Have you ever wondered what it is like to live on a Nike sweatshop wage? Watch the award-winning short film, Behind the Swoosh, and see Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu attempt to survive on a Nike worker’s wage in the industrial slums of Indonesia.
Suggested By: 4tops
gg i
meou
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minecraft
That pock faced pos should be in prison for taking advantage of starving people in indonesia.What a scum.
how can I do my individual work on my kindle fire hdx tablet. It wont let me.
pour water over it and it should work now
If you advocate slavery; the least you could do is look after them properly; having a basic modicom of acceptable human rights would be a start. Complaining about ‘yanks butting their nose in’!? So a yank company to coming and pretty much enslave a nation isn’t butting their nose in; but an individual documenting about it is? Boycott anything that sources from sweatshops; and buy Fairtrade Produce from Indonesia instead if you actually want to put food on people’s tables rather than contribute to an economic climate that keeps them struggling for survival and rights. That is if you actually care rather than just using that as a pathetic; lame argument to defend quasi-slavery. The only way the Fair Trade industry can thrive and grow is if people buy from it; so go and spend that $100 you were going to spend on a Sweatshoe (only a few dollars of that went to the workers anyway) on fair trade products instead from something like FairtradeIndonesia (and get your shoes fairtrade too from AmnestyShop or Fairtrade USA). Otherwise the situation will never change. There are people who are actually trying to change conditions for the workers out there; and singing praises of companies like Nike as being ‘saviours’ because they are providing jobs isn’t really helping; when theres plenty of other better paid jobs in Indonesia that you could be supporting the companies of.
Typical meddling yanks! Indonesia without Nike’s involvement would have more un employment and way more crime, these people didn’t ask for these idiots to look into their lives like most yanks they just butted their noses in. MJ earns what he does because of his contribution back to society through sports as does Tiger Woods. Indonesia is a corrupt country without Nike involving themselves. Take your religion and see what that has caused throughout the world over our history…WAR…WAR and more WAR, the pollution is part of what the government of Indonesia should be taking care of not Nike, their is exploitation in any job you take on, whether you get you bonus or not dependant on the companies earnings throughout the year etc…
It seems that the only contributor to the comments who has the slightest idea what he’s talking about is Slentik. There’s no basis of comparison in this documentary as to the living conditions or wages of say a laborer or shop worker in a similar area. It’s easy to show a Western audience film of open sewers and continually mention $1.25 a day and get the reaction your looking for.
Also,you don’t “Live” somewhere for a month. That’s called visiting and unless Jim or Leslie speak Malay, then their ‘visit’ and interaction with the workers is even more superficial.
I’ve “lived” in Nicaragua for 12 years where Nike have factories and nothing hurts the people more than when a contract doesn’t get renewed and there’s 430 families unable to pay the bills.
Buy the shoes and wear the shirts. Your putting food on tables. Just do it !
giving prostitutes
Well, he does have a point when he says, “This is capitalism.” It is just time for us to finally understand that capitalism simply doesn’t rhyme with even the least of universally humanistic values. Capitalism is the worst thing ever invented by mankind. It will be the prime cause of the extinction of the human species. It promotes and encourages cruelty and it favours the unscrupulous. Its sales pitch is that it is “freedom to do business and put any product you wish on the market”, but it justifies all kinds of uneccaptable behaviours as long as those behaviours result in higher profits. Alternatives must be sought, the sooner the better.
Never buy nike´s product… that`s it… you know that you don`t need his shit to live.
The problem with these countries is that the governmnet often does tax breaks and encourages these big firms to come and establish there. I would be concerned that if there was a significant increase in wages there would be a domino effect on inflation – it would not be immediate, but down the track the workers would lose the benefit of the pay increase and their buying power, and other people within the community will be even worse off again. Also, interestingly, recently Nike has been voted one of the most ethical (top 100) MNCs in the world – their implementation of CSR within their business model got them this place. I know a lot has changed with their factories recently and this needs to be taken into consideration before judging a company like this.
Some things have gotten better and it is good for these large companies to give pople work but treat them right with betterer pay, better living conditions etc.
They’re obviously idealists and they seem to believe what they say, but they were in no way living ‘like Indonesians’. Naturally the conditions were unbearable to a middle class American couple. For working class Indonesians, the conditions are good. Yes, the hours are long, but the productivity is low, with breaks for prayers which workers in other countries don’t enjoy. Those girls earn enough to enjoy a better standard of living than the villages they come from, eat out once a month at what they consider to be a fancy restaurant (MacD’s) and they send money back to their families. If the unions get into the factory demanding better conditions, the whole industry will be closed and those workers will be unemployed (as happened a few years previously to the garment industry in Bandung). I know this because I worked in Jakarta for a few years, including some time in a shoe factory in Tanggerang.
