Project: Essay on Bury the Chains-Working conditions during slavery vs. Working conditions in present day
Citation: Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. “Indonesian Workers in Nike Plants List Abuses.” The
Date: 2/20/08
What Strikes Me Most:
This article was very interesting to me as I read it. I had heard about the different claims being made against Nike because of working conditions, but I was unaware of the specific actions that have been taking place in the factories. In present day, it is hard to believe that verbal, physical, and sexual assault is still occurring within the work place. What is harder to believe is that the treatment of the workers is extremely similar to that of the slaves who were working on plantations and mills. Just like the Nike workers, slaves were being verbally and physically abused daily and many women encountered sexual assaults as well. It’s shocking to see the same awful behaviors continuing over such a widespread time frame. One would think that we could learn from history, but apparently we haven’t. I wonder if we are choosing not to learn because of our reliance on the products being produced in these industries as opposed to simply not recognizing inappropriate behaviors within different workforces. I’d be curious to see how many Nike factories are still engaging in these behaviors. In addition, I’d be curious to see if people recognize these problems within the workforce, but still don’t do anything because of economical reliance and benefits.
Source Notes:
3 types of abuse in the workforce
-physical
-verbal
-sexual
30% subjected to verbal abuse
8% received unwelcome sexual comments
3.3% physically abused
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