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REEBOK Corporation is hiding behind its annual HUMAN RIGHTS Award Spectacle. Each year Reebok faces the challenge of making its Human Rights Award a meaningful, newsworthy spectacle.

Reebok Soccer Ball Tag

The Reebok HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD spectacle?

There are two actors recruited to play in the Reebok annual Spectacle. The first are people who are doing legitimate actions to bring about more human rights for oppressed people. Most Reebok Human Rights Award winners, the actors recruited by Reebok, have refused to comment on the irony of Reebok giving a Human Rights Award, while having some of the most exploitative conditions for women workers in its global factories. Most recipients grab the $50,000 award-grant and flee the stage, hoping the reporters will not notice the irony. For the past 13 years, between four and six grasp these annual Reebok awards. Each person is a fine organizer and activist, but they are being used to promote a Human Rights image of Reebok Corporation. One woman, Dita Sari, has refused to be complicit in the Reebok annul spectacle. 

• Photo of Dita Sari, an organizer with the National Front for Workers Struggle in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1995, Ms Sari was arrested and tortured by the Indonesian police after leading a strike of 5,000 workers of Indoshoes Inti Industry. This company operated in West Java, and produced shoes for Reebok and Adidas. "I have seen for myself how the (Reebok/Adidas factory) treated the workers, and used the police to repress the strikers," said Ms Sari (Walter, 2002, see below). 

The Second type of actor recruited to star in the annual Reebok spectacle of illusion, is a long list of movie, musical, and sports celebrities.  Reebok recruits them to draw crowds, and to draw a press too eager to sell spectator-readers on the idea that Reebok has a heart for Human Rights.  It is time to deconstruct the Annual Reebok Human Rights Awards, for the Spectacle of Public Relations hype that it is. 

We start with 2002 where one of the award recipients, Dita Sari, refused to play her scripted role, and turned down her acting fee of $50,000. 

2002 13th Annual Reebok Human Rights Awards - Why is actor Robert Redford a presenter of these hypocritical Reebok Human Rights awards? Redford may be naive:

1. Perhaps Redford does not know anything whatsoever about Reebok Corporation or the labor condidtions of its factories in Asia.
2. Or perhaps Redford thinks that because Paul Fireman, Chairman of the Awards Committee that also includes  President Jimmy Carter, Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, Peter Gabriel, Rafer Johnson, Elaine Jones, C. Joseph LaBonte, Li Lu, Josh Mailman, Angel Martinez, Michael Posner, Michael Stipe, Rose Styron --- is just a great cause. 
3. Or perhaps Robert Redford has not read Reebok's own reports about the conditions that women face in Reebok factories worldwide
   • Some workers suffered rashes from harsh chemicals, and pregnant women had to stand or sit on uncomfortable stools with no back support. The women also had to work around chemicals that could cause nausea and vomiting. Reebok paid $ 35,000 to Insan Hitawasana Sejahtera, a Jakarta consulting firm for the report. Reebok said the report led to more than $ 500,000 in factory improvements by the two subcontractors. Ok, so may Redford thinks everything is find in all Reebock factories because a consultant's report says everything is great in two factories (a logical syllogism). 
   • Workers in Indonesia do not make enough money to cover poverty subsistence. Workers in Reebok factories are denied the right to organize. 
   • OK, so Redford, if everything is fine, how come in Mexico, women workers were beaten at a factory making university sweatshirts for Reebok (and Nike) in 2000? See Boje, David M., Grace Ann Rosile, &  J. Dámaso Miguel Alcantara Carrillo (2001) The KUK DONG STORY 
   • Or how about - October 20, 2001 - Reebok, once again accused of human rights violations (child labor, sexual harassment, toxic conditions) in its China factories. 
   • Or how about - REEBOK - February 27, 2001 - (U.S. State Department) - Mentioning a Reebok subcontract dispute with workers - "Representatives of 4,700 footwear workers, who did not receive severance pay when their factory closed, staged a sit-in for several weeks in the national Parliament until the company paid the severances.
4. Robert Redford may not know anything about Reebok factory life.
5. For more info on Reebok - Search for Reebok In the News or Search Countries where Reebok has its factory locations. 

• Feb 7, 2000 -  Actor Robert Redford presented the awards. Why? (Why each year does Reebok recruit  (we assume) naive superstars to present their award? 
  • Weiss, Joanna, February 1, 2002, Friday ,THIRD EDITION  SECTION: LIVING; Pg. C4, Names and Faces section by Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe. Weiss (2002) reported that  Robert Redford will join Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Olympics czar Mitt Romney, and Reebok CEO Paul Fireman in presenting the four annual awards at the annual Reebok Human Rights Awards Thursday in Salt Lake City.
  • February 22, 2002 - Running From Reebok's Hypocrisy by ALEXANDER COCKBURN- Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Thursday Home Edition  SECTION: California Metro; Part 2; Page 17; Editorial Pages Desk - Summary of Article follows: This 13th HR award is unique, it is the first to turn carnivalesque, when one of its four winners refused the award. It is the first year that Reebok's selected award-winner turned down the award. Dita Sari of Indonesia, a labor activist, refused to attend the ceremony, or accept her award because ''the corporation produces products globally,'' under oppressive conditions (Cockburn, NY Times 2 22 02).. That means Dita Sari had the ethical conviction to turn down her $50,000 grant-award from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation.   Dita Sari turned down Reebok's $50,000 and will go on organizing against corporate exploitation and government harassment.
• Sari after explaining how poor the working conditions are for Reebok workers in her country, had this to say, "They [workers] then have to live in a slum area, surrounded by poor and unhealthy conditions, especially for their children," said Ms Sari. "At the same time, Reebok collects millions of dollars of profit every year, directly contributed by these workers. The low pay and exploitation of the workers of Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam are the main reasons why we will not accept this award" (Walter, 2002, citation listed below). 
  • Lets look at the spectacular scene and its theatris - The  02/22/2002 New York Times article by Joe Lapointe reports that the Reebok's Human Rights Award ceremony took place Feb 21, 2002 in a theater, suring the Olympic Arts Festival. Festival events are sideshows for the spectacle of Reebok publicity that would convince us that Reebok Corporation has a heart for human rights.  The Reebok publicity spectacle (festival turned into sideshow) was done in ways that exploit the Olympic spectacle; The Human Rights Award spectacle of Reebok is done against the spectacle scene of the Olympic logo, the five interlocking rings extends the Reebok advertising extravaganza. This Cultural Olympiad Spectacle, is one of the largest organized activities of the Olympic Spectacle. Dita Sari's refusal to accept the award, for just a moment, turned the carefully stages Reebok Spectacle of legitimation into a Carnival of Resistance. See more on Dita Sari (See Reebok 2002 Press Release about Dita Sari:

