Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights

EARLY REPORTS ON NIKE DEMOS

April 18, 1998 [Note: All reports were subject to editing.]

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA:

Today, at 12:00, there was leafleting in front of the Footlocker at the Galleria mall here in Birmingham. This Footlocker is located well inside the mall on the second floor so First Amendments rights were scarce. Nevertheless we stretched the envelope as far as possible, though our forces were quite meager.

Approximately 150 fliers were distributed.

Within 10 minutes a Footlocker employee (who turned out to be the manager) asked what this was about and then went back into the store.

Within 10 more minutes the most pathetic looking, approximately 80-year old security guard made his way to me. The Footlocker manager was looking deeply disappointed when he saw the lack of valor in his knight of shining armor protector of his private property.

The guard asked what I was doing and I showed him the flier and explained that some Nike employees were only making pennies an hour. He said that what I described to him was very bad and he seemed genuinely disturbed to learn that human beings could be paid so low.

So, and I kid you not, he asked me whether I would please stand INSIDE the Footlocker store and hand out the fliers, rather than outside, so that I wouldn't disrupt other people in the mall. I told him that he and I were thinking just alike and proceeded to step INSIDE the store (quickly taking the opportunity to OBEY his instructions) to hand out the fliers!

The manager appeared very frustrated, and it took him several minutes to explain to the cop that this was not what he was requesting.

Finally, a younger policeman showed up and they asked me to stop handing out fliers in the mall.

The Footlocker manager offered to provide me with the telephone number for Nike corporate headquarters, so IN THE STORE I WENT AGAIN, following him, and leaving fliers with everyone I met. Now they were officially escorting me and making the distribution easier. What a bunch of nice guys!

Still.....this was not what they wanted either.

The manager had a paper in his notebook which was prepared to address just this kind of matter. It had Nike's number, which was 503-708-9057. I requested Footlocker's corporate number and he told me to call "Gil at their Western Hills Mall" store located just west of Birmingham. I told him to tell Gil that I was on my way over (which I wasn't since we had to get back to tornado relief efforts).

Although the activity in Birmingham was about as small as it could get and still be considered "activity", I think that Nike and Footlocker realize that the Nike workers and the CLR have some network of support here.

On the bright side.....everyone whom I expected to show up to leaflet, did show up.

The flier was endorsed by the Birmingham chapters of: Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Birmingham Reconstruction. Rank & File Project National Lawyers Guild.

Information about the April 18 solidarity actions went out to area activists via fax and e-mail.

My wife also handed out the flier today at "women and the law" class at UAB, and it was welcome information by students studying about international law.

Thank you for providing us the opportunity to participate in country-wide / worldwide Nike worker solidarity activities.

Steve O.

WASHINGTON, DC:

CNN covered our little action at the Georgetown Footlocker, or at least they filmed it and interviewed folks. We had about a dozen from Alliance for Global Justice, AFL-CIO, and Coop America.. I leafleted away from main group at Wisconsin & M intersection where about 300 took flyers. The interesting thing was that on 4 separate occasions people who had walked by me with their nose in the air turned around and came back after my words penetrated their shopping focused brains. Never had that happen before!

Chuck Kaufman

EUGENE, OREGON:

Eugene had about 50 people, very coalitional, with speakers raising issues of Nike (mostly and repeatedly) plus Han Young, NAFTA, MAI, Gardenburger/FLAV-R-PAC, Chiapas, environment and more. Held just outside a Pepsi Nike track invitational and thus highly visible.

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA:

I wanted to let you know that in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 12 of us distributed 1000 leaflets outside of a downtown Foot Locker store, which was located in a mall. Mall security quickly asked us to leave, and 2 of us refused. One was dragged to a security office, where he was detained for 105 minutes until the police came. I stayed in front of the Foot Locker, but did not hand out leaflets. Instead I stood around wearing 2 buttons (that we made ourselves) that said "Just Boycott Nike" and "Nike uses Sweatshops".

Security then asked me to leave as I was loitering. I told them I was waiting for additional people to show up, and that I would not move unless arrested. The Winnipeg Police then came and while I was explaining to them that I was not doing anything except standing in front of the store, the Winnipeg Sun (our daily paper) took a photo of me. After being threatened with arrest, I then left the mall, only to run into the rest of our gang. 6 of us, including me, then went back in until our other friend was released. All 7 of us were then escorted from the mall by the police and mall security. No charges were laid.

We also made the hour's top story on a popular radio station.

I am tickled pink with how things worked out. The excitement of resisting arrest is exhilarating! I didn't think so many people would take our leaflets (we used the ones included in the packet you sent me). The next step is a press release claiming that Nike is hiding behind mall security.

I will keep you posted. I will also send you some photos we took.

In Solidarity, John Bilyk

NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT:

When I arrived at the picket location, there was no one there. I noticed a group of youths hanging around a car as I was unloading a large sign that said: NIKE SWEAT SHOP PRODUCTS SOLD HERE - AT FOOT LOCKER. One came over and the next thing I knew there were 15 of us including two from an action group up in Willimantic. Some of them were members and friends of three bands that play locally. I had met them on the street one day when I was handing out some flyers. They said they would be there and there they were. With the three signs they made and the ones that were saved from the last protest we had just enough signs for everyone.

