Nike Sweatshops Behind The Swoosh Essay

After viewing “Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh” I gained a new perspective on the company that is loved by so many, including myself. My whole life I have worn Nike and never put much thought into where the product was coming from. After watching this documentary I find it disturbing how little Nike cares about their employees’ wellbeing, as well as the wellbeing of the other members of that community that are suffering from the lack of effort by the company. In my opinion, when it comes to cases of offshore outsourcing, multi-national companies like Nike do have an ethical responsibility to ensure basic workers’ rights are protected. Everyone, no matter what social class they are, what country they live in, etc., deserves to have their basic rights protected. These workers are helping Nike to gain extreme profit …show more content…
A couple things that can be done at the micro-level include Nike implementing policies that would require everyone that is doing the same job no matter where they are located, United States, Indonesia, China, etc., to receive equivalent wages in their countries. Secondly, Nike should focus on work place safety as well as the environmental influences that they are having, for example eliminate burning shoes in areas where children play. If Nike takes these steps to improve their company, a chain reaction can begin at the macro level. At the macro-level a minimum wage for workers, such as the one we have in the United States, could be set. If other countries had a wage requirement, then companies wouldn’t resort to outsourcing because they wouldn’t be saving money on cheap labor. Another thing that can be done at the macro-level is global workplace safety standards. If safety standards were the same or at least similar around the globe, we wouldn’t have to compromise on the health and safety of workers and communities in these foreign