  • Dita Sari

    • Dita Sari left the University of Indonesia, where she was a law student, to join the frontlines in the battle for social and economic justice. In defiance of then-President Suharto's laws, she formed the first independent labor union in Indonesia. For more than eight years, she has led numerous demonstrations and strikes, and has been a strong, persistent voice in the struggle for labor rights, women's rights and democratic principles
    • In July 1996, Ms. Sari led 20,000 striking workers in a non-violent march in the Tandes industrial area to protest labor conditions. She was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of ``sedition'' - becoming the only female political prisoner at that time.
    • Despite her isolation and a near-fatal bout of typhoid, Ms. Sari secretly continued to lead her movement and was unanimously elected Chairperson by the Congress of the National Front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI). Amnesty International took up her cause with a ``Hands Off Dita Sari'' campaign. Following sustained international pressure, Ms. Sari was finally released from prison in July 1999. She is regarded as a key figure in Indonesia's fledgling labor movement as it struggles to emerge from three decades of stagnation and oppression. Under her leadership, the FNPBI has grown to include 15 trade unions with 22,000 members.
• Unity First - March 2, 2002 - The Reebok Human Rights Award Program announced that for the first time in its 13-year history, the annual Award will be presented to four women. The 2002 winners include: (1) Dita Sari of Indonesia, the founder of the first independent labor union in Indonesia; (2) Kavwumbu Hakachima of Zambia , an advocate for abused children in Zambia; (3) Babita Maili Lama of Nepal, a rescuer of young girls enslaved as prostitutes in India; and (4) Malika Asha Sanders of Selma, Alabama , an activist at the forefront of a new generation of civil rights leadership in the United States. The winners will be honored as champions of human rights as part of the 2002 Cultural Olympiad of the Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games. The awards will be presented at a ceremony during the Olympic Arts Festival on February 7, 2002 at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City.
• What is the big deal here? See Naoim Klein post to NO LOGO Web site http://www.nologo.org/ FNPBI STATEMENT ON REEBOK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD FOR DITA SARI

  The driving forces of globalisation are the movement and expansion of capital and technology, through multinational companies. Globalisation, some people argue, has contributed a lot to the creation of a new world, with a global welfare and justice for all. But in practice, globalisation is producing neither universal welfare nor global peace. On the contrary, in reality, globalisation has divided the world into two sides, which are antagonistic towards each other. There are wealthy creditors and bankrupt debtors, there are super rich countries and underdeveloped countries, super wealthy speculators and impoverished malnourished children. Globalisation intensifies, not a higher paid and a better life for workers in the third world, but the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

• See - February 6, 2002 - Take This Prize and Shove it: Dita Sari Says No to Reebok - story by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair in Counterpunch - Here are some excerpts: 
  • Right till the end of January, Dita Sari, an Indonesian in her late twenties, was preparing to fly from her home near Jakarta to Salt Lake City to bask February 7 in the admiration of assorted do-gooders and celebrities mustered by the public relations department of Reebok, for the thirteenth annual Human Rights Awards, overseen by a board including Jimmy Carter and Kerry Kennedy Cuomo.
  • Dita Sari's plan was to accept the ticket from Reebok, proceed to the podium in the Capitol Theater in downtown Salt Lake where the world's winter athletes are now assembled, and then, when offered the human rights award by either Desmond Tutu or Robert Redford, reject it... 

    Then she learned that Reebok intended to schedule her and other recipients for some public events before the actual award ceremony. Rather than let Reebok benefit in any way from her presence Dita Sari pulled the plug and at last word is in Jakarta trying to raise relief money for workers left destitute by the worst flooding in decades. She's sent the speech she was planning to give at the Awards in Salt Lake City:

    "I have taken this award into a very deep consideration. We finally decide not to accept this. On the one hand, this is a kind of recognition of the struggle and the hard work that we have done for years. But on the other hand, we are very conscious of the condition of the Reebok workers from the third world countries, such as in Indonesia, Mexico, China, Thailand, Brazil and Vietnam.

  • Since Dita Sari's release from prison in 19991, she has been "building a union of workers in plants across Java. It was there that she got a good look at Reebok's contractors, the underbosses of all the apparel, footwear, computer, and toy companies that contract out their work. These contractors run their [REEBOK] plants in a notoriously harsh manner, whether in China, Indonesia, Guatemala or Mexico."
  • What are the conditions of Reebok's factories in Indonesia? "In Indonesia" says Dita Sari, "there are five Reebok companies. 80% of the workers are women. All companies are sub-contracted, often by the South Korean companies such as Dung Jo and Tong Yang. Since the workers can only get around $1.5 a day, they then have to live in a slum area, surrounded by poor and unhealthy conditions, especially for their children. At the same time, Reebok collected millions of dollars of profit every year, directly contributed by these workers. The low pay and exploitation of the workers of Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam are the main reasons why we will not accept this award."
  • Dita Sari, continues "The low pay and exploitation of the workers of Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam are the main reasons why we will not accept this award. Some of our members in the union work in companies producing Reebok shoes."
  • Jeff Ballinger (Press for Change) comments upon the spectacle: "With this kind of ceremony, Reebok gets its name into respectable company. When they give a prize to someone like Julie Su, a lawyer for immigrant workers in California, people who wouldn't be seen dead in Nikes, are impressed." ... Reebok's flacks can brandish armloads of studies, codes, monitoring reports, guidelines and kindred matter all attesting to the company's dedication to the fair treatment of anyone making consumer items with the name Reebok printed on them. But nothing has really changed. "We've created a cottage industry of monitors and inspectors and drafters of codes," Ballinger says, "but all these workers ever wanted was to sit down in dignity and negotiate with their bosses and this has never happened."

• Feb. 4, 2002 - Why I Rejected the Reebok Human Rights Award By Dita Sari 

  • In November last year, I was informed that I was selected as one of the awardees of the annual Reebok Human Rights Award program and ceremony. The Reebok Human Rights Foundation then has officially announced the names of the awardees.

    I have taken this award into a very deep consideration. We finally decide not to accept this. On the one hand, this is a kind of recognition of the struggle and the hard work that we have done for years. But on the other hand, we are very conscious of the condition of the Reebok workers from the third world countries, such as in Indonesia, Mexico, China, Thailand, Brazil and Vietnam. As a trade union, we strongly put a lot of pressure to achieve what every worker deserves: higher wages, better working conditions and a brighter future for their children....

The decision I have made is not merely based on data, report, statistics or assumptions. In 1995, I was arrested and tortured by the police, after leading a strike of 5000 workers of Indoshoes Inti Industry. They demanded an increase of their wages (they were paid only US$1 for working 8 hours a day), and maternity leave as well. This company operated in West Java, and produced shoes of Reebok and Adidas. I have seen for my self how the company treat the workers, and used the police to repress the strikers.

