FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2000
CONTACT: Dan Rene, 703-847-3088 or drene@nlpc.org
NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm today released the following statement:
"Anyone concerned about union corruption should applaud Nike Chairman Philip H. Knight for severing ties with institutions that have joined the so-called Worker’s Rights Consortium (WRC).
WRC purports to be a preferable monitoring vehicle to the Fair Labor Association, set up by the Clinton administration to oversee conditions in factories abroad where Nike’s and other brands are made.
A look at who is behind the WRC undermines the groups self-professed dedication to workers rights. WRC is heavily supported by the AFL-CIO's Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE was formed in as a result of a 1995 merger of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Worker Union and the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Both unions suffered from the longstanding influence of organized crime.
Today, UNITE apparently experiences similar problems. In recent years, federal investigations have focused on illegal shakedowns to avoid labor unrest. During 1998 Congressional hearings, UNITE members testified that conditions in New York City shops organized by UNITE were actually worse than in non-union shops.
The colleges and universities that have joined WRC are presumably unaware
of whose interests they serve. This dispute is more about the domestic
political power of the AFL-CIO and the protection of corrupt union officials
than it is about foreign sweatshops. Philip Knight did the right thing
by refusing to submit to blackmail by WRC activists."
NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action. In 1993, NLPC successfully sued Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care task force. NLPC currently sponsors the Organized Labor Accountability Project and publishes Union Corruption Update twice per month.