Run-Down Forums

[Dan]

From Runner's World online:

"Nike is now Vietnam's largest employer, with 42,000 workers in five factories manufacturing shoes and clothing. Employee turnover is very low, fewer than one in 200 per year, maybe because the $53 per month pay of the typical Nike worker is about twice the salary of the average government official."

And how does that fit with the bandwagon people's sweatshop accusations???

Dan

[Guest]

the real question should be: is the % of a vietnamese government official's real income that comes from bribes and 'campaign contributions' greater or less than that of his/her US counterpart?



[Anonymously Posted by: 'magpie']

[Dan]

Now that's a quality research project! Just think, if government officials double their income under the table, they could proclaim themselves as wealthy as the factory workers...

Dan

[Guest]

I'm guessing that "salary" is the operative word here . . . heh heh

[Anonymously Posted by: 'magpie']

[Guest]

something rather interesting and revealing . . . an actual first-hand account:

http://www.boulderweekly.com/archive/060100/coverstory.html

[Anonymously Posted by: 'magpie']

[Dan]

Thanks for passing that along. My first rule of thumb is to never trust anything you read on the net unless you know the source... Still, it goes along with what I've said all along. Nike's labor practices may not be pretty, but anyone who makes them the poster child for sweatshop labor is every bit as hypocritical and undeserving of sympathy. Nike may be big in the athletic market, but I doubt they're the dominant player when it comes to general Asian employment. It's naive to think they can right everyone else's wrongs, even if they wanted to.

Dan

[Guest]

good points. i'd like to point out, however, that the boulder weekly is actually a print media source first (and a highly credible one, at that) with a website to mirror their publication.

[Anonymously Posted by: 'magpie']

[Guest]

er, and "I doubt they're the dominant player when it comes to general Asian employment" doesn't exactly jive with the headline/article which you initiated this thread with, fyi.

[Anonymously Posted by: 'magpie']

[Dan]

Hmm, both good points. However, I don't know where Vietnam ranks in terms of overall Asian labor force. I would guess some combination of Indonesia, China, Korea, Taiwan, and possibly India and Japan would dwarf them.

Dan