Nike Releases Locations, Names of 42 College Apparel Factories

Nike Inc., in response to pressure from student organizations across the country, has disclosed the locations of more than 40 factories that produce college apparel.

The move has encouraged Harvard's student activists, who hope the University's clothing manufacturers will follow suit.

Fearing human rights violations in so-called "sweatshops," students from five universities that employ Nike to supply their clothing--Duke, Georgetown, and the Universities of Arizona, Michigan at Ann Arbor and North Carolina at Chapel Hill--succeeded last week in convincing the company to divulge the names and addresses of 42 of its factories. The list includes firms located both in the U.S. and abroad.

Many of the student activists now plan to visit the factories to ensure that working conditions are satisfactory.

Although Nike does not supply Harvard's apparel, the Harvard-based Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) has sought similar goals in recent months.

In the spring, responding to students' demands, the University affirmed that it would urge its manufacturing licensees, among them Champion, to release the locations of their manufacturing plants. The companies, however, have yet to do so.

Although Nike's disclosure does not apply directly to Harvard, PSLM member Benjamin L McKean '02 said the decision is a step in the right direction.

"Hopefully, now it will be easier for Harvard to push its own licensees to release the locations of their factories," he said.

Still, Erik A. Beach '02, another member of PSLM, said even Nike has not been totally forthcoming on the issue.

"Nike did not disclose any information about factories in Indonesia, and many of the ones that were disclosed are in the U.S., even though most of the abuses occur overseas," said Beach, noting that the 42 locations are only a fraction of Nike's hundreds of factories.

According to Allan A. Ryan Jr., a University attorney, full disclosure is a goal that Harvard shares with its students.

Ryan said he has been negotiating with Harvard's licensees to achieve this objective ever since University President Neil L. Rudenstine announced an official anti-sweatshop policy last spring.

"The challenge is how do we influence a manufacturing process we are unfamiliar with," Ryan said. "[The difficulty is] we only deal with the licensees, not directly with the factories."