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NIKE Code of Conduct-Fake Corporation Ethic?
Ask B&B workers
At noon-time on November 5 the workers of Bed and Bath
Prestige (Thailand) Co. marched to the Green Tower Complex
on Rama IV Rd which houses NIKE Inc’s. (Thailand) Corporate
Headquarters to demand that NIKE live up to its own Code
of Conduct and to its reponsibilities for its workers. Bed
and Bath workers produce clothes for NIKE and as part of
their uniform wear laminated pocket sized NIKE Codes of
Conduct around their necks. However, the reality of the
labour practices in the B&B factory is the very opposite
of what is required by the NIKE Code.
The workers are calling on NIKE to demand that the B&B
employers, who are NIKE subcontractors, take responsibility
for their unfair labour practices. Recently the employer
relocated the B&B operations to Mae-sod in Tak province
near the Thai-Burma border. Thousands of migrant workers
have been hired to replace the Bangkok based B&B employees.
The owner did not pay the 800 B&B employees their wages
for the last order which was produced and sent to NIKE.
Nor did the owner pay the workers the compensation required
under Thai law when he shut down operations in Bangkok.
A factory under his ownership is still producing for NIKE.
If NIKE cannot enforce its own Code of Conduct and demand
that the owner of Bed and Bath pay this legally required
back-pay and compensation then it should take responsibility
itself for the current plight of the workers.
Workers give examples of a few of
the many ways in which B&B violated the NIKE Code of
Conduct.
 “The
management does not feel bound to the NIKE Code. For example,
over a 15 day period we were required to work around 100
hours of overtime. The management order us to wear masks
(which is required as a good labour practice under the Code)
only when the inspectors come to the factory. For these
masks, management demanded that we pay the company 5 baht
each! The drinking water at the plant is not clean because
the cooler has never been cleaned. The employers force us
to work overtime shift which would often last until 6:oo
a.m . We would then start a new shift at 8:15 a.m. If we
were late for any of these we wold be fined 4 baht a minute
until we arrived.
There was one time when a co-worker brought a lemon to
keep himself awake at night as a substitute for the water.
Unluckily, the employers saw this and he was fined 2,000
baht . If the employees were caught yawning while on the
job they would be fined 500 baht. If management was unsatisfied
with the way a worker was speaking to him that worker would
be fined 500 baht. No welfare was ever provided; we were
required to purchase shoes made particularly for sewing
machine work which cost us 200 baht to purchase. Payment
was required for an employee identity card which cost 50
baht and also for our uniform which cost 120 baht. If anyone
tore his or her pocket sized NIKE Code they would have to
pay for a replacement.
When NIKE representatives come to monitor the factory we
told them of one pregnant worker who had miscarried while
working and told about our terrible working conditions.
The representatives jotted all of this down, but no improvement
occurred. We were then ordered by management to lie to NIKE
representatives about the working conditions at the next
inspection. We were told that if we did not lie then we
would be severely punished. The employer hired guards to
watch us while we worked. All in all the information given
by workers to NIKE in the monitoring process is not true”,
said Miss Apipan Sae-tung one of the workers’ representatives.
The Workers asked NIKE to apply pressure
on the employer.
On November 5 at 2:00 pm, three representatives of the
B&B workers met with Mr. Roongrot Pongsilpapipat who
is the manager of NIKE Inc. (Thailand).
The representatives said “today we call for our arrears
in wages and compensation. We would like NIKE to pressure
the employer to solve this problem. The new factory in Mae-Sod
is still producing for NIKE. And so it should take responsibility
for its own workers. We worked all day and all night with
no compensation. On October 4 we had to work until early
the next morning , but then on October 7 the factory closed
without any advance notice.”
NIKE representatives in Thailand told us that they do not
know what has happened in the factory. They said they would
inform the head office at once and would then have to wait
for the response from head office before proceeding.
The workers have told NIKE that they have struggled for
justice at the Ministry of Labour. Some workers are pregnant
while others have newborn babies to care for. All workers
are suffering. NIKE is continuing to give orders and contracts
to the company even though this is a company which abandoned
its workers and which did not pay them for their services
There are four factories under this families' business and
some is still producing for NIKE.
 The
court in Samutprakarn has issued an arrest warrant for Mr.
Chaiyapat Photikamjorn and Miss Auyporn Songpornprasert,
employers of Bed & Bath Prestige Co. charging them with
leaving wages unpaid, dismissal of employees without advance
notice and acting against a labour officer.
On November 1, the workers submitted a letter to the national
police chief Sant Sarutanon at the National Police Headquarters.
The police representative Pojanart Hualmanop received this
letter and said that the police would coordinate with other
police forces nationwide to arrest the employers.
However, the workers are not confident in the police performance
since the two policemen from Tonglor station, who coordinated
the talks between NIKE and the workers representatives,
did not even know about the arrest warrant for the Bed and
Bath employers. Workers must wait for the result, but so
far no progress has been made in arresting the employers
of Bed and Bath
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