Asia Pacific conference offers solidarity to Nike picket

[The following motion was passed unanimously by the Asia Pacific Peoples
Solidarity Conference in Jakarta on June 7.]

For the past 10 weeks workers and students in Melbourne have blockaded
the Nike superstore in the central business district each Friday evening.
On each occasion they have successfully shut-down the store for the night.

On a number of occasions the non-violent blockade has been physically
attacked by police — beating protesters, arresting protesters and attempting
to silence the growing opposition to the exploitative practices of companies
like Nike.

The weekly blockades of Nike are in protest against Nike's treatment
of its workforce — both in Australia but also in Indonesia, Vietnam, China
and many other countries.

In Australia Nike's outworkers are paid only two dollars an hour, while
in Asia Nike workers are paid as little as two dollars a day!

Protesters in Melbourne are also demanding that Nike stop its attacks
on workers' right to organise — that it stop intimidating unionists in
its Asian factories, and permit the formation of genuine trade unions to
defend workers rights.

This meeting of the Asia Pacific Peoples' Solidarity Conference held
in Jakarta from June 7-10, 2001 pledges its solidarity with the Melbourne
Nike blockade and condemns Nike, the Victorian police and the Bracks Labor
government for attacking non-violent protesters.

We call on Nike to cease its super-exploitation of workers in Asia and
Australia. We demand that Nike:

1. Sign and implement the homeworkers' code of practice

2. Pay a living wage to all its workers in Asia and Australia

3. Cease its intimidation of workers' organisers and unions in its Asian
factories.

From GLW issue 452