JIM KEADY (TEAM SWEAT)
Jim Keady is the founder of Team Sweat.
JIM KEADY: “I buy shoes that are comfortable and I make sure I cut off or cover up any corporate logos, as I do not want to be a walking advertisement for companies that are exploiting workers and the environment”
[interview.aldy kusumah & bayu laksmono / photo.Team Sweat docs / from ripple #66]
Selain pernah menolak tawaran sponsorship dan endorsement dari N**E, Jim Keady adalah founder dari Team Sweat. Sebuah koalisi dari konsumer, investor dan para pekerja yang ingin mengakhiri ketidakadilan ‘Sweatshop-sweatshop’ di seluruh dunia, terutama yang berlogo ‘Swoosh’. Mari kita bicara sedikit dengan Jim, yang sudah pernah backpacking ke Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Nepal, India, Inggris Skotlandia, Irlandia, Perancis, Spain, Jerman, Austria, Czech, Polandia, Swedia, Denmark, dan Itali. Dia juga sudah melakukan riset tentang perusahaan multi-bilyuner N**E, dan pernah merasakan hidup beberapa bulan dengan para buruh N**E menggunakan upah yang sama. ternyata “dibalik kekerenan sepatu yang kita pakai, ada kondisi dan relita lain yang berbenturan. Angle kita tidak men-diskreditkan N**E, mereka adalah salah satu brand sepatu terbaik dan berkualitas. Tetapi kita hanya ingin memberi wawasan kepada kamu lewat narasumber yang sudah melakukan riset sebelumnya.
*Sweatshop: pabrik-pabrik dengan jam kerja yang tidak manusiawi, upah rendah, dan juga mengeksploitasi pegawai-pegawai dibawah umur dan perempuan-perempuan di negara berkembang seperti Indonesia, agar ongkos produksi rendah, dan profit dimaksimalkan setinggi-tingginya.
Where can you find the cheapest labor cost in the world?
In Madagascar workers are paid $0.18USD per hour. I think this is the cheapest labor out there.
Where can you find the worst possible conditions in these “sweatshop” factories?
That is difficult to say. Nike has operations in 52 countries in almost 1000 factories. With my limited resources, I have only been able to actively monitor about 10 factories in Indonesia for the past decade. Even with a sustained level of scrutiny on these factories by myself and others, there are still major violations of Nike’s Code of Conduct and workers are still paid a wage that does not allow them to meet their most basic of needs. I can only imagine what conditions are like in plants where no one is doing any independent research and advocacy.
Why do you think the labor in the third world country will give a damn about what you do when they are busy competing with each other because of the rare job opportunity?
My experience has been that workers in Indonesia certainly give a damn about improving their welfare and the welfare of their families. What I think they have been lacking is a way to effectively fight against a U.S.-based company that has been exploiting their poverty and desperation. As an American, I believe I can give them insight and tools on how to win against an American imperialist corporation.
What is your favorite shoe brand? And why?
I don’t have a favorite. I try to buy “fair trade” shoes, if they are available and support companies that are trying to treat their workers fairly. If fair trade options are not available, I buy shoes that are comfortable and I make sure I cut off or cover up any corporate logos, as I do not want to be a walking advertisement for companies that are exploiting workers and the environment.
If you can organize a massive labor resistance will you provoke the labor to occupy the factory and turn them to workers cartel?
I would love to see Nike’s factories in Indonesia become worker-owned cooperatives that produce sneakers in partnership with Nike. If this were the reality, then workers would share in the profits generated by their labor. Now, workers are simply wage-slaves with no ownership stake. This can and must change.
Do you consider yourself as a hardliner?
I am a radical social justice activist in the traditional sense of the term -radical, from the Latin, radix – meaning, of a root. I want to get to the root causes of social injustice and once I find the root causes, I want to eliminate them and create more just social structures. In the case of Nike’s workers in Indonesia, the root cause of workers’ ongoing poverty is Nike’s drive to maximize profits for shareholders without letting shareholders know what they are doing (exploiting workers) to pursue this goal. Now that I have gotten to the root, I am working to eliminate the causes (information asymmetry and greed).
“I would tell Nike: “You make great products, but I cannot promote your company until you treat your workers fairly.” -Jim Keady
If your closest friend/acquaintance/family gave you Nike for a birthday present would you still wear that shoe?
It depends. First, my friends and family wouldn’t get me Nike shoes, they all know about my campaign work and know that Nike is not my first choice for athletic wear. But, if someone did get me Nike gear, I might use it and simply cover the logos or cut them off and send them back to Nike with a message. I would tell Nike, “You make great products, but I cannot promote your company until you treat your workers fairly.”
Do you think that spamming and emailing the CEO of ‘Swoosh’ will actually affect anything?
I do not want anyone to spam the CEO, but I do think that personal emails can have an impact on people and that consumers should write to ‘Swoosh’s CEO, Mark Parker. Just think about it from your personal perspective. If you received some well-written emails from people, challenging the morality of your company’s actions and asking you to make changes, would YOU listen? I hope you would. The men and women that work for Nike are human beings. It is our job as activists and consumers to challenge their consciences and demand that they live up to the public claims they make about corporate social responsibility. Sending an email is an easy way to do this. For your readers, Mr. Parker’s email is mark.parker@nike.com .
A lot of the multinational corporations do the same unjust actions to their laborers. Why do you only pick on Nike?
First, I always find it funny when people accuse me of “picking” on Nike. Nike is an $18,600,000,000.00USD corporation. I am a one-man NGO that had a $68,000.00USD budget last year for all my operations. Do I really have the power and resources to “pick” on them? Now, focusing my energy on Nike is very strategic. They are the industry leader. If we can get the leader to change, the industry will follow, and that will have a positive impact on millions of people in the developing world.
Our biggest export in Indonesia is migrant workers. What do you think about that? Do you think that our country has become a ‘slave’ country?
One of my good friends in RI is a labor advocate for Commission IX and he has shared with me some of the injustices that Indonesia’s migrant workers face. And while I am no expert on the issues of migrant workers, it seems that the root causes are the same – their lack of education and their poverty are exploited by foreign interests. In this sense, yes, Indonesia has become a slave country – slaves to the whims of foreign interests. How can you change this? Fight back! As Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican Revolutionary said, “It is better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!”
