Nike releases 3rd responsibility report

Nike releases 3rd responsibility report

	Published : Thu, 31 May 2007 20:20 By : Agencies Print this Story

BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) - Nike Inc. released its third corporate responsibility report Thursday, highlighting its efforts to improve conditions for the company's 800,000 contract factory workers -- such as eliminating excessive overtime and training them on their rights to unionize.

The report usually packs a wallop. Nike's initial report in 2001 was intended to show how it had handled complaints by labor and student groups who wanted better conditions at factories worldwide. In its second report in 2005, the company disclosed the names and locations of factories that produce its sneakers, apparel and other products -- a first for the industry and a concession to critics.

In its third report, however, Nike officials say the company no longer sees corporate responsibility efforts as a tool for 'risk or reputation management.'

'Corporate responsibility is no longer a staff function at Nike,' Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker wrote in the report. 'It's a design function, a sourcing function, a consumer experience function, part of how we operate.'

The company said it is focusing on ways to change labor, social and environmental problems at the root.

Although the company said labor rights remain its primary focus, Nike also showed an increased effort on environmental issues -- outlining goals to reduce manufacturing waste and to ensure every shoe produced meets certain environmental standards by 2015. The company also plans to reduce carbon emissions at its facilities.

'We are setting some pretty ambitious targets,' said Hannah Jones, vice president of corporate responsibility for Nike.

Some critics, such as labor activist Jeff Ballinger, said the report fails to address larger labor issues such as pay for workers in developing countries and cashes in on some current public appetite for do-gooding.

Educating for Justice, a nonprofit social justice campaign group, echoed the sentiment.

'The way I see it, there is an elephant in the middle of the room that Nike continues to sidestep,' Educating for Justice co-founder Leslie Kretzu said.

Some groups such as the Global Union Federation for textiles, clothing and footwear were complimentary of Nike's efforts.

'Global brands and retailers have undergone a slow learning path since gangrenous supply chains first began to attract attention in the early 1990s,' the foundation's general secretary, Neil Kearney, said.

Kearney also sits on a board at Nike that reviews its corporate responsibility reports.

Some critics say the footwear giant's reports have become less effective.

'While we find a report like this has great things to say, we find it is more rhetoric than action,' said Nell Greenburg at Global Exchange, an international human rights organization.