Walk in My Shoes: Nike’s Sweatshops (A Culture Jamming … — Transcript

A documentary exploring the harsh realities of Nike factory workers in Indonesia through immersive living and wage challenges.

Key Takeaways

Nike factory workers in Indonesia live on extremely low wages, around $1.25 per day.
Living on these wages leads to severe physical hardship, including hunger and exhaustion.
There is a stark contrast between Nike's investment in sports technology and the neglect of worker welfare.
Firsthand experience and immersive journalism can powerfully highlight labor abuses.
Corporate executives are challenged to witness and address the realities faced by their workers.

Summary

The video documents a month-long experiment living as Nike factory workers in Tangerang, Indonesia, on $1.25 a day.
It highlights the difficult living conditions in workers' slums outside Jakarta.
The film contrasts Nike's advanced sports research and product innovation with accusations of low wages and poor factory conditions.
Former American soccer pro Jim Keaney shares his experience of weight loss and exhaustion during the experiment.
The documentary includes a discussion in Sydney studio with Jim Keaney about his month living on factory wages.
There is an invitation to a Nike executive to experience the workers' living conditions firsthand.
The video uses culture jamming techniques to raise awareness about labor rights and corporate responsibility.
It critiques Nike's treatment of workers despite its global brand success and technological advancements.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

You [Music]. We plopped down in Tangerang, Indonesia, this industrial suburb outside of the capital, Jakarta, with the plans that for the next month we were going to live as Nike's factory workers lived, which meant that we were going to go live in a workers' slum outside of the capital. We were going to live on the workers' wages, a dollar 1.25 a day for the next month, trying to come maybe to a better understanding of what it's like for Nike factory workers.

Speaker A

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]. From day one, runners have taken their sport rather seriously. Once things got a little better organized, people started taking notes, analyzing how they ran and how they could run even faster. Today at Nike, we know even more. We developed one

Speaker A

of the most sophisticated sport research labs in the world to let us see in detail the peculiarities of style, the dynamics of foot strike, and at Nike, we're putting that knowledge to work making shoes that actually help athletes

Speaker A

to run faster and safer. Why do we go to so much trouble? Well, it may be the 20th century, but there are still people out there as if their life depended on it. Labor activists are accusing sportswear manufacturer Nike of encouraging low

Speaker A

wages and inhumane conditions at its factories in Indonesia. Former American soccer pro Jim Keaney has spent a month living in a Jakarta slum trying to survive on funds he says are equivalent to the average local Nike workers' wages.

Speaker A

Jim Keaney joins me in our Sydney studio. Jim, thanks for your time.

Speaker A

Thank you for having me. And how long were you doing that for?

Speaker A

One month. And how did you go? I lost about 25 pounds and was hungry,

Speaker A

tired to the point of exhaustion nearly every day. Where, Beth, were you living?

Speaker A

Jim, in Tangerang, which is an industrial suburb outside of Jakarta. I invite you to come to Tangerang, Indonesia, with me. I would be more than willing to go back

Speaker A

for another month and to live on the wages of the factory workers and have a Nike executive live with me on those wages, and then we'll see at the end of the month if their tune doesn't change about how Nike

Speaker A

treats their workers in Indonesia. I got a little gift for you because I also come bearing gifts whenever I get to meet a CEO, which I ain't that long. Take somebody good. All right, this is a good one. You'll like this one.

Speaker A

I've got here two tickets, one in my name and one in your name, for you and I to go to Indonesia together. All right, and you show me those factories, you explain this to me. All right, I'll show you later on Sunday.

Speaker A

Huh? Not a chance. No, no, but they're transferable. I can change it to another day. No, I'll tell you, sir, sir, look at this, Michael Moore. I got it right here in your name here, and no, no, don't do this.

Speaker A

You and me on Singapore Airlines. I'm not—I'm not going. Good airline, that's a great airline. We get on our air, shake this deal. All right, all right. No, then you've been there, you've never—oh, you've got to go off and

Topics:NikesweatshopsIndonesiafactory workerslow wageslabor rightsculture jammingdocumentaryJim Keaneyworker conditions

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the purpose of living on $1.25 a day in Tangerang?

The purpose was to understand the daily realities and hardships faced by Nike factory workers by living on their wages and in their conditions for a month.

Who is Jim Keaney and what did he experience during the experiment?

Jim Keaney is a former American soccer professional who spent a month living in a Jakarta slum on wages equivalent to Nike factory workers, losing 25 pounds and experiencing hunger and exhaustion.

What contrast does the documentary highlight about Nike?

The documentary contrasts Nike’s advanced sports research and innovation with the low wages and poor working conditions faced by its factory workers in Indonesia.

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