Personal
1. What is your name?
Workers did not want to have their names reported for fear of retribution by factory management, mafia, etc. There were 14 workers including men and women.

2. How old are you?
The workers ages ranged from 21-32.

3. What village are you from?
All of the workers were from villages on Java and Sumatra.

4. When you came here from your village, what did you bring?
They all brought their "papers," clothes and money. The amounts of money brought ranged from 50000-130000Rp.

5. What job could/would you do if you weren’t working at the factory?
They would look for work at another factory.

6. How long have you been working at the factory?
They had been working for varying amounts of time ranging from a couple of years to six years, four months.

7. When is the last time you saw your family?
They only see their families once a year at the Muslim holiday.

Expenses
1. How much money do you send home each month?
They do not send money home each month. They struggle to save some money to bring home for the holiday.

2. How much do you spend on food each day?
They spend up to 9000Rp on food each day if they have that to spend.

3. How many meals a day do you eat?
They try to eat three meals a day.

4. What do your meals consist of?
Meals consist of rice and vegetables and possibly meat. They told us that the one meal that is provided for them at the factory, that has a market value of 1800Rp, contains the lowest grade of rice that is available and portions that are entirely too small.

5. How much do you spend on housing?
Housing costs ranged from 75000-150000Rp depending on family needs. Water and electricity are included with the rent.

6. Could you afford a doctor visit?
No. They would have to borrow money to visit the doctor. They told us that the factory required clinic is not adequate, that the staff is rude to them and that there have been horrendous cases of misdiagnosis.

Working Conditions
1. What are you making?
They are making Nike cross-trainers and baby sneakers.

2. What is your production quota during a slow/busy period?
Their quota for the month of August was 230,000 pairs of shoes. Their quotas during high periods are 300,000.

3. Are the production quotas too high?
Yes.

4. How many days a week do you work?
They work 5-7 days depending on the order.

5. Do you work with chemicals? What kind?
One of the workers worked with a glue compound.

6. Is protective equipment provided?
Yes, but it is inadequate and uncomfortable. The worker who worked on the glue line told us that he only receives one pair of protective gloves per week. He said that he needs a new pair everyday and that the gloves that are provided are of a very low quality. He also receives a thin cotton mask that he believes is inadequate. Workers in the "sewing section" reported that they are not provided with protective equipment, they have to buy it themselves. It costs them 12500Rp for sandals, and a smock. They also are not provided with brooms to clean their areas, they have to buy them themselves.

7. Are you afraid about what the chemicals might be doing to you?
Yes. Workers complained about respiratory pain, burning eyes and headaches.

8. Do you stand or sit while you work? Is your positioning comfortable?
Workers who work in the "assembling and finishing" area are forced to stand all day at work. They do not receive any extra compensation for having to stand while workers in other areas can sit.

9. Have you ever seen or heard about physical or verbal abuse?
Yes. The factory managers or foremen are constantly abusive. If they feel the workers are not working hard enough to meet the targeted quota they sarcastically belittle them. One worker who refused to move to another area because she did not have the training to do the work was forced to stand for hours in front of the other workers as a punishment. She was also told that "It would be easier to train a cow to do this work than to train you."

10. Do you have any chance of promotion?
Promotions are arbitrary and usually are given to workers who never complain about their situation. It would seem that there is no fair or consistent process for promotion. Raises are also arbitrary. There were workers who had been working for over 4 years and had never received a raise. The highest paid worker we interviewed was a line chief who had been working at the factory for six years and four months. He is receiving 387000Rp a month for his basic wage.

Compensation
1. How much money do you make each month?
Without overtime, the basic minimum wage is 300000Rp. They also receive 1500 per day in a transportation allowance and if they do not miss a day of work they receive a 20000Rp-attendance bonus. Line chiefs would receive a 30000Rp-attendance bonus.

2. Is it enough to meet your basic needs?
"No. No. No." This was the resounding response from all of the workers present. All of them reported that they are heavily in debt.

3. How much more do you need?
They all agreed that 700000Rp a month would be enough to just meet their most basic needs. When asked if the transportation allowance was enough, they reported that on average they would 4000Rp per day to meet this need. Please note that 700000Rp a month would not be a "living wage," but rather a "survival wage" that would not allow for any savings. A study conducted in 1998 by Perbubas, the shoe workers union, determined through market studies done in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi (all areas where Nike produces) that a "living wage" would be 1300000Rp per month.

4. Are you ever forced to work overtime?
Yes. For most of the workers there is no written policy that overtime is mandatory, but if workers refuse to work overtime they are given a "letter of warning" by the factory manager. If you receive three letters of warning, you are dismissed. Most said that they absolutely need to work overtime because the basic minimum is not enough and they need the money. They also reported that workers in the "sewing sections" must sign a contract that obliges them to work mandatory overtime hours.

