minnesotans, attended the conference. Along with the opportunity to address the entire delegation before the conclusion of the conference on Wednesday, Leslie and Jim had the chance to share the most updated version of their National Speaking Tour
event, "The Human Side of Globalization: Nike in Indonesia – A Case Study."
The reception and hospitality that Leslie and Jim received from the staff and the members of the MN AFL-CIO was overwhelming. They would like to offer their deepest thanks to all of their new friends in Minnesota and particular thanks to Tim Geelan and Lynne Larkin-Wright of the MN AFL-CIO staff, who were instrumental in bringing
them to the conference and making sure that their visit was a success.
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