All Things Considered covers the No Sweat Sneaker

Trying ethics on for size by Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix

All Things Considered covers the No Sweat Sneaker NPR's Margot Adler reports

No Sweat leader is passionate by Bella English, Boston Globe

Politically correct upstart challenges Nike by Jenny Strasburg, San Francisco Chronicle

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All Things Considered

Tuesday , June 08, 2004

As socially-conscious consumerism spreads, the latest in "sweatshop-free"
clothing is the "No Sweat Sneaker." The shoes are meant to help improve
living conditions for factory workers around the globe. But the proponents
of the anti-sweatshop movement don't always agree on what constitutes humane
working conditions at Third-World factories. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

Click here to hear the broadcast in mp3 format or read the transcript below.

MICHELE NORRIS, host:From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And I'm Robert Siegel. If, like many Americans, your mailbox is constantly full of catalogs, then you've probably seen some that claim to sell sweatshop-free products. Co-Op America and others say their goods are made by workers making a decent wage in humane conditions. Those claims are hard to assess, so one little company decided to offer more detail. It lists worker wages and benefits in every product box. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

MARGOT ADLER reporting: It's a little black-and-white sneaker, very simple, sort of a Converse look-alike. The No Sweat Sneaker came out on May 1st, only 1,500 pairs but more are in the works. Adam Neiman, whose Boston-based company is called No Sweat Apparel, shows me the card he's put in every box detailing the wages, benefits and working conditions for the Indonesian workers who make the sneakers. He says he's putting the large sneaker companies on notice.

Mr. ADAM NEIMAN (No Sweat Apparel): We've challenged Nike and Reebok to do the same. In fact, we dare them to.

ADLER: The lowest-paid workers at the factory only get about $90 a month; Neiman says that's about 20 percent over minimum wage. But they get a travel allowance, health insurance for themselves and their families and other benefits. The idea for the No Sweat Sneakers started in Canada with something called the blackSpot Sneaker, a notion that's still flying around the Internet. Kalle Lasn, the editor in chief of Adbusters, a magazine that takes on corporations and advertisers, says the idea for the blackSpot Sneaker came about after it became clear that none of Adbusters' anti-logo efforts were having that much effect. As Lasn put it, `Phil Knight's Nike was still setting the tone.'

Mr. KALLE LASN (Editor in Chief, Adbusters): We suddenly said, `Well, instead of whining and complaining about his brand and --why don't we actually create our own brand and create our own sneaker and try to steal some of that cool that he's got and actually cut into his market share?'

ADLER: Adam Neiman found a union shop in Jakarta that he believes in. It's not perfect, he admits, when you point to the $90-a-month salary. But he says when you have a written agreement between management and labor, you get a ripple effect; other factories will clean up their act because they don't want to unionize.

Mr. NEIMAN: It's not a handshake. It's legally binding. There is a grievance process. Without a union contract, the worker cannot even file a grievance without putting their job at risk.

ADLER: Here in New York only one store is stocking the No Sweat Sneaker. Scott Nova is the executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, an organization that brings together 122 American colleges and universities and helps those institutions ensure that there are good working conditions ! in the factories that produce articles with university logos. He says No Sweat Apparel deserves some credit for moving toward transparency and public disclosure.

Mr. SCOTT NOVA (Executive Director, Worker Rights Consortium): Because they are at least saying, `What are the wages in this factory? What are the benefits in this factory? Where is the factory, and who runs the factory?'

ADLER: And providing that information creates some basis to weigh if claims are valid. But Nova says since the company is small, its impact will be determined only by the extent it puts moral pressure on bigger companies, like Reebok, Adidas and Nike. Neiman says that's exactly the idea.

Mr. NEIMAN: We're not trying to capitalize on this little niche market, so that conscious consumers can feel that they have clean hands. We're trying to use this niche market to leverage the entire industry.

ADLER: On a broader level, Scott Nova says any company can say they have a code of conduct, but there are as yet no standards to define what humane conditions are and how to enforce them. So there is no easy way for consumers to distinguish between valid and bogus claims. He says it's a challenge for the anti-sweatshop movement to help consumers who care to make wise decisions. Meanwhile, Adam Neiman says the industry is watching to see if consumers really care; that, he says, is the big question. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.