A note on Nike’s wages, labor exploitation and profits in the garment industry

  1. Jose A. Martinez 1
  1. 1 Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
    info

    Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena

    Cartagena, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02k5kx966

Revista:
International Journal of Education and Social Science Research

ISSN: 2581-5148

Any de publicació: 2018

Volum: 1

Número: 6

Pàgines: 43-50

Tipus: Article

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Altres publicacions en: International Journal of Education and Social Science Research

Resum

The garment industry is notorious for the endemic problem of labor exploitation We conducted an analysis of the average wages reported by Nike in 2001 and in its financial statements, showing that the brand could have doubled or tripled the wages of workers while maintaining a high net income. This is a paradigmatic case for the sector, and a unique opportunity to prove that paying a decent living wage is possible without suffering losses. To our knowledge, no other leading brand of the garment industry has published a detailed report on the wages of its workers. Even Nike decided not to do so again after the publication of its 2001 report. Consequently, the findings of our study have important implications for those who continue to demand that textile companies improve the labor conditions of their workers.