In America, Nike's owners see the abuse much differently. In front of hundreds of shareholders, after announcing record earnings and another stock split, Nike's president and CEO, Phil Knight minimized the problems in Asia as simply an incident in which a single worker was hit over the head by a supervisor. Nike spokesperson Jim Small, while knowing that the conditions in the sixteen Indonesian plants are not ideal, said, "The bottom line is: Do we abuse our workers? Absolutely not." (Levy, "Working conditions protested at the opening of a new store). Roberta Baskin of CBS News commented that, "It turns out Nike has a great deal to learn about what goes on inside these factories." (The Nike Story in Vietnam, Internet). There are laws that protect the workers in Indonesia from on-the-job injuries with compensation money. However, there was a woman who lost some fingers, which had been crushed in a machine at a Nike factory. The total compensation that the worker was paid was only $25 because she had an injury, which made her no longer employable (Interview with Max White, Internet).
Nike spends between $250-$280 million dollars a year on athletic endorsements. Nike's total annual payroll at six Indonesian factories is less than what Nike pays superstar Michael Jordan per year. A pair of Nike's top-of the-line running shoe, the Air Max shoe retails for $140. Nike admits that the direct labor cost to produce the shoe is about $3.50, which doesn't account for Nike's marketing or distribution costs.
It is not that Nike can't afford to pay it's workers more, they just don't choose to. It is just recently that the public found out and began to pressure Nike to raise wages. Wages have gone up a little bit, but not good enough for the leading sports shoe manufacturer. Nike can still do a lot better.
Nike is being used as a pressure point for the cheap labor scam that is taking place in the Third World Countries today. Nike is also by far the most popular brand of shoes and apparel company in it's industry. This is why the consumers are hoping to help Nike change it's policies. Nike has already suffered greatly from many consumers because of their approach and methods of making their products. This will hopefully make an impact and Nike will lead the way to rid the world of cheap labor.