SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
An image of Phil Knight seen at the University of Oregon. (Photo: drburtoni/flickr/cc)
USA Today (4/26/16) featured what the paper promoted as a "rare interview" with Nike founder Phil Knight.
USA Today (4/26/16) featured what the paper promoted as a "rare interview" with Nike founder Phil Knight. He offers his opinion that "international trade agreements benefit both nations, always"--the paper doesn't correct him when he overstates US GDP growth since NAFTA by more than 300 percent--and his worry that the United States might be losing some of what's called "the entrepreneurial edge that propelled him and fueled Nike." Students he meets, Knight laments, seem "more pessimistic."
Billionaires whose wealth was built on the work of people in less developed countries making cents an hour in notoriously abusive conditions--practices only curtailed after years of activism, much of it by students the company did its best to ignore--well, their concerns about the pessimism of today's youth warrant a side-eye on any day.
But as it happens, Nike, which was for a moment if not a success story, at least an example of a company responding to sweatshop activism, was revealed just five years ago to be falling far short of the standards it set for itself in the furor of the 1990s--the period USA Today's Susan Page lets Knight pass off as "early missteps" about which, she tells us, he's "still sounding a bit aggrieved." ("We got a lot of negative press.") Just a few months ago, Nike announced that it will no longer allow its factories to be monitored by the Worker Rights Consortium, leading to outcry from United Students Against Sweatshops--a key player in pushing independent monitoring.
Noi Supalai worked for years in a Nike factory in Thailand; on her spring US speaking tour, she talked about what that's like: 16 hour or longer days, production deadlines such that workers had to take turns going home to shower, and then, when targets weren't hit, Nike barring the factory from paying them. They formed a union and set a meeting with Nike representatives, who never showed up. (Turns out they'd cut and run.) Supalai's story is easy to find in college papers. Just don't look for it in USA Today.
Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy, justice, and a free press are escalating — putting everything we stand for at risk. We believe a better world is possible, but we can’t get there without your support. Common Dreams stands apart. We answer only to you — our readers, activists, and changemakers — not to billionaires or corporations. Our independence allows us to cover the vital stories that others won’t, spotlighting movements for peace, equality, and human rights. Right now, our work faces unprecedented challenges. Misinformation is spreading, journalists are under attack, and financial pressures are mounting. As a reader-supported, nonprofit newsroom, your support is crucial to keep this journalism alive. Whatever you can give — $10, $25, or $100 — helps us stay strong and responsive when the world needs us most. Together, we’ll continue to build the independent, courageous journalism our movement relies on. Thank you for being part of this community. |
USA Today (4/26/16) featured what the paper promoted as a "rare interview" with Nike founder Phil Knight. He offers his opinion that "international trade agreements benefit both nations, always"--the paper doesn't correct him when he overstates US GDP growth since NAFTA by more than 300 percent--and his worry that the United States might be losing some of what's called "the entrepreneurial edge that propelled him and fueled Nike." Students he meets, Knight laments, seem "more pessimistic."
Billionaires whose wealth was built on the work of people in less developed countries making cents an hour in notoriously abusive conditions--practices only curtailed after years of activism, much of it by students the company did its best to ignore--well, their concerns about the pessimism of today's youth warrant a side-eye on any day.
But as it happens, Nike, which was for a moment if not a success story, at least an example of a company responding to sweatshop activism, was revealed just five years ago to be falling far short of the standards it set for itself in the furor of the 1990s--the period USA Today's Susan Page lets Knight pass off as "early missteps" about which, she tells us, he's "still sounding a bit aggrieved." ("We got a lot of negative press.") Just a few months ago, Nike announced that it will no longer allow its factories to be monitored by the Worker Rights Consortium, leading to outcry from United Students Against Sweatshops--a key player in pushing independent monitoring.
Noi Supalai worked for years in a Nike factory in Thailand; on her spring US speaking tour, she talked about what that's like: 16 hour or longer days, production deadlines such that workers had to take turns going home to shower, and then, when targets weren't hit, Nike barring the factory from paying them. They formed a union and set a meeting with Nike representatives, who never showed up. (Turns out they'd cut and run.) Supalai's story is easy to find in college papers. Just don't look for it in USA Today.
USA Today (4/26/16) featured what the paper promoted as a "rare interview" with Nike founder Phil Knight. He offers his opinion that "international trade agreements benefit both nations, always"--the paper doesn't correct him when he overstates US GDP growth since NAFTA by more than 300 percent--and his worry that the United States might be losing some of what's called "the entrepreneurial edge that propelled him and fueled Nike." Students he meets, Knight laments, seem "more pessimistic."
Billionaires whose wealth was built on the work of people in less developed countries making cents an hour in notoriously abusive conditions--practices only curtailed after years of activism, much of it by students the company did its best to ignore--well, their concerns about the pessimism of today's youth warrant a side-eye on any day.
But as it happens, Nike, which was for a moment if not a success story, at least an example of a company responding to sweatshop activism, was revealed just five years ago to be falling far short of the standards it set for itself in the furor of the 1990s--the period USA Today's Susan Page lets Knight pass off as "early missteps" about which, she tells us, he's "still sounding a bit aggrieved." ("We got a lot of negative press.") Just a few months ago, Nike announced that it will no longer allow its factories to be monitored by the Worker Rights Consortium, leading to outcry from United Students Against Sweatshops--a key player in pushing independent monitoring.
Noi Supalai worked for years in a Nike factory in Thailand; on her spring US speaking tour, she talked about what that's like: 16 hour or longer days, production deadlines such that workers had to take turns going home to shower, and then, when targets weren't hit, Nike barring the factory from paying them. They formed a union and set a meeting with Nike representatives, who never showed up. (Turns out they'd cut and run.) Supalai's story is easy to find in college papers. Just don't look for it in USA Today.