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Workers Occupy Mexican Nike Factory The shoddy and exploitative nature of corporate globalisation has been brought into sharp relief once again by a labour dispute in the city of Atlixco de Puebla in Southern Mexico which has resulted in the occupation of a Nike plant by its workforce. Kukdong International is a Korean-owned Nike subsidiary which also operates plants in Indonesia and Brazil, and produces Nike apparel for export to universities in the United States. On Tuesday, 9 January, 800 workers went on strike at Kukdong International's Mexican plant and then proceeded to take control of their workplace. Their action has been inspired by a string of abuses by Kukdong International which included forced overtime, lack of remuneration for that overtime, extremely low pay, chronic physical and verbal abuse, serious health and safety violations, and inconsistent supply of protective clothing, lack of edible food in the canteen and health problems. At the Kukdong plant 14 to 16 year olds who were not legally required to work more than six hours a day have been forced to work up to ten. Workers have been paid around about AUD$50 for a 45 hour workweek (Many of the workers at the Kukdong Nike factory are either sole parents or sole income earners for their families, exacterbating the already extreme financial circumstances caused by such low wages). Many have complained of throat, nose and lung irritation and conjunctivitis. The company canteen has served rotten food to the workers, leading to numerous cases of diahorrea and serveral hospitalisations. Workers uniformly testify to the fact that the food in the canteen is consistently raw, rotten and/or infested with maggots. In response to these atrocious conditions the Kukdong workers have formed their own autonomous union, the Kukdong Workers' Coalition, and demanded that it be recognised by the bosses as the vehicle for negotiation of wages and conditions at the plant. The company refused to recognise the Kukdong Workers' Coalition and demanded that the workers remain with the union created behind closed doors by the company, with which it had negotiated its own "protection contract". The Kukdong workers have had no say in the drafting of this document and have been obliged to join the company union and accept this "protection" if they wanted to keep their jobs. The Kukdong workers struck and proceeded to occupy when a handful of workers who had lead rank and file protests within the plant against the food and low wages were fired, including one who had not long before won an "employee of the month" award. Their demands have been as follows: 1) That the company recognize the independent workers' organization, the KukDong Workers' Coalition, as the legitimate representative of the workers and agree to deal with them as such. 2) That Kukdong reinstate all illegally fired workers. 3) That Kukdong agree not to fire or take reprisals against anyone for having participated in the stoppage or other protests. Apart from refusing to take any responsibility for the situation, Nike's response to the occupation so far has been nil. The workers have suffered at least one raid from police in full riot gear and thugs from the company union, ordered by the provincial governor who is a member of the Party of Institutional Revolution and strongly allied with the company union. At least 15 Kukdong workers were hospitalised as a result of the attack. The strike action and occupation however continues and requires moral and material support, which those concerned at this situation can supply via the addresses listed below. International solidarity can and will defeat the neo-aristocrats of the corporate age. Put pressure on Nike and Kukdong International to recognise the KukDong Workers' Coalition: Philip H. Knight,
Vada Manager, public relations representative for Nike on these issues at: Kukdong International-Mexico, SA de CV
Fax: 011-52-244-610-24
E-mail: Kukdong@avante.net.mx
Send letters of solidarity (preferably in Spanish) to the workers:
Guidelines for letters to Nike and Kukdong:
Be sure to mention the workers' 3 demands:
State that you stand fully behind these demands. Mention that the factory's actions and failure to recognize the autonomous workers' organisation are in violation of Nike's code of conduct in addition to university codes of conduct and Mexican labor law. Mention your concern for the safety of the workers who face threats from riot police and union thugs. Let them know that you expect them to meet worker demands and NOT to cut and run.
Sources and further information:
http://www.indymedia.org
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