We believe that accepting the award is not a proper or a right thing to do. This is part of the consequences of our work to help workers improve their life. We cannot tolerate the way multinational companies treat the workers of the third world countries. And we surely hope that our stand can make a contribution to help changing the labor condition in Reebok-produced companies.

• What is the impact of Dita Sari's refusal of the Reebok Human Rights Award? Bad Press - e.g.

  • POLITICAL ACTIVIST REJECTS AWARD FROM SHOE FIRM  by Natasha Walter, 2002 Newspaper Publishing PLC  The Independent (London) February 8, 2002, Friday SECTION: FOREIGN NEWS; Pg. 16: "REEBOK, THE American sports shoe manufacturer, has been publicly embarrassed by Dita Sari, an Indonesian labour activist who has refused to accept a human rights award from the sporting goods corporation. Every year Reebok honours "champions and torchbearers in the fight for a better world" with their $ 50,000 (pounds 35,400) Reebok Human Rights Award, and in December last year announced that Ms Sari would be a recipient. SPIN CONTROL - " ... Reebok said they still applauded Ms Sari's efforts to improve labour and human rights. "Reebok will continue working to improve labour rights, alongside other corporations. We understand Dita Sari's drive to achieve the same goal in her own unique way."  "We feel like we are fighting for the same thing," said Jill Tucker from the company's Hong Kong office.

  • February 6, 2002, Wednesday  Wall Street Journal, SECTION: Section A; Page 10, Column 2 HEADLINE: WORLD WATCH--ASIA/PACIFIC: INDONESIAN ACTIVIST REJECTS REEBOK GRANT  "Indonesian labor activist Dita Sari turns down $50,000 human-rights award from Reebok to protest wages it pays in Indonesia"
    
     

• There were signs Reebok Corporate executives could have read along the way. For example, an article, Cicih Sukaesih Speaks at
  Alberta Federation of Labour Convention May 8, 1999, included: 

  • The Reebok awards are an exercise in immense hypocrasy, since Reebok's labor practices tend to be indistinguishable from Nike's. In many instances, both companies use the same contractors. As Jeff Ballinger of Press for Change -- co-organizer of this tour -- noted, Reebok might want to save itself some embarrassment and run a good check on Sari before giving her its human rights award, since two of the strikes supported by her were by Reebok workers.

2001 Reebok HR awards.  Apparently, they were held in the middle of the day at Northeastern University and the location was kept secret so no activists knew where it was held. 

Yet, news reports say "Gabriel and Williams were two of the four presenters of Reebok's 12th Human Rights Awards to Kodjo Djissenou from Togo, Ndungi Githuku from Kenya, and Americans William Coley and Heather Barr. Each winner received $50,000 from Canton-based Reebok. Throughout the 2 1/2-hour presentation and performance, the message was clear - the award recipients were the stars. This was cogently expressed at the end when dozens of folks - including Reebok CEO Paul Fireman, MC/chief marketing officer Angel Martinez, rapper Common, Gabriel, Williams, the 44 kids in the Renaissance Charter School of Boston, Philly's Rennie Harris Dance Group, and the Jabali Afrika band - sang Bob Marley's anthemic "Get Up Stand Up."  Interviews were conducted in a PRIVATE BALLROOM. ... During her acceptance speech, Barr said, "Some of the worst human rights violations happen right here in our backyard." Barr, who left her home at 15, said with a chuckle later, "[I] learned all my politics from Dead Kennedys" - that would be the radical San Francisco-based punk band helmed by Jello Biafra (Source: Annonymous writer for The Boston Globe - March 22, 2001, Thursday ,THIRD EDITION  - SECTION: LIVING; Pg. D4  -HEADLINE: NAMES & FACES;  GET UP, STAND UP).

The award recipients had nothing to say about the irony of Reebok giving out Human Rights Awards. (See Reebok 1999 press release). Keep in mind this is a ceremony that since 1986 has attracted thousands of spectators, and lots of media coverage. Imagine a scene, where the spectacle location can not be pre-announced, since too many activists would turn the event into a carnival of resistance, and provide the pre-selected cadre of Reebok reporters with quotes they would not want to print. 

2000 - Reebok HR awards - NO DATA AVAILABLE

Award coverage seems to have been very sparse, and details on the location and the celebrities, if any, are lacking. 

Not much is known about the ceremony - The day before this award ceremony (March 24, 1999), Reebok added its name to the list of corporations and groups asking that Dita Sari be released from prison. She was jailed in 1996 for leading a strike of 20,000 workers. The award recipients had notthing to say about the irony of Reebok giving out Human Rights Awards. (See CEO Paul Fireman 1999 plea that Dita Sari be released from prison. Dita Sari was being recruited for the award that would turn into carnival of resistance in 2002. 

• 1999 - Reebok International Ltd. is blew the whistle on itself for poor working conditions at two of its factories in Indonesia.
• Ka Hsaw Wa has courted danger to catalog the endless abuse waged by the Burmese military, or Tatmadaw, against its own people. While only a handful of Western activists know of his work, that anonymity will change on Wednesday, when he becomes one of four recipients of the Human Rights Award bestowed by Stoughton-based Reebok.  

1998 - Reebok HR Awards - Actress Glenn Close presented the Reebok Human Rights Awards at Columbia University.  - Why? 

• Van Jones was one of four activists from around the world to receive the prestigious Reebok Human Rights Award for his work in the campaign to increase awareness about police brutality 
• ABRAHAM GEBREYESUS, 27, an advocate for land-mine victims; 
• DYDIER KAMUNDU, also 27, who has conducted fact-finding investigations in Congo,
• RANA HUSSEINI, 30, a Jordanian journalist who documented the custom in which women suspected of immoral behavior are murdered by their own families. 

Anti-sweatshop activists scurried to find the location of the event, which was finally moved to Columbia University. No data on number of attendees. 

1997 - No Data

1996 -  Five individuals are honored by Reebok for their battles against poor labor practices, government oppression, and police brutality 

• Julie Su, a recent Harvard Law School graduate, is on her first big case: battling a handful of the biggest clothing manufacturers in the United States. 
• Jesus Tecu Osorio, a Guatemalan massacre survivor pressing the government for just compensation for his community
• Dr. Ma Thida was among the winners of the Reebok Human Rights Award for courage in the face of tyranny in Burma. 
• Innocent Chukwuma, 30, a project director for the Civil Liberties Organization, Nigeria's oldest and largest human rights association; a Nigerian activist challenging the abusive practices of Nigerian police. 
• Canada's Craig Kielburger, a 13-year-old who campaigns against child labor practices worldwide, will receive Reebok's Youth-in-Action Award. 

