February 21, 2001

Disaster Of The Day
Nike admits to colluding to exploit workers in Indonesia
By Davide Dukcevich
Forbes.com

NEW YORK - In a report issued today by Nike, the athletic-apparel giant confessed to facilitating worker exploitation. But this sudden mea culpa, after years of dodging such accusations, smacks more of opportunism than benevolence.

The study uncovered the exchange of sexual favors for jobs—as well as other physical and verbal abuses—at factories in Indonesia that manufacture Nike (nyse: NKE - news - people) products. These are not practices that any brand wants to be associated with, especially an image-driven one like Nike. The Beaverton, Ore.-based company, whose spokesmen are sports deities like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, has been dogged for years by accusations of exploiting foreign labor. Today's report confirms those suspicions and outlines the measures the company intends to take to clean up its act.

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