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Nike
When I went through my closet I found an old pair of Nike sneakers that I have had for probably 4 years now. On the tag inside the tongue of the shoe was the phrase made in China. As I kept rummaging through the closet I found a couple more pairs of shoes, a sweatshirt, and 2 hats, all Nike brand. They were all made in either China or Vietnam. I then made a guess as to the total amount of money I spent on these items. In the end a total of about 270 of my hard earned dollars was spent to outfit my inner athlete. I began contemplating how long it would take me to make 270 dollars. At my job it would take me about a day and a half to make that much money. I then began to wonder how long it would take the person who made these necessities of mine to make the same amount of money. I found out that it would take almost a year for the average factory floor worker in Vietnam to make that kind of money.
When I started to research the origins of my Nike wardrobe I found it extremely difficult to find out the workers wages. I did not find it difficult, however, to find out whom the people were and what type of working conditions they were subject to. When I went to the Nike website I found what I was expecting; conditions in the factories are great and all of them are adhering to strict guidelines of health and safety. I did not find this the big surprise. When I started visiting other websites I found that many claims of maltreatment, low pay, child labor, or unhealthy working environments really had no proof to back up their allegations.
At the Nike website I found that they admit to some allegations in the past but push towards proving that they are changing their labor practices for the better. ...