On Jan. 9, 800 workers walked out of the factory in Mexico where they are employed. This factory, Kukdong, has a contract with Nike and makes sweatshirts for UNC, Indiana University and the universities of Michigan, Oregon and Arizona.
Their walk-out was a protest against low wages, rotten food in the cafeterias, failure to pay Christmas bonuses as mandated by Mexican law and the firing of five workers who were trying to form a union in response to these abuses.
The workers had simple demands of the Kukdong management: 1) recognize the independent union the workers were forming, 2) disregard the current management-appointed union that was not working for what's in the workers' best interests and 3) reinstate illegally fired workers.
The contract UNC formed with Nike concerning its code of conduct has clearly been violated. In a "preliminary" statement of findings, the Worker Rights Consortium, a factory watchdog of which UNC is a part, concluded that there are "strong grounds for concern that Kukdong may stand in violation of provisions of (University) codes of conduct governing child labor, physical and verbal abuse, payment of minimum or living wages, and free association."
In particular, the WRC delegation found compelling evidence, including an admission by Kukdong's general manager, that workers were hit by plant supervisors using hammers and screwdrivers, and that the factory employed workers under age 16.
Not only does Nike have a code of conduct that protects workers' from abuses like the ones that allegedly occurred at Kukdong, but UNC, though the Worker Rights Consortium, has a contract with Nike to ensure that the workers' rights are respected when Nike fails to do this.
Both pacts are being broken here. Nike has a responsibility to clean up the mess in its factory, yet is being slow to act. When this happens, UNC's leaders have a responsibility to pressure Nike. Chancellor James Moeser needs to speak out adamantly against this violation of contracts, demonstrating that our university will not allow these problems to continue in any aspect as it relates to UNC and its apparel.
I know many of you were not there on Wednesday because you don't necessarily see what the big deal is with unions anyway. Unions are simply a way for workers to band together to petition for change from their management.
But CEOs of clothing-making companies do not take them for granted. They recognize that these laws do not exist, or are not enforced in "developing" nations so they move their factories there to benefit from their lax labor codes. That way, they can cut corners to increase their profits.
