For project participants, Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu, the desire to establish living wages for Nike's Indonesian workers is grounded in their commitment to what is called Catholic Social Teaching.

Although they recognize that one does not need to be Catholic to understand the need for a living wage, they believe this body of teaching gives universal grounding to the need for a living wage.

A living wage "is the concrete means of verifying the justice of the whole socioeconomic system and, in any case, of checking that it is functioning justly." (Pope John Paul II, On Human Work)

"Every effort must therefore be made that fathers (or mothers) of families receive a sufficient wage adequate to meet ordinary domestic needs. If in the present state of society this is not always feasible, social justice demands that reforms be introduced without delay which guarantee every adult workingman (woman) just such a wage." (Pope Pius XI, Quadresimo Anno)

"A workman's (woman's) wages should be sufficient to enable him (her) to support himself (herself), and his (her) wife (husband) and his (her) children. "If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman (woman) accepts harder conditions because and employer or contractor will afford no better, he (she) is made the victim of force and injustice." (Pope John Paul II, Centesimus Annus)

What is a living wage?
A living wage provides for the basic needs (housing, energy, nutrition, clothing, health care, education, potable water, childcare, transportation and savings) of an average family. By providing for these needs, it offers the possibility of a life with basic human dignity.

How do you calculate a living wage?
There are many competing "living wage formulas" that are available today. The goal of this project is to flesh out these theoretical formulas. To make it real! We are going to take the amount of money that a Nike worker earns each week and see if it is adequate to cover our basic living expenses (housing, energy, nutrition, clothing, health care, education, potable water, childcare, transportation and savings). Each of us knows whether or not the pay we receive from our job is enough to pay the bills and allow us to feel fully human. If it doesn't, it is not a living wage. It is that simple.