1996 is the year when media and activists began to challenge Reebok -Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights group, charges that the Reebok awards are a "public relations hoax," because the company makes shoes in China and Indonesia where labor organizing is illegal. (Source: The Christian Science Monitor  December 11, 1996, Wednesday  SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 12  - HEADLINE: Faces Behind the Fight for Human Rights BYLINE: David Holmstrom). 

1995 - Reebok HR Awards - 

Arn Chorn  received a Reebok Human Rights Award for his work. 

So did twelve-year-old Iqbal Masih of Pakistan was such a hit when he visited Boston last year to receive a human rights award from Reebok that Brandeis University offered him a full scholarship whenever he was ready. Iqbal's picture appeared in newspapers and on television when Reebok honored him with its Youth in Action Award for his advocacy of Pakistani children held in bondage. Iqbal Masih, who was given the Reebok Human Rights Award in December, was the president of the children's wing of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front of Pakistan. Police said an employee of a local landlord shot and killed Iqbal in his hometown of Muridke, near Lahore, the Punjab provincial capital, while the boy was on his way home Sunday (Source: Los Angeles Times   View Related Topics April 19, 1995, Wednesday, Home Edition SECTION: Part A; Page 6; Foreign Desk  HEADLINE: LABOR ACTIVIST, 12, KILLED IN PAKISTAN  BYLINE: By Reuters).  

1994 - Reebok HR Awards - with with appearances by Peter Gabriel, and actress and wife of Sting, Trudie Styler (gave keynote), as well as Olympic decathlete Rafer Johnson - Why?

• An audience of 4,000 listened to the speeches and gawked at the stars.
• Each award winner receives $ 25,000 for the human rights organization of their choice.
• Winners included:
  • Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, 25, who launched a literacy program 10 years ago so his fellow Nepalese could stand up for theirrights; 
  • Rose-Anne Auguste, a 30-year-old Haitian nurse; 
  • Adauto Belarmino Alves, a 29-year-old gay rights and AIDS activist from Brazil; 
  • Samuel Kofi Woods, 30, who monitors human rights violations in Liberia. 
• "We are not giving any interviews to The Boston Globe at this time" (replied the Reebok spokesperson)... Gracious me! Is it because we sent a reporter to Southeast Asia to check out the sweatshop labor conditions where Reebok makes many of those shoes? (This story was a great affront to chairman Paul Fireman, who has invested thousands of PR dollars handing out "Human Rights Awards" to left-wing film makers and the like.) No, Fireman is still seething over a long, flattering story we recently printed about his private country club, Willowbend. It didn't help that we described the $ 670 Million Man as "semi-portly." That characterization, I think you will agree, erred on the side of generosity. So the word went forth: No more chitchat with El Globo! Where was I? Oh, yes. Nike has milked its fabulous, 74-acre World Campus in Oregon for major-league propaganda value. In a recent article, Sports Illustrated swooned over Nike's "corporate Xanadu," with fancy buildings named after the company's Big Shills (e.g., Bo Jackson Fitness Center, Joe Paterno Day Care Center) and other such small-town amenities as
  hair salons, laundromat, etc. Now Reebok wants to set up something similar, preferably in Massachusetts, but you know these footwear types - they might run away for the right deal (Source - The Boston Globe - November 4, 1994, Friday, City Edition SECTION: LIVING; Pg. 45 HEADLINE: The Fireman's gall - by line - ALEX BEAM). 

1993 - Reebok HR Awards presented CEO Billionaire TED TURNER, Peter Gariel, and Siourney Weaver.  Turner, is founder of the Cable News Network, delivered the keynote address at Reebok International Ltd.'s presentation of its annual human rights awards. WHY?  The Stoughton-based Reebok company last year sold $ 3 billion worth of athletic shoes and other apparel, and condecended to donate $ 25,000 to each recipient's organization. Winners were chosen by a 12-member board of advisers which included former president Jimmy Carter. 

Winners include: the Rev. Carl Washington, who mediated a truce between rival gangs in South Central, Los Angeles; Marie-France Botte, of Belgium, who works to halt the sale of Asian children into prostitution; Sia Kashinawa, a defender of the Brazilian rain forest's indigenous people; and Hisham Mubarak, who documents human-rights violations in Egypt. 

Held at The Hynes Auditorium, the ceremony will also include performances by several musicians, including Peter Gabriel and appearances by celebrities including actress Sigourney Weaver (Source: Globe Newspaper Company  The Boston Globe  View Related Topics  December 8, 1993, Wednesday, City Edition SECTION: ECONOMY; Pg. 56  HEADLINE: 4 human rights advocates to be given Reebok awards; 
BUSINESS BRIEFLY  BYLINE: By Josh Hyatt). 

1992 - Reebok HR Awards - Peter Gabriel and Joan Baez. Former hostage Terry Anderson gave the keynote address - WHY? - Peter Gabriel, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Yo-Yo Ma, Joan Baez, Cybill Shepherd and others helped draw a capacity crowd to the fifth annual Reebok Human Rights Awards at the Hines Convention Center on Dec. 9. Recipients received $ 25,000 to give to a human rights organization, must be under age 30 and cannot advocate violence. The awardees are: 

• Stacey Kabat, volunteer director of Boston-based Battered Women Fighting Back!,

• Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, president of Voice of the Voiceless (VSV) in Zaire.

• Martin O'Brien, founder of the Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and director of the Committee on the Administration
  of Justice.

• Fernando de Araujo, chairman of the student group RENETIL, which is working for East Timor's independence from Indonesia.

The ceremony in Boston drew more than 3,000 people, including celebrities Peter Gabriel and Joan Baez. Former hostage Terry Anderson gave the keynote address (Source: 1992 Christian Science Monitor  December 10, 1992, Thursday  SECTION: THE U.S.; Pg. 2  HEADLINE: Four Human Rights Activists Are Honored - BYLINE: Elizabeth Levitan Spaid; Billboard  December 19, 1992 - SECTION: ARTISTS & MUSIC; Pg. 12  HEADLINE: Stars Help Cheer Rights Honorees BYLINE: BY GREG REIBMAN). 