5. How often are you forced to work overtime? Hours?
It depends on the order and the section.

6. Do you get health insurance from Nike?
Yes, but it is not adequate and the system is inconsistent. From the worker’s accounts it would seem that the desire to reimburse workers for hospital stays or doctor visits is at the whim of the factory management. They also said that the 100000Rp healthcare allowance is not enough to meet basic healthcare needs for a year.

"Independent Monitoring"
When asked about the visits of independent monitors, workers reported the following:

- New masks are dispensed to all workers the day before the visit.
- The workers are told to clean up everything around the factory.
- The workers are all briefed on the Code of Conduct and told that they should study it and know it.
- They are told by managers to tell the monitors that they are completely happy with their employment situation. They said there is "No way to tell the truth."
- They also reported that managers translate any worker interviews with the monitors. None of the workers speak English, so they do not know what the managers are telling the monitors.

Personal
1. What is your name?
They were afraid to have their names reported for fear of retribution by factory management. There were five men and one woman.

2. How old are you?
Ages ranged from 21 – 25

3. What village are you from?
They were from villages in West and Central Java.

4. When you came here from your village, what did you bring?
They brought their "papers" (documentation of identity and high school diploma), clothes, and a small amount of money ranging from 9000-50000Rp.

5. What job could/ would you do if you weren’t working at the factory?
They would do "homework" sewing, carpentry, farming, or run a family business.

6. Why did you take this job?
One responded "To survive!" and they all agreed. They also all said that work at their old jobs is not steady.

7. When is the last time you saw your family?
They each see their families once a year at the Muslim holiday.

Expenses
1. How much money do you send home each month?
Cannot send any money home monthly. Just try to save money for the trip home during the Muslim holiday.

2. How much money do you have saved right now?
None of them had any money saved. One worker needed to take a loan of 5000Rp to eat the other day.

3. How much does it cost to travel to your village?
The average travel cost for the trip home to see their family is 50000Rp.

4. How much do you spend on food each day?
On average they spend 7000-10000Rp, if they have it available.

5. How many meals a day do you eat?
They try to eat 3 meals per day.

6. What do your meals consist of?
They eat rice and vegetables for every meal.

7. Can you afford to purchase clothing?
No. The only way they can purchase new clothing is on credit.

8. How much do you spend on housing?
On average they spend 80000Rp per month for rent. The one married couple in the group has not been able to pay their rent for two months.

9. How much do you spend on water and electricity?
Water and electricity are included in their rent.

10. Could you afford a doctor visit?
No. None of them had ever had a basic check-up, the woman, who is 22, had only been to the gynecologist once, and one of the six had ever been to a dentist.

11. If you broke your leg, contracted malaria, pneumonia, etc… what would happen?
Each said they would need to take a loan to pay for the doctor’s care.

Working Conditions
1. What are you making?
They are all involved in the manufacturing of Nike tennis shoes and baby sneakers.

2. What is your production quota during a slow/busy period?
High period = 2000 pieces per day / Low period = 1300 pieces per day

3. How many toilets are there in the factory? How many people are they for?
The number is different for different sections: 5 for 2000, 6 for 500, 9 for 1000, 3 for 350 (two are broken). They all said that there is not enough clean water for the toilets.

4. Do you work with chemicals? What kind?
Yes. One worker said he works with polyurethane. The woman worker said she uses R105, a glue compound. She went on to tell us that she was told to lie to independent monitors and say that she uses R107 because R105 is more harmful and is not supposed to be used.

5. Is protective equipment provided?
Yes, masks and respirators, but they are not very comfortable.

6. Are you afraid about what the chemicals might be doing to you?
Yes. They were all very afraid what the chemicals might be doing to their bodies. They said that the women who work in the factory are afraid that the chemicals might cause miscarriages.

7. Do you stand or sit while you work? Is your positioning comfortable?
Whether they sit or stand depends on the work they do. One worker reported that he stands from 7:30 – 4:30 and sometimes even longer with overtime hours.

8. Have you ever seen or heard about physical or verbal abuse?
They told us that if you make a mistake you might be publicly embarrassed. They reported that workers have been made to stand for hours in front of the rest of the workforce because of mistakes they have made.

9. What are 3 things you want to change at the factory? (Not including wage increases.)
They would like better protective equipment; they would like something done about the dangerously slippery floors; and they want the factory to begin using chemicals that aren’t harmful to them.

Compensation
1. How much money do you make each month?
Each said that they average 300,000Rp for basic monthly wage. This would not include transportation allowances or attendance bonuses.

We had a number of other questions to ask, but the workers were tired and had another meeting, so we ended the interview here.