July 12, 1996

Sports Column: Jordan's Bunker View on Nike
What is Michael Jordan's obligation to the people who work in the factories that make Nike shoes? Does he have any obligation at all? Why is Jordan so popular in the first place? Is he a man of "character," and if so, why?


By IRA BERKOW

[M] ichael Jordan, pancake cap turned backward on his
head, was seen Thursday on a television film clip
blasting a golf ball out of a bunker in Fresno, Calif.

Jordan is on vacation, for about three months, obviously
enjoying a much-deserved rest after leading his team to
another National Basketball Association championship. It
is a much greater rest than that enjoyed by many of the
people who, at bottom, help make him one of America's
richer people.

That is, the men and women workers in the virtual feudal
system of sneaker factories in Indonesia. And the child
laborers in soccer ball-manufacturing factories under
the aegis of the Nike "Swoosh."

It is Nike, that swelling international octopus, and its
commercials that have helped elevate Air Jordan into one
of the world's most recognizable figures. For his good
name and charming smile, Nike pays Jordan a $20 million
a year endorsement fee, about half of Jordan's annual
income.

Meanwhile, the laborers in Asian countries who produce
the Nike products sweat under the minimum wage, or at a
minimum wage that is under the poverty level. They are
people who may work 60 or 70 hours a week under
sometimes brutal conditions, including forced overtime.
Workers have been known to be beaten, and when strikes
are threatened, the instigators are fired.

In a human rights report by the State Department to
Congress a few years ago, a special point was made about
the "horrors" in exploitation of workers in the
sneaker-making factories in Indonesia.

Nike has retorted that it subcontracts its work and has
little say in how the workers are handled. Nike has said
it has tried to improve conditions. But Jeff Balinger,
the head of Press for Change, an organization that has
monitored conditions in factories in Indonesia since
1989, said, "The abuses continue."

When asked about this last month, Jordan did not
distinguish himself. "I think that's Nike's decision to
do what they can to make sure everything is correctly
done," he said. "I don't know the complete situation.
Why should I? I'm trying to do my job. Hopefully, Nike
will do the right thing, whatever that might be."

Why should Jordan not know what abuses are taking place.
Not only is he a citizen of the world, but one profiting
hugely from the Nike undertaking. As for "not knowing
the complete situation," why not look into it. Or pay
someone responsible to investigate or go there.
Indonesia has golf courses.

The plight does not involve only Nike and Jordan. Other
prominent sneaker and sports-gear manufacturers such as
Reebok and Adidas also have consigned their work to
areas of cheap labor around the world. And those who
promote the products in America include virtually every
widely known athlete who has made a dent in our
consciousness.

But Jordan, as World Sports Hero No.1, is the most
visible -- and respected -- of the athletes, and Nike, a
multibillion-dollar company, and its owner and founder,
Phil Knight, whose stock in the organization is
reportedly worth $4.5 billion, are the industry leaders.

Some sports stars in this century have courageously gone
beyond the arena to make an impact on society. There
was, among others, Muhammad Ali and his stand against
American participation in the Vietnam War; the Olympic
athletes who backed President Jimmy Carter's decision
not to participate in the Moscow Games after the Soviet
Union invaded neighboring Afghanistan; the vigor of
Arthur Ashe protesting South African apartheid and John
McEnroe, who turned down $1 million to play there; to be
sure, Jackie Robinson, and his white teammate, Pee Wee
Reese; Hank Greenberg setting a standard for baseball
stars to join the military after Pearl Harbor; Billie
Jean King, fighting for women's rights; Martina
Navratilova seeking greater understanding for gays and
lesbians; Jim Brown's activism in the inner cities.

Michael Jordan has been a wondrous basketball player; he
has been a good, hard-working, law-abiding citizen, and
one who has entertained us mightily.

But the Michael Jordans of the world -- from Charles
Barkley to Andre Agassi to Frank Thomas -- can do more.
Not on every issue, of course. But at least on those
that have a direct link to them. Pure self-interest
ought to have its limits.

Even a gifted athlete has an obligation at times to poke
his head from the bunker.