1991 - Reebok HR Awards in Boston with Jimmy Carter and host of star celebs -  The 1991 Reebok Human Rights Awards, held at the Boston Park Plaza Castle, drew media attention and buses of school kids because of the presence of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Ruben Blades, Lou Reed, James Taylor, KRS-One, Sinbad, Johnny Clegg, Jackson Browne, Lou Diamond Phillips, and others. On Tuesday (Dec 10, 1991), Mr. Carter spoke at the Reebok Human Rights Award ceremony in Boston, which, he said, honors "young heroes, less than 30 years old, for their work in exposing human rights violations and endangering their freedom or their lives"  (Source: Bodean, Nadine, The New York Times  View Related Topics  December 7, 1991, Saturday, Late Edition - Final  SECTION: Section 1; Page 24; Column 1). "Carter, a member of the awards' advisory board, was introduced by Paul Fireman, chairman and chief executive officer of Stoughton-based Reebok International Ltd., as 'the president who will be remembered for human rights'" 

• The winners, who received their trophies from entertainment celebrities, included: Abubacar Sultan, 28, of Mozambique, the national director of Save the Children Federation/Mozambique. 
• Carlos Toledo, 24, of Guatemala, a street educator with Casa Alianza, or Covenant House, was cited for "leading the challenge to protect more than 5,000 street children against police brutality and the challenges of growing up alone." 
• Sauvuer Pierre, 31, of Florida, who fled Haiti in a boat and who, "after experiencing brutal exploitation in the cane fields of south Florida, resolved to find justice for the over 200,000 migrant farm workers who come to the United States every year." 
• Mirtala Lopez, 22, of El Salvador. Lopez was arrested, tortured and imprisoned for her work on behalf of the displaced. As secretary of human rights and legal affairs for the Christian Committee of the Displaced of El Salvador, she works with resettling Salvadoran refugees. 
• Besides Carter, celebrities passing out awards included s Jon Voight and Richard Grieco... 
• Boston area students were also honored as winners in Reebok's "Human Rights and Me" contests, in which entrants expressed their human rights commitment in poetry, essays and art.  (Source: Gloria Negri -Carter confers rights awards.  The Boston Globe View Related Topics  December 11, 1991, Wednesday, City Edition  SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. 65). 

Reebok's human-rights activities represent a commitment in excess of $ 2 million a year, Fireman reported. 

1990 - Reebok HR Awards - Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, Johnny Clegg, Joan Baez, and Carly Simon were among the participants here last month at an emotional, star-studded ceremony honoring human-rights activists from around the world. 

1989 -Reebok HR Awards in Boston Dec. 5, British rock artist Sting presented - WHY?  Sting presented the second annual Reebok Human Rights Awards to activists who struggled to raise awareness of human rights.(Source: 989 Gannett Company Inc.  USA TODAY  November 28, 1989, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION  SECTION: LIFE; Pg. 2D). 

1988 - First year of Reebok HR Awards - Since 1988 Reebok, one of the world's leading exploiters of human rights has presented the Human Rights award to honor of Human Rights activists aged 30 years of age or younger for their efforts to improve human rights at great personal risk to their body and against formidable odds in oppressive situations. LaDuke is the director of the White Earth Recovery Project and won the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1988.

• 1988 Reebok contributed $10 million to underwrite the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! world concert tour, which Gabriel helped organize. 

Why Do people accept a REEBOK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD? Why do Celebrities Hand them out?

When a transnational global corporation continues to violate its own corporate codes of conduct, then it is legitimate to ask why would any one working for Human Rights accept an award from the Reebok Corporation. 

1. Report on Dongguan Elegant Top Shoes Co., Ltd. China (2000) details alleged, continued violations of Reebok's  Code of conduct. These include discrimination, wage, overtime, benefit and safety practices which violate Chinese law and are contrary to Reebok's code. 
2. Report on Gang Tai Shoes, a Hong Kong (2001) subcontractor to Kong Tai Shoes Mfg. Co., Ltd. of Taiwan who operates the factory in China and subs to Reebok has alleged repeated code of conduct violations.
3. Monitors sent be Reebok to write reports that audit compliance to Reebok's Code of Conduct are actualized in ways that deny workers their voice, and cover up cancer causing toxic conditions such as use of Tolulene:
   • Inspection from labor organizations and Reebok clients. Before visits by human rights or labor organizations and the media, the factory administration will inform the workers to "get prepared".
     
     Sometimes the organizations and Reebok clients come visit the factory. But the factory administration will keep the workers informed before their coming. They threaten the workers not to speak about the truth, [2] such as the real overtime work hours, and work intensity. Sometimes the workers themselves would hide the truth, such as the process which using toluene. Even when Miss Zhou comes to the shop the workers will hide the toluene because they are afraid of punishment from the factory.

In sum, Why would any self-respecting Human Rights worker accept a Human Rights Award from a company that blatantly ignores the human rights of its subcontract employees?   The question demands an answer, and this is why the annual Reebok Award ceremony is kept secret, clandestine, and only the public relations photographers are invited to the ceremony. 

Why does Reebok have a Human Rights Award?

If the ceremony is a sham, then why stage it? 

According to Reebok officials: "As concern for human rights issues grows among consumers, particularly younger consumers, we believe our leadership and reputation will translate into greater preference for our brands and products," Reebok said at that time" (4, 5).

It was established in 1988 and 57 young people from 28 countries have been honored by Reebok for their significant contributions to Human Rights. Is this Human  Rights Hypocrisy since Reebok does not honor the Human Rights struggles of its 75,000 workers?   Does Reebok trample its own Worker  Rights while promoting a corporate PR image with its Human Rights Award?  What is the historical record of Reebok and Human Rights?

Paul Fireman, Chairman of Reebok International, Ltd. of Canton, Massachusetts, said, "The vanguard of the human rights movement today is in the hundreds of activist grass roots organizations and thousands of people who face abuses and refuse to accept them. Every year the recipients of the Reebok Human Rights Award come forward to tell their stories to the world – and each year we are struck by the spirit, determination, and fortitude of these young heroines and heroes. They tell stories of horror and despair countered by an undaunted affirmation of humanity and a bold pursuit of positive change, often in the face of ultimate consequences. It is a great honor for Reebok to support these inspiring young human rights advocates" (February, 2001).

 

WHY DO CELEBRITIES DO PHOTO SHOOTS GIVING A HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD?

In 1998 Actress Glenn Close presents the Reebok Human Rights Award?  WHY? Does she know anything about Reebok factories? About workers' rights? About human rights?  Or is this star power in the service of the spectacle of corporate power, a clever PR show to dupe the fans?

In October 9, 2001, Reebok launched its most aggressive women's campaign by tying celebrity stars to its sponsorship of the Survivor series. Star power includes Unites Grammy Nominee Missy Elliott, Tennis Champion Venus Williams, WNBA Professional Basketball Star Jennifer Azzi, Survivor II Castaways and Reebok Master Trainers In New TV Campaign Celebrating Women Who Defy Convention. The theme is Defy Convention, "It’s A Woman’s World."

