CHICAGO (UPI/Antara) -- A former worker at an Indonesian factory that makes Nike shoes is seeking a meeting with executives of the athletic-wear giant and the company's most visible spokesperson, basketball superstart Michael Jordan, in Chicago, USA.

Cicih Sukaesih spoke Monday outside the Nike Town store in Chicago's Ritzy Michigan Avenue shopping district and accused Nike of subcontracting with Southeast Asian companies that pay workers barely US$ 2 a day and subject them to harsh working conditions.

"We work under very difficult conditions... and we're paid a very, very low wage," Sukaesih said through interpreter Jeffrey Winters, a Northwestern Univer- sity professor who helped organize her appearance. "The wage is not enough for us to live on."

Sukaesih said she was fired from a plant in Indonesia in 1992 for trying to organize workers. She was making US$ 1.20 a day at the time. The minimum daily wage has since been raised by the government to US$ 2.25.

Sukaesih said she wants to bring her story to Jordan and Nike executives, which she will attempt to do during her next stop in Portland, Ore.

Interest

"We have tried to contact (Jordan) and so far he has not shown the slightest interest," she said. "I would like him to do the same thing Kathie Lee Gifford has done, which is to take responsibility for the conditions of the workers that make the products that they endorse and promote."

Jordan's contract with Nike reportedly is worth around US$ 20 million. His basketball shoes at Nike Town sell for between US$ 70 to US$ 40.

"I was really upset when I discovered how much Michael Jordan was being paid for his endorsements and when I saw how much Nike shoes cost here," Sukaesih said.

Nike has also received criticism for allegedly using child labor to produce soccer balls in Pakistan.

The Beaverton, Oregon- based company released a statement Monday, saying it has used its influence to improve the situation at Sukaesih's former plant and elsewhere.

"This is an example of the benefit Nike brings in upgrading labor practices in emerging market societies," the statement read.

Nike said it employs about 800 people to oversee conditions among its subcontractors, allows independent reviews of the facilities and pays, on average, double the minimum wage.

"U.S. labor organizers continue to focus on sporadic instances from four and five years ago when Nike's subcontracting in Indonesia was first beginning," Nike said. "We prefer to focus on the proactive changes that have occurred since that time." The company said it has created "highly- desirable jobs."