Ex-Nike Worker Urges Activism

When Haryanto was 19 years old and working in an Indonesian sweatshop for $15 per week, he lost two fingers of his right hand making outsoles for Nike sneakers.

"My hand got stuck and pinched into the mechanism of the rubber-rolling machinery, which caused me to lose two fingers on my right hand and caused me to become disabled," he said.

After his 1996 accident, Haryanto became an advocate for workers' rights in Indonesia. Last night he addressed about 50 students and community members in Sever Hall, in a speech sponsored by the anti-sweatshop campaign of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM).

Haryanto told the audience that his injury was due to unsafe working conditions. He said seven of his friends also lost fingers in the same machine, but the factory owners refused to address the problem.

"The machine was not functioning, the off-button was dysfunctional," he said. "The machine had to be turned off at the fuse box by my friend."

Haryanto said he has spent the last three years agitating for improved conditions in Indonesian factories and organizing an independent union.

"I became conscious of the need to defend the rights of workers, so with colleagues and friends I began to give training and workshops," he said.

A slight man, the 22-year-old native of Jakarta spoke through an interpreter about the conditions in Nike sub-contracted factories.

"Nike's code of conduct was only treated as a decoration on office walls," Haryanto said.

According to Haryanto, the Indonesian government overlooks the poor working conditions.

"The government considers that workers don't exist at all, only as tools of production," he said. "The government tries to muffle workers [by creating a government union] designed to defend the interest of the company and not the workers."

In response, Haryanto formed Perbupas, an independent workers' union, and ultimately was fired for distributing anti-sweatshop literature.

He called on Harvard students to continue agitating on behalf of sweatshop workers.

"I hope that students here in America will see the need to struggle against oppression and the students will demand action from Nike."

PSLM is currently embroiled in negotiations with the administration over the issue of sweatshop labor. After a rally last March, University officials committed to disclosing the locations of overseas factories that manufacture Harvard apparel but have not yet acted on that promise.

"Nike just released the location of some factories, and that's what we're trying to do at the moment--get the administration to commit to at least a deadline [for full disclosure]," said PSLM member Erik A. Beach '02.

PSLM is also asking the University to appoint an independent monitor of overseas factories. Harvard currently relies on PricewaterhouseCoopers, a poor choice, Beach says, because the international consulting firm also conducts business with the companies--such as Nike--it is supposed to monitor.

Beach said Haryanto's speech humanizes the issue of sweatshop labor at Harvard.

"It was very relevant for students and members of the Harvard community to hear someone of their own age and see how we can have an effect," he said.