The real issue revealed by this doco is the pollution caused by the factory not properly disposing of its waste. I think those Americans should have concentrated in that instead of bitching about how hot and humid it was while they sat in the direct sunlight (something no Indonesian would willingly do – no wonder they got sick).
They’re obviously idealists and they seem to believe what they say, but they were in no way living ‘like Indonesians’. Naturally the conditions were unbearable to a middle class American couple. For working class Indonesians, the conditions are good. Yes, the hours are long, but the productivity is low, with breaks for prayers which workers in other countries don’t enjoy. Those girls earn enough to enjoy a better standard of living than the villages they come from, eat out once a month at what they consider to be a fancy restaurant (MacD’s) and they send money back to their families. If the unions get into the factory demanding better conditions, the whole industry will be closed and those workers will be unemployed (as happened a few years previously to the garment industry in Bandung). I know this because I worked in Jakarta for a few years, including some time in a shoe factory in Tanggerang.
The real issue revealed by this doco is the pollution caused by the factory not properly disposing of its waste. I think those Americans should have concentrated in that instead of bitching about how hot and humid it was while they sat in the direct sunlight (something no Indonesian would willingly do – no wonder they got sick).
The American way is not about Democracy. It’s about Capitalism, Greed and exploitation. Hence the Occupy movement as Americans wake up to their foolishness. The workers are paid the lowest wage they will accept and the customers are charged the highest price they will pay.
e.e. An Apple computer costs about twice as much as it’s competitor mainly because it has a brand name. And stupid people are addicted to buying brands mostly so they can look good.
The American way is about fighting your way to the top at the expense of all else even, in some cases, your friends. When an American says “Have a nice day” I’m not sure he/she really means it.
BTW my nephew in Indonesia earns $150 a month working for Macdonalds which is equivalent to about $750 as the cost of living is about 1/fifth to 1/tenth of the cost of living in the west for a very modest lifestyle in Indonesia. It’s a pretty good wage and he is the top earner in his family.
Western lower classes are finding it difficult to find work as they are far too expensive to employ. esp. in America. And now America is imploding in all it’s dept.
If Nike is doing this to succeed in the business world …..what about reebok , new balance , adidas and so on . Who or where are the sacrifices being made to compete with Nike .
Wow, what an amazing doc. Loved the Rage Against The Machine sound track. Knight is a pig. I’ll never buy Nike again
It’s devestating on how these people suffer so much, and their the hard workers.
It’s devestating on how these people suffer so much, and their the hard workers.
it would be funny if i cared
Well there are two sides to every story there are people who think that the Indonesian Nike work force is being mistreated, but maybe some of the people working in Indonesia are extremely happy to have such a job.
Did you not just watch the video? They’re in no way happy about their job, being payed $1.25 for 16 hours of work a day and barely having enough money to survive, they just have no other choice. That’s probably the highest paying job there and it’s peanuts, and when they try to speak out against it they get threatened. It’s sickening seeing that bastard Phil Knight completely disregard what they were trying to tell him and then to see him glorified on Oprah a few days ago, what a hypocrite she is. It’s so easy for people in America to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing and keep buying products like this, but I don’t see how anyone who really knows what’s going on can continue to ignore the injustice of this whole situation. If this does not affect a person who sees this they have absolutely no compassion.
look on the bright side without sweatshops theres more prostitution!
im indian and this is really offensive
how does that effect you? you’re Indian this is Indonesian
what is offensive?
what is offensive?
what is offensive?
yaa those little indians can make my shoes i dont give a fuck about some scruby ass mother fuckers who the hell lives in indonesia
whats ur guys problem…
… get a life no swearing
the movie is fucking gay…. its a stupid fucking piece of shit. fuck the indians who gives a god damn piece of shit u fucking ass clowns. there all fucking ass beads. anyone who agrees with this shit are fucking retarded pieces of fuck.
Grow the fuck up. Would you allow your children to do this. I am not a fucking idiot!. My husband is an American Indian. The people in this documentary are Humans!!!
thats alot of fuck
Excellent information. You can be sure that I will pass this on to others that can make a difference, and get the word out!
I thought this documentary was very interesting but also really sad that Indonesian workers are being treated this way. Thanks for making this video so that other people can also hear about this injustice.