Yet, one can not help but ask, what kind of 'women's world" is it for hundreds of thousands of women in Indonesia, China, Mexico and elsewhere making Reebok while sports and movie celebrities re-focus consumer attention on the Survivor series?

WHAT ARE THE FACTS? One has to think that celebrities with star power would cease to provide Reebok with its cover story of "Its' A Woman's World" if they knew the working conditions of women working for Reebok.  While each of the Human Rights Awards recipients has a courageous story to tell about their work on behalf of others, it is a fact that Reebok has the weakest Code of Conduct in its industry and continues to have Human Rights problems in its factories. The minimum age for child labor is 14 years old; There is a February, 2001 report of child labor in their Mexico factory; The work week in the Reebok Code is 60 hours, and the fair wage is not a living wage. Current examples of Reebok violating its own Code of Conduct and Human Rights statements:

Reebok in Indonesia and Human Rights - February, 2001, the U.S. State Department's report to Congress on Human Rights  around the world explained the struggle by Indonesian workers to win an equitable severance settlement with the  Reebok contractor, Kong Tai International (KTI).  The lawyer for KTI promised "a fight  to the death" over the issue (the same law firm represents the GOLKAR party  of the disgraced Gen'l Suharto). "Reebok in 1999 published a report that was highly critical of conditions of some 10,000 workers at its five plants in Indonesia. In the report, an independent Indonesian research firm said it found evidence of health and safety abuses, sexual discrimination and communication problems in the factories. Reebok immediately said it was spending more than $500,000 to improve conditions at the factories" (4).

Reebok in Mexico and Human Rights - January and February, 2001 - Workers have documented child labor at the plant...(See Reebok Code of Conduct - Child Labor) - When workers stood up for their rights, police and thugs attacked them, sending over 15 workers to the hospital... (See Reebok Code of Conduct - Freedom of Association). Workers at the Kuk Dong factory in Peubla Mexico, a Korean-managed Reebok subcontractor, walked out to protest the firing of five workers for protesting rotten food in the cafeteria, low wages (75 cents an hour), and the failure of the company to pay the Christmas bonus in accordance with Mexican labor law (See Reebok Code of Conduct).  Workers also report physical and verbal abuse, the unwillingness of the company to pay maternity benefits, failure by the company to pay extra wages for overtime hours, attempts by the company to impose forced overtime, and serious safety and health violations (See Reebok Code of Conduct). On January 25th, 2001 two independent monitoring agencies - the Worker Rights Consortium, a body involving 67 U.S. universities, and the International Labor Rights Fund, a non-profit affiliated to the Fair Labor Association which also has university affiliates - released reports submitted by their monitoring teams confirming that Kuk Dong has (at least) violated the right to freedom of association as granted by Mexican labor law, the International Labor Organization, University and Reebok Code of Conduct, and the first legally binding agreement signed in mid-January.

March 2001 - This year, the 12th Annual Reebok Human Rights Award Program has honored Will Coley, Project Director  of  the  Jesuit Refugee Service Detainee and Asylum Assistance Project for his work in providing services to political asylum seekers in detention and bringing  attention  to  this  issue.   The  Reebok  Human  Rights  Program will highlight the issue of detention of political asylum seekers through a number of events March 19th-23rd, 2001.  Besides Will Coley, there are 3 other recipients: Heather Barr, 29, a lawyer with the Urban Justice Center in New York City; Kodjo Djissenou, 24, of Togo, a journalist who has campaigned against sexual harassment and trafficking of children; and Ndungi Githuku, 27, of Kenya, an artist who uses plays and poetry to campaign for human rights. Each winner is gracious: "I wouldn't want to focus it on myself as it is an award for all of us who are in the struggle, for all of us who are oppressed," Githuku said" (6, 7). Reebok press release celebrate not only the recipients but Reebok's great works in Human Rights (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , 8): "Reebok, a Canton, Mass.-based athletic shoe and apparel company, each year gives the Human Rights Award to four individuals whose human rights work "has brought hope, inspiration and strength to the lives of others" (4). Each will be given a $50,000 grant.  Will this award ceremony pay tribute to the Reebok factory workers, mostly women, in Indonesia and Mexico who struggle bravely and courageously to establish their own human rights according to Reebok's Code of Conduct? Write to Will Coley, and ask him how his acceptance of such an award from Reebok undercuts the struggle of mostly young female workers to secure their Human Rights.

Jesuit Refugee Service is an international humanitarian non-governmental organization formed under the auspices of the Catholic religious order, the Society of Jesus. See JRS alert on Indonesia (West Timor alert 2-03-2001). QUESTION: Do these same people work for Reebok factories in Indonesia? Please email info@jesref.org to protest the Reebok Human Rights Award.

Reebok, the Canton, Mass.-based athletic shoe and apparel company, will present the awards March 21 in Boston.

Who is the CEO of REEBOK?

	Reebok CEO, Paul Fireman; CEO Paul Fireman and his wife own 18% of the company.
	Reebok Chief Financial Officer Ken Watchmaker
	Headquarters: 100 Technology Center Drive Stoughton, MA. 02072
	1895 J. W. Foster Blvd. Canton, MA 02021 Telephone: 617-341-5000 Web Site: www.reebok.com
	Reebok International Ltd. (RBK)
	Reebok CEO, Paul Fireman is one of the highest paid CEOs in the world. "The way we treat our fellow human beings is the ultimate measure of our own humanity," said Paul Fireman, chairman and CEO of Reebok International Ltd." ( 8).

FACTS:

Reebok employs 75,000 workers worldwide.

Reebok has a Code of Conduct.

WHAT is Reebok's Strategy?

Reebok's corporate strategy is to present itself as a Human Rights Advocate giving out Human Rights Awards  (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , 8). This is a corporate image known as "sweatwash," the effort to craft a corporate image of Human Rights Advocacy while employing women in China in oppressive work conditions. Reebok competes with Nike by presenting itself as more worker-friendly than Nike.    Nike and Reebok have been in a PR war this past decade to prove they are more worker-right friendly than the other (CLR).

