Friday, October 31, 1997
Like aliens in the movies, corporations are taking over
INTERNATIONAL: In a quest for economic "globalization," big
businesses forget that the employees have to live on their meager
incomes
By Stacy Hae Lim Lee
Everyone seems to be obsessed with aliens lately. "The X-Files"
has everyone wondering about the great beyond. The Democrats and
Republicans are blaming "illegal immigrants" for the demise of our
beloved economy; however, there have been sightings of another
kind. Corporations are taking over our reality. They have been
sighted in every major and minor developing nation, zapping up
resources and human labor and sucking up profits. The
"globalization" of our economy marks the takeover of the world to
incorporate space ships, with no loyalty or nationality, but with
the ability to suck in profits at a rate unheard of in our
lifetimes.
How do they do it? Well, in the tradition of cheesy sci-fi alien
films, these aliens – the chief executive officers) – demand, "Take
me to your leader." When they get in contact with our "leaders,"
they zap them with their mysterious green goop (the mighty dollar)
and ask for development of documents such as the General Agreement
on Trade and Tariffs, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the
Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation, and Structural Adjustment
Programs (from the World Bank). Next time a politician comes your
way, take a close look into his or her eyes and you will see the
zombified stare, characteristic of those who have been "taken" by
the aliens. What do these documents do? Well, they have the net
effect of a new global constitution, ruling a corporately
controlled global economy. It decreases the sovereignty of nations,
the people therein, and therefore, creates a world that only serves
those who worship (and know how to manipulate) the dollar, and not
human life, the environment or future generations.
Nike is one of the biggest spaceships around. Phil Knight, its
leader, is the sixth-richest man in the United States. He is worth
over $5 billion, and he doesn’t even really make shoes. All Nike
does is market and develop the shoes. Nike spent $978 million on
its marketing plan last year alone. The shoes are actually
subcontracted to smaller factories who then make the shoe to fit
Nike’s demands. Nike has been contracting factories in Asia for
over 20 years, expertly manipulating Asian labor.
Currently, Nike is mainly operating in three countries –
Indonesia, Vietnam and China. Was it the scenery that drew Nike to
these places? Not really. The global constitutional documents like
GATT and the newly forming APEC allow corporations more
"flexibility," or the ability to hop from one country to another,
depending on whose conditions are the most favorable – favorable to
corporations, that is.
There have been extensive documentation on Nike’s inhumane labor
practices. Over 20,000 workers have gone on strike to protest the
severe treatment and substandard wages they receive. The campaigns
in the United States are in response to these workers’ demands to
raise their wages. When the Indonesian workers demanded a wage
increase from $2.20 to $2.40 per day, many workers were fired.
The minimum wage in Indonesia is only $2.40 a day after a
successful campaign of workers to receive a raise of 20 cents. When
this law was enacted, the Nike factories requested to be exempt
from the new law, and that exemption was granted. However, after
successful international campaigns, Nike has finally begun to
comply with the minimum wage. However, recent studies in China have
found that Nike is paying well below the minimum wages, and is
breaking 10 Chinese labor laws. Nike has recently led a
countercampaign to the mounting facts against it by distributing
press releases, hiring former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to
research the allegations, purchasing full-page ads in every major
newspaper, and inviting community and student organizers to lavish
dinners to explain away the accusations. While Nike has been
working hard on this far-reaching public-relations campaign, it has
failed to do one simple thing – raise the workers’ wages.
There is always the argument that wages overseas cannot be
compared to those of the U.S. That is not what supporters and the
workers are demanding. They are demanding a livable wage which
takes into account a 40-hour work week and the amount of money
necessary to subsist. Indonesian livable wage is calculated at
$4.25 a day. Countries such as Indonesia purposefully set their
wages below the poverty line to "attract" foreign spaceships. In
one of Nike’s press releases, the firm claims to be paying its
workers at the minimum wage of 17 cents a month. The reason that is
true is because the workers log up to 200 hours of overtime a month
to make up for the low wages. Without that overtime they would not
be able to survive.
Three-fourths of developing nations are under
structural-adjustment loans offered by the U.S.-controlled World
Bank. These loans demand the nations take on draconian austerity
measures (such as decreasing social, medical and educational
services), increasing taxes on the majority poor in their nation,
and altering their economic profiles to service the needs of
industrialized nations and the gigantic and ever-present
spaceships. It is not a coincidence that the countries now
suffering from underdevelopment, huge debts and environmental
disasters were also the countries ravaged by the imperialist drive
of the now industrialized and thriving countries in the
"north."
It is now our responsibility to globalize our mentalities and
learn more about the space ships, the policies they are thriving
off of and who key players are in this new imperialist game to
increase profits at the cost of human and all other natural life on
this earth. This type of information is suppressed in our
educational institutions who are structured to perpetuate and
advance these systems of exploitation and oppression. Support USAC
and the many student organizations in the struggle to create a
socially responsible student store by kicking out Nike until they
respect human rights. Call us at 310-825-8545 for more
information.
In an age where CEOs make 200 times more than the average worker
(U.S. workers), a swoosh on a T-shirt means more than a human life.
Everyone can talk about "market value" but not human rights. It is
no wonder the spaceships have landed and thrived here on our
planet.
To learn more about globalization, corporate accountability and
the campaigns that are resisting the invasion, check out Global
Exchanges’ Web site, http://www.globalexchange.org – they have the
latest updates on the anti-Nike campaign, international-solidarity
campaigns and other things you can do to support alternative
development strategies.