As one of the world’s largest athletic brand, Nike faces great criticism in regards to their use of labor sweatshops in Asia. The public was astounded by the allegations of physical and verbal abuse taking place in Nike’s sweatshops. It was found that up to 50% of the factories limited their employees’ bathroom and water usage. Employees were forced to work over sixty hours each week and were punished if they refused to work overtime. In these sweatshops, women are much underpaid, hardly enough to cover their basic living. Workers have claimed to be both verbally and physically abused by their employers. Although the use of sweatshops in Asia reduce production costs and enable companies to rake in a much greater revenue, the importance of morals and ethics still come into play. Being such a popular and well known brand, Nike has an image to uphold. Though Nike claims to put effort into resolving these issues of abuse among their factories, some are skeptical as to how dedicated Nike really is to put an end to the horrendous working conditions of their Asian factories.
Sources:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/apr/14/ethicalbusiness.money
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