Nike Publishes List of Global Contract Factories in Push for Greater Transparency and Collaboration to Improve Footwear and Appa
13 April 2005 - 12:25PM
PR Newswire (US)
Nike Publishes List of Global Contract Factories in Push for
Greater Transparency and Collaboration to Improve Footwear and
Apparel Industry Labor Conditions Move Coincides with Release of
Company's Second Corporate Responsibility Report Highlighting
Programs, Progress and Challenges Around Contract Factories,
Employees, Environment and Community Investment BEAVERTON, Ore.,
April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a move toward greater
industry transparency and collaboration, Nike, Inc. today
voluntarily disclosed, in conjunction with the release of its new
corporate responsibility report, the names and locations of the
more than 700 active contract factories currently making
Nike-branded products worldwide. Both the contract factory list and
the report are publicly available on the company's website,
http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990818/NIKELOGO ) Nike
becomes the first major company in the global footwear and apparel
industries to disclose publicly its contract supplier base. This
level of transparency is something trade unions and
non-governmental organizations have been asking of many major
companies to bring greater visibility to industry-wide conditions
and to support collaborative efforts to resolve systemic labor,
health and safety challenges in contract factories. Nike's
rationale for deciding to disclose its contract factory base is
that the potential benefits to the industry and factory workers
significantly outweigh the possible competitive risks of revealing
the contract factories that produce the company's Nike-branded
products. "We hope that full disclosure, if also followed by other
companies, will lead to more sharing of industry monitoring and
resources for factory monitoring and remediation, where legal,"
said Hannah Jones, Nike's vice president of corporate
responsibility. "The current system has to evolve fundamentally to
create broad, sustainable change for factory workers. The goal is
for greater transparency and collaboration to help everyone devote
more time to promoting the remediation of compliance issues by
factories rather than just uncovering them." Nike's new corporate
responsibility report is its first since October 2001. In October
2002, the company decided to stop reporting its efforts while
petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the Kasky v. Nike First
Amendment case. The case was settled in September 2003. "We've been
fairly quiet for the past three years in corporate responsibility
because of the Kasky lawsuit, but our public silence should not be
interpreted as a sign of inaction," said Nike Founder and Chairman
Philip H. Knight. "We've been hard at work, so we're using this
report to play a little catch-up and draw a more complete picture
of where we're at. It makes for a long report, but I urge you to
read it from cover to cover to see the progress we've made and the
challenges and opportunities that remain." The 108-page report
provides a comprehensive review of Nike's corporate responsibility
priorities, programs, progress and challenges. Areas covered
include contract factory labor conditions, the company's employee
benefits and diversity programs, environmental initiatives and
community investment. The report, which primarily covers Nike's
activities in its 2004 fiscal year (June 1, 2003 - May 31, 2004),
relies heavily on the guidelines issued by the Global Reporting
Initiative. Report Review Committee For advice in preparing the
report, Nike invited experts from the trade union, NGO, academic,
investor and business communities, acting in their capacities as
individuals, to serve on a Report Review Committee. Chaired by
Ceres, a coalition of investment funds, environmental organizations
and public interest groups, the committee provided feedback that
helped establish the scope, coverage and focus for the company's
report. The committee's unedited comments on the content of the
report and the reporting process are included in the report. The
Committee's statement says in part, "We recognize Nike for this
candid and comprehensive report ... The report's candor on the
significant challenges of addressing labor standards within its
global supply chain is welcome, and may facilitate discussion on
how to tackle these challenges. While noting that monitoring is not
a sufficient or long-term solution to raising labor standards, the
report presents Nike's extensive and evolving efforts to manage
monitoring, integrate compliance into its business strategy through
the Balanced Scorecard, and pursue multi-stakeholder initiatives
that could lead to more systemic industry-wide improvements." The
Review Committee also provided some recommendations for further
improvements in reporting. The committee encouraged Nike to report
its progress as it integrates corporate responsibility into the
business, expand coverage of the report to include the performance
of subsidiaries and improve data collection and information
management systems. Commenting on the review process, Jones said:
"Working with an external corporate responsibility report review
committee accelerated our learning process, and we are deeply
appreciative of their time and contributions to this report. While
we've been quiet, we've been busy since our last report, and the
breadth and depth of this report reflects that. Reporting is
essential to driving continuous improvement. We now need common
reporting standards so stakeholders can compare companies within
and across industries." Report Highlights The report highlights
include: * A summary of the company's in-depth audits conducted in
Nike-branded contract factories in FY03 and FY04 that highlight
four ongoing noncompliance challenges: hours of work, freedom of
association, wages and harassment. * A review of the company's
environmental programs, including its progress in reducing the
quantity of volatile organic compounds used in making footwear;
reducing CO2 emissions from owned facilities and business travel;
eliminating PVC from its products; and recycling old shoes and
factory waste. * An outline of the programs Nike has implemented to
help it become an "employer of choice" and make diversity a
competitive advantage. * An overview of Nike's total FY04 community
investment of $37.3 million in cash, product and in-kind services
to community and nonprofit organizations around the world. "Going
forward, our challenge is to integrate corporate responsibility
more fully into our decision-making process in order to effect
positive change," Jones said. "We've learned we need to focus less
on activity and more on strategic impact that will bring about
company and industry innovations that create long-term value for
our business, and ultimately on communities and the environment."
About Nike NIKE, Inc., based in Beaverton, Oregon is the world's
leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic
footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of
sports and fitness activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries
include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes
athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc.,
a leading designer and distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan,
a leading designer and marketer of luxury shoes, handbags,
accessories and coats; Hurley International LLC, which designs,
markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear,
apparel and accessories; and Exeter Brands Group LLC, which designs
and markets athletic footwear and apparel for the value retail
channel. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990818/NIKELOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Nike, Inc. CONTACT: Lee
Weinstein of Nike, Inc., +1-503-671-3080, or Web site:
http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/ Web site:
http://www.nikebiz.com/
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