Opinion: Penn State must stand with workers and drop Nike

More and more of Penn State’s workers are demanding labor justice: institutional support for Black employees, competitive pay for English teaching faculty, fair contracts for service employees and just working conditions for graduate students.

But beyond our campuses, workers in garment factories around the world toil to produce Penn State’s iconic apparel — clothing that generates unknown millions in royalties for Penn State each year, primarily through its contract with Nike. As members of United Students Against Sweatshops-Student Works at Penn State, we’re calling attention to how and why Penn State must support these workers’ yearslong quest for labor justice.

In 2021, a third-party watchdog revealed that the Nike-contracted Hong Seng Knitting factory in Bangkok, Thailand, illegally coerced workers to claim “voluntary leave” during a drop in demand caused by the pandemic. In doing so, factory owners attempted to evade legal provisions that would have required them to pay workers over $600,000 — many of whom are migrants from Myanmar who faced violent discrimination during the pandemic.

Migrant workers lose their right to remain in Thailand if they are dismissed from their exploitative, low-paying jobs. Several affected workers were pregnant women. Management threatened employees that if they raised concerns about the scheme’s illegality, they’d have to “take responsibility for any problems that could arise.”

When Kyaw San Oo organized a petition among workers to submit to Thai labor authorities, the factory owners filed an unsubstantiated police report that he had defamed the company on social media. Fearing the torture and harassment that Myanma workers often face in Thai prisons, Kyaw San Oo was forced to flee with his wife — also a Hong Seng employee — and their nine-month-old child.

Despite the Worker Rights Consortium’s thorough investigation revealing the abhorrent coercion and exploitation of migrant workers at Hong Seng, Nike has largely sided with the factory owners, claiming that 99% of workers took leave voluntarily despite clear coercion.

Respect and honor for the dignity of every person is one of Penn State’s core six values. We believe Hong Seng and Nike’s behavior runs against our principles, and we believe Penn State cannot contract with companies who refuse to acknowledge people’s dignity. Penn State, an affiliate of the Worker Rights Consortium, was notified of these egregious violations in April 2021. Over the last two months, we’ve asked administrators to take meaningful action. They haven’t.

Now, we’re joining 12 campus and community organizations, alongside State College Mayor Ezra Nanes, to ask that President Bendapudi and the administration stand up for the dignity of migrant workers. We demand that the university publicly call on Nike to ensure all harmed Hong Seng workers are paid their $600,000-plus due in back-pay. And we ask Penn State to suspend its Nike contract until the multinational corporation makes those workers whole. Whatever royalties Penn State generates from Nike sales are not remotely worth the precarity and violence that Hong Seng workers and their families have faced and continue to face.

And we ask community members to join the chorus of voices demanding that Penn State respect the dignity of Hong Seng’s workers by signing the petition at tinyurl.com/NikeStealsPSU.

Standing for labor justice at Penn State means standing up for labor rights at Hong Seng, safety at local student housing construction sites, and fair contracts for Mount Nittany hospital workers. On March 31 from 10:30 a.m.-noon at the Charlotte Ray Lounge in Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center, community members can learn how to support ongoing labor rights advocacy with organizers from USAS-SWAPS, the Seven Mountains Central Labor Council and SEIU Healthcare PA.

The authors are undergraduate and graduate members of United Students Against Sweatshops-Student Works at Penn State (USAS-SWAPS).