We were outside the Crystal Mall on a side walk and were very highly visible. Thousands of people saw us. It is a high traffic area just off I-95. A shoppers paradise and we were at the main entrance to the parking lot.

I did call the Foot Locker to be sure that they knew we were there. I plan to take a packet of information to them in the next few days.

George Klinck Clarke

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE:

8 arrested at N.H. mall protest against US firms By Emily Polk, Boston Globe 04/19/98

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Three women and five men were arrested at The Mall of New Hampshire yesterday while staging a protest against working conditions at the overseas factories of American corporations.

Those arrested were among a group of nearly 30 protesters who attempted to hand out leaflets in front of the Footlocker store at the mall yesterday morning. The demonstrators said they oppose alleged substandard working conditions at Nike, Disney, and JC Penney factories around the world.

The demonstration was part of a larger protest against Nike conducted in 45 cities in the United States, Canada, and Australia, said Arnie Alpert, one of the demonstration organizers, who was arrested yesterday.

''People have a right to have this information,'' said Alpert, coordinator of the New Hampshire branch of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization.

Those arrested are charged with criminal trespassing.

PORTLAND, OREGON:

The coalition Justice. Do It NIKE! held an exciting and high-energy rally in front of the Portland Nike Town. [ CLR note: the AP story reported that 200 people attended the Portland rally. ]

We are beginning to consider these events to be a full-employment program for the Portland police. While we gathered and organized a few blocks from Nike Town, two watched. When we arrived at Nike Town, the street was lined with cop cars and two were posted, arms folded, in front of the entrance.

More than a dozen of our people "infiltrated" the store before we arrived. On cue, they got the Swoosh-groupies attention by shaking rattles, then made a statement - or at least part of a statement before being escorted out.

We had two giant handmade puppets - about 12 feet high with one person carrying the body and two others manipulating the hands. One puppet was two-faced - Clinton on one side, Suharto on the other. The second puppet was our friend Phil Knight. Phil and Suharto blew kisses to each other and so on.

Besides the puppets and posters and chants and speeches, we also had a "prison" behind which images of Dita Sari and Muchtar Pakpahan stared out. Quite effective.

We did multiple on-the-spot radio and TV interviews, and an AP reporter interviewed a number of us.

Finally, we collected over $200 to send to unemployed Nike workers in Indonesia. I will continue collecting funds for a couple more weeks and then either someone will hand-carry the $ to Indonesia or we will wire it. In any event, it is our pledge that every penny collected will reach the Indonesians.

Max White

TORONTO, ONTARIO:

The event in Toronto went very well with over 100 people participating. Although the street theatre lacked rehearsal, it went pretty well and got some TV coverage. We'll send you a more complete report Monday or Tuesday on the Toronto action and actions in other [ Canadian ] cities.

Bob Jeffcott

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA:

Six of us dressed up as skunks, big bad wolves, rats, etc. and greeted the university administration Friday morning as they came to work. Signs read "NIKE Stinks!" and "STANFORD - JUST DON'T DO IT", referring to Stanford Athletics Department recent 4-year, $5 million dollar contract with Nike (like Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio State, etc.). We got some press - photo in San Jose Mercury News, stuff in the Stanford Daily - and got guarantees of meetings with the University Provost (who handles such things) and the Athletic Director (we visited him in his office, the lion talking with Mr. Skunk and Mr. Rat seemed fitting). This action was timed to coincide with the April 18th international actions, but it also marks the fifth action against Nike in the past year on campus - an impressive picketing of Phil Knight when he came to speak last spring, two leafletings of football games (including the 100th Big Game, where both Cal Berkeley and Stanford teams were for the first time in a century wearing NIKE gear, advertising the Swoosh), and a protest at the Nike booth at the campus Career Day last month. In addition, letters to the editors have appeared in the Campus paper and local Palo Alto papers.

As well as protesting labor exploitation, part of Stanford Ad-Hoc Committee on Nike's efforts involve making the link from Stanford to the situation in Indonesia and East Timor. Roughly 40% of Nike's shoes are made in Indonesia, which means NIKE supports the Suharto dictatorship, which is responsible for the genocide in East Timor. We have invited several people involved in that struggle over the past 6 months to speak to the community - Nina Maria (E. Timorese refugee and organizer in Australia), Matthew Jardine (author of East Timor: Genocide in Paradise), Andrean Neeham (the Londoner, plough-share activist who helped demobilize a Hawk fighter plane which British Aerospace was to ship to Indonesia), and the day before our Friday action, Constancio Pinto, the East Timorese student activist and author of East Timor's Unfinished Revolution.

Our hope is that we can force Stanford to break its contract with NIKE, and to use the issue to inform people about the Indonesia/East Timor situation, perhaps even opening an ETAN (East Timor Action Network) chapter on campus (ETAN has been wonderful in steering information and speakers our way). May we urge othe CLR-related groups to consider making similar connections?

Rush Rehm

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