Nike: Can’t stop abuse of high-top workers

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Handout art for Jessica Sedgwick's plaid Shopping story: Converse Wool Plaid Hi-tops for men, $29.99 (originally $85) at Urban Outfitters.

Updated: July 20, 2011 5:19PM

SUKABUMI, Indonesia — Workers who make Converse sneakers in Indonesia say supervisors throw shoes at them, slap them and call them dogs and pigs. Nike, the brand’s owner, acknowledges such abuses have occurred among contractors that make its hip high-tops, but the company say there is little it can do to stop it.

Dozens of workers interviewed and a document released by Nike show the company has far to go to meet the standards it set a decade ago to end its reliance on sweatshop labor.

Nike says nearly two-thirds of the factories that make Converse products fail to meet standards for contract manufacturers, but the company insists it cannot address many of the problems because many factories operate under contracts set before Nike bought Converse in 2003. But a worker at Pou Chen Group factory in Sukabumi — which didn’t start making Converse products until after Nike bought Converse — said she was kicked by a supervisor after making a mistake while cutting rubber for soles. “We’re powerless,” she said. “Our only choice is to stay and suffer, or speak out and be fired.” AP