	REEBOK 1999 - March 24 -  Reebok Calls on Indonesia to Release Labor Rights Activist - Reebok Leads Wage Increases among Manufacturers in Indonesia. STOUGHTON, Mass. -- On the day before the presentation of the 1999 Reebok Human Rights Awards, the U.S.-based athletic footwear and apparel leader Reebok International Ltd. made public today a letter from Reebok CEO Paul Fireman to Indonesian President B.J. Habibie urging the release of imprisoned Indonesian labor rights activist, Dita Sari. (Read more about Dita Sari - It was not Reebok press release that released her).
	Nike, Reebok compete to set labor rights pace (Trim Bissell, Campaign for Labor Rights, 25 Mar. 1999)
	REEBOK - February 27, 2001 - Boston Globe Celebs back human rights Art-rocker Peter Gabriel and tennis ace Venus Williams will host the annual Reebok Human Rights Awards ceremony March 21 at Northeastern's Blackman Auditorium. They will salute Heather Barr, a New York lawyer and advocate for the mentally ill; William Coley, an  advocate for refugees seeking political asylum in the United States; Kodjo Djissenou, a youth organizer campaigning for democracy in Togo; and  Endungi Githuku, an artist using his plays and poetry to teach Kenyans about human rights. Reebok, based in Canton, will give $50,000 to each winner for donation to the organization of his or her choice. More human  rights-loving celebs to be announced.
	REEBOK AND MONITORING STRATEGY Doug Cahn, director of Reebok's Human Rights Program, acknowledges  that Reebok's code is in part a response to consumer demand for Reebok to be accountable for human rights in its production processes: "Paying money up front (for monitoring) helps protect against criticisms of your brand image... because the brand  image stands for something that can't be (allowed to) erode." For Reebok, monitoring costs become part of marketing costs because the firm believes issue-based brand image can sustain profits. Reebok's pursuit of a socially responsible image is evaluated in Andrea Mackiewicz, The Economist Intelligence Unit Guide to Building a Global Image   (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993).

Reebok has its Code of Conduct.

History

	1885 - "Joseph William Foster, the star of an English running club, wanted a pair of spiked running shoes. He could not find any sort of shoe, so he decided to make his own by hammering nails through the soles of his shoes" (1, 2).
	1890's - Joseph Foster founded a company called “J.W. Foster & Sons, Inc” to enhance performance in long-distance track events by improving equipment.
	1933 - Joseph Foster died and the company was renamed “The Olympic Works”
	1950s - two of Foster’s grandsons began another footwear company called “Reebok Sports Limited”, named after an African gazelle known for its tremendous speed (1, 2).
	1958 Joseph’s grandsons founded a new footwear company called “Mercury”; in Drury, England
	1970’s - changed name to “Reebok International Limited” based in Canton, Massachusetts.

	1979 - Reebok USA started by Paul Fireman.
	1982 - Paul Fireman, an American outdoor equipment marketer, persuaded Reebok to grant him distributorship of Reebok products in North America; sales of $3.5m.
	1984 - Reebok was purchased by Fireman
	1985 $307m in sales.
	1988 - Reebok  helped sponsor the “Human Rights Now!” International Concert Tour  featuring Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and Peter Gabriel (40th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights)
	1992- Human Rights Production Standards begin - The standards cover non-discrimination, working hours/overtime, forced or compulsory labor, wages, child labor, freedom of association, and workplace safety/health; it includes on-site inspection of production facilities, to implement and monitor those standards (Reebok).
	The Reebok Foundation then gives $25,000 to a Human Rights organization of the recipient’s choice (1). And Reebok underwrote the Amnesty International World Tour for $10 million.
	1996 - Press for Change protests at Reebok Human Rights Award ceremony in New York
	1999- (October 18) On Reebok made public a detailed report by an independent Indonesian research firm which criticized working conditions at two Indonesian factories employing 10,000 workers producing Reebok footwear. The report, entitled Peduli Hak, is available on Reebok's website.

IN THE NEWS

For More In The News for Reebok, below are just a few items:

	1991 -If Reebok doubled the wages of its workers in Indonesia, what effect would that have on its overall costs and profits? Interview with Pharis Harvey: Harvey: Well, if Reebok doubled their wages, it could raise the cost of a shoe from $79 to $80 and nobody would ever notice it. There is now about $1 worth of labor that goes into a shoe.  In 1991, Paul Fireman, the CEO of Reebok, was paid at least two times as much as the entire workforce of the Indonesian shoe industry. Reebok has 25,000 workers in Indonesia. If you allow $1.50 a day, for 300 days a year, youÆve got an annual wage of $500 a person. Add in a few benefits and bring it up to $600 maybe. 25,000 times $600 is $15 million, and that's at the most generous counting. Fireman made $31,000,000 in 1991 (interview).
	IRONIC to COMPARE THESE 2 EVENTS:
	February 27, 2001 - (U.S. State Department) - Mentioning a Reebok subcontract dispute with workers - "Representatives of 4,700 footwear workers, who did not receive severance pay when their factory closed, staged a sit-in for several weeks in the national Parliament until the company paid the severances... In addition to normal work stoppages, workers occasionally used unorthodox tactics, such as blocking Jakarta's airport toll road.  Representatives of 4,700 footwear workers, who did not receive severance pay when their factory closed, staged a sit-in for several weeks in the national Parliament until the company paid the severances.
	February 27, 2001 - Boston Globe Celebs back human rights Art-rocker Peter Gabriel and tennis ace Venus Williams will host the annual Reebok Human Rights Awards ceremony March 21 at Northeastern's Blackman Auditorium. They will salute Heather Barr, a New York lawyer and advocate for the mentally ill; William Coley, an  advocate for refugees seeking political asylum in the United States; Kodjo Djissenou, a youth organizer campaigning for democracy in Togo; and  Endungi Githuku, an artist using his plays and poetry to teach Kenyans about human rights. Reebok, based in Canton, will give $50,000 to each winner for donation to the organization of his or her choice. More human  rights-loving celebs to be announced.

