GTFF hosts Nike garment workers, renames Hayward Field in their honor

On Thursday, May 29, the GTFF hosted garment workers from Indonesia. This was one stop of in the Fight the Heist Worker Action Tour, put on by Global Labor Justice and Asia Floor Wage Alliance. Workers sought to provide consumers a face of those that make Nike shoes and expose them to their pay conditions. In Eugene the outreach took place in front of Hayward Field while the OSAA State Track & Field Championships took place.

Supporters of the garment workers drew in passerby by asking them to take part in Nike trivia quiz. Asking questions such as “how much does a Nike garment worker make?” which many would guess too high. After taking part in the trivia they would introduce them to garment workers.

In Indonesia there are 273k workers that make Nike products at $1/hr, Sri Lanka has 27k making $0.53/hr, Cambodia has 57k making $1.18/hr, India has 43k making $0.66/hr, and Pakistan has 33k making $0.61/hr.

Leni Oktira Sari, a Nike garment worker and union membera at GSBI (Center of Indonesian Labor Struggle), says that during the beginning of the pandemic thousands of workers had their pay cut. Meanwhile, Phil Knight was making millions from Nike dividends, that helped pay for the construction of the rennovations to Hayward Field.

Organizers of the event closed it out with a rally for supporters. Collin Heatley, GTFF VP of External Relations, spoke about the interconnectedness of University labor and Nike garment workers. Here in Oregon, Nike co-founder Phil Knight has been a prolific funder of anti-revenue measures that defund higher education and K-12.

“We have a shared fight because capital is global, because Nike is a global corporation, and its tendrils are not limited to the United States,” Said Heatley. “They are not limited to Southeast Asia. These are interconnected fights by the very nature of global capital.”

Global Labor Justice, is an American organization that supports worker organizing efforts in the global south. Noah Dobin-Bernstein, who works with the organization said that the UO is an important place, because to get better wages for garment workers they need to be in places Nike cares about. Dobin-Bernstein pointed to the multiple buildings bearing the name of Knight and Nike products being so prevalent across campus.

“This is breaking all of the rules of how global supply chains work. Nike set up its corporate structure to make sure workers would not have access to the places it cares about. Here they are anyway, and that’s a tremendous act of bravery on their part, but it’s also a tremendously powerful moment for them to do it with allies here in Eugene,” said Dobin-Bernstein.

Workers closed out the rally by announcing they are renaming Hayward Field as Hidup Buruh, which means long live the workers.