(PORTLAND, OREGON) - When a trio of Indonesian Factory Workers - who work for factories that produce Nike shoes, recently visited Nike’s Downtown Portland store, they recognized parts of shoes that they cut or stitched.

Dedeh Nurhasanah examined a pair of Nike sneakers that cost more than her monthly salary of three million rupiah, or $184 (US).

Through a translator, she told advocates and reporters who joined the store visit that seeing the shoes in the store made her feel both proud and sad.

Leni Oktira Sari recognized the material she cuts out for the tongue of the shoe - more than 220 pairs per hour.

Dinar Swandini showed attendees the Nike swoosh that she sews onto sneakers and smiled when she saw “Made in Indonesia” on the label inside the shoe. 

Besides the Nike store at Portland’s Pioneer Place Mall, the Garment Workers visited Nike’s Beaverton Headquarters and the heavily Nike-branded University of Oregon in Eugene.

The visits were meant to publicize their call for Nike to improve wages and working conditions for the Workers who make their products. 

The Workers met with Oregon Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson and filed a complaint about unpaid wages, The Oregonian reported.

The Workers then traveled to New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., after the Oregon stops.

Swandini, a Member of the Union Garteks, Oktira Sari from the Union GSBI and Nurhasanah from SPN were selected by their Unions to represent thousands of Indonesian Garment Workers on a U.S. tour.

Their Unions and other Garment Worker Unions in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have joined with Activist Groups Global Labor Justice and Asia Floor Wage Alliance for a campaign targeting fashion brands. 

“I came to America to campaign for the rights of Workers in Indonesia who were not paid by Nike during COVID-19,” Nurhasanah said in a video recorded in front of the historic “Portland” sign outside the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

“Our hope of coming here is to reclaim the rights taken away by Nike at the time of COVID-19,” Nurhasanah said in the video, which was translated and shared by Asia Floor Wage Alliance. 

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Garment workers confront Nike over wages - NW Labor Press

Northwest Labor Press Editor’s Note: Pictured above, three Indonesian Garment Industry Union Members - Leni Oktira Sari, Dinar Swandini, and Dedeh Nurhasanah - visited Pioneer Place Mall in Portland, Oregon and told shoppers and passersby about the wages and conditions at factories that supply Nike. (Photo by Anna Del Savio)