Reebok's Time Line

	1992 Reebok issued its REEBOK has its CODE OF CONDUCT - known as the Reebok Human Rights Production Standards. It prohibits the use of Child Labor and workers should have the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining (1).  This was in response to protests in Indonesia (2). "Reebok responded by adopting the first code of conduct to contain language protecting the rights to associate freely and bargain collectively" (2).
	1995 Study of Reebok Factory in China found numerous human rights violations and contrary practices to Reebok's Code of Conduct (source).
	Why? - The Real Issue is How Contracts get mad "My son and I interviewed a manager from a Reebok factory who was more candid than the Nike managers, simply because Reebok is not yet receiving such intense international criticism. He pointed out that contractors must agree to a certain percentage -- 12% -- as being the labor costs involved in making shoes. If labor costs exceed that, the contractor has to absorb those costs or has to force the workers to meet higher quotas" (Source).
	1996 Life Magazine article carries photos of children making Nike and Adidas Soccer balls. These same factories make balls for Reebok See Pakistan.  Reebok is credited for taking the need to reform seriously (source). See Foul BALL, Miriam Wasserman's  (2000) article gives lots of facts and figures)
	1996 Reebok centralized all its soccer ball production in a new factory. 4 See Soccer Ball Study. Reebok contracts for its soccer ball production with Moltex (Since March 1997 5, 6). 1996 Sialkot agreement - The agreement follows an initiative to remove children from soccer ball production in Pakistan launched by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry and the Soccer Industry Council of America. These groups together represent more than 50 sporting goods brands, including U.S. manufacturers Reebok and Nike, who were involved in discussions on the Sialkot agreement.
	1997 - MAJOR REPORTS RELEASED -  "Working Conditions in Sports Shoe Factories in China Making Shoes for Nike and Reebok" a report by the Asia Monitor Resource Centre and the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee Hong Kong, September 1997 (source 1,).
	1997 VIETNAM LABOR REPORT - During his stay in Vietnam, Nguyen interviewed 35 Nike workers and 25 Reebok workers with the help of Vietnamese officials.
	1997 REPORT FROM CHINA - Sunday, September 21, 1997 Study: Chinese workers abused making Nikes, Reeboks  Last modified at 11:07 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, 1997 NEW YORK (AP) -- Subcontractors making shoes in China for Nike and Reebok use workers as young as 13 who earn as little as 10 cents an hour toiling up to 17 hours daily in enforced silence, independent observers charge (source).
	1998 After the Child Labor Scandal In Pakistan Reebok began to label its Soccer Balls "No Child Labor"
	1998 - Reebok and Soccer Balls - School project on child labor begins (REEBOK) boycott  Sunday, July 5, 1998 BY DANA DiFILIPPO  The Cincinnati Enquirer
	1998 and 1999, brown shoe phenomenon hurt Reebok sales
	1999 (May 28) - MATTEL, LEVI STRAUSS, REEBOK ENDORSE NEW CODE On May 28, three companies highly invested in China - Mattel, Levi Strauss and Reebok - announced that they had joined with 21 human rights, fair trade and socially responsible investment groups in endorsing a set of principles for corporations doing business in China (source).
	October 19, 1999- A report on two Indonesian factories hired by sneaker maker Reebok International Ltd., though welcome, fell far short, critics said yesterday, noting the study examined only two of hundreds of shops Reebok hires (CCC).
	September 9, 1999 - Reebok cuts 120 Massachusetts jobs  - Associated Press STOUGHTON, Mass. (AP) PORTSMOUTH HERALD - Reebok International Ltd. laid off 120 employees in Massachusetts in an attempt to cut costs and restructure its business; 10% of 1200 HQ employees and will cut 10% of its worldwide 6,000 employees.
	February 1, 2001- Reebok Shares Hit Year High on Outlook By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON (Reuters) - Reebok International Ltd. (RBK), the world's No. 2 shoe maker, on Thursday said its profits this year could surge 25 percent after swiping rivals' market share last year with trendy brands.
	October 20, 2001 - Reebok, once again accused of human rights violations (child labor, sexual harassment, toxic conditions) in its China factories. Saturday October 20, 2:40 PM APEC should put priority on improving workers' rights in China: labor group SHANGHAI, Oct 20 (AFP) - China is ignoring labor violations by foreign-invested companies, and business leaders at the current Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum should put workers' rights high on the agenda, a rights group said Saturday.... The factory, Dongguan Elegant Top Co. Ltd., located in Dongguan city in Guangdong province, makes shoes for major multinationals including Reebok, Clarks and Fila, CLW said. It uses child labor and has subjected workers to using dangerous chemicals, such as methybenzene, without protection, according to CLW. Female workers at the factory, who make up the majority of its 6,000 employees, have been subjected to sexual harassment, while the company imposes hefty fines for even minor mistakes, CLW said.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Copy the following letter, and email of fax to CEO Firestone and his associates (Source www.chinalaborwatch.org). Dear Reebok Customers, Chinese workers need your help! We hope you will join our writing campaign to Reebok to urge them to improve the working and living condition of their workers in factories in China. Reebok is a giant international company. Many products of the company are manufactured in the factories of Chinese contractors. The labor situations in these factories is as follows: · Workers are forced to work overtime up to 13 hour a day; · Workers hourly pay is as low as 24 cents US; · Female workers are sexually harassed; · Workers are fined as punishment; · Workers are overly burdened under regulations laid out in a 49 page manual (link to regulations); · No pension plan, no employment insurance, no medical insurance, and a worker will loose everything once his/her job is lost. TAKE ACTION Today, China Labor Watch has released another report on the labor conditions of a Reebok contractor ( www.chinalaborwatch.org  ). We are now focusing our demands on several points the workers believe Reebok contractors should fulfill.  We hope you will take the time to write to Reebok to support these Chinese workers. The email address of Reebok’s Human Rights Office is humanrights@reebok.com. The demands we have put forward are listed as follows. 1. Regarding: No discrimination against male workers. Because of the discriminations against male workers, there are currently eight female workers to every male worker. We demand this rate to improve to four female workers to each male worker. 2. Regarding the education of labor laws and union laws as well as the establishment of trade unions.  Although election of union leaders were conducted under the direction of Reebok, most workers just regard the union as a program during New Year celebrations. They do not understand the function of the union. We demand that the posters of Labor Law and Union Law be displayed on the bulletin boards in these factories 3. The factory administration does not establish pension plans, employment insurance, and medical insurance for the workers. This is in violation of current Chinese Labor Law. The workers will lose everything when they get laid off or leave the factory. We demand that the workers’ wage level meet or exceed the minimum wage level set by the government.  The factory administration should establish pension plans, employment insurance, and medical insurance for the workers according to the Chinese Law.  The total expense of such compensation is only 8 US dollars per month. 4. Regarding work hours.  We demand that normal work hours not exceed 40 hours per week according to China’s labor law, and overtime work hours not exceed 36 hours per month. Friends, Chinese workers need your help. Take action now!  We sincerely appreciate you help. Sincerely, Li Qiang Executive Director China Labor Watch For further information: wwwchinalaborwatch.org ACTION! Please direct your appeal to the individuals below: CEO Paul Firestone Reebok International Ltd. 1895 J. W. Foster Blvd., Canton, MA 02021 U.S.A. 781-401-4910 781-401-4806 (fax) (E-mail); humanrights@reebok.com You may also write to the following organizations to further assist this cause: The Office of the High Commissioner  for Human Rights Geneva, Switzerland OHCHR-UNOG 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Telephone Number (41-22) 917-9000 e-mail: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch ILO Regional Office for Asia & the Pacific in Bangkok (ASIE) TELEPHONE :+66.2.288.1710:Reg. Director FAX : 66.2.288.3062 e-mail: bangkok@ilo.org Lorne W. Craner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State; Fax: 202-647-5283 Jorge Perez Lopez , Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs; US Department of Labor; Fax: 202-693-4780 Elegant Top Shoes Co., Ltd. Da Tang Dou, Ju Shan Village Fu Cheng District Dongguan City, Guandong Province Phone: 0769-2204901,