Nike: Don’t Support Forced Labor in Uzbekistan

Nike claims to be a champion of human rights, but if that is true, then why is Nike doing business with Daewoo International, a company that is knowingly profiting from forced labor in Uzbekistan?

Every year, during the cotton harvest in Uzbekistan, over a million children and adults – including teachers, nurses and doctors – are forced to work in the cotton fields and meet daily picking quotas enforced by the Uzbek Government.

Over 130 apparel companies (including Nike) have taken a stand against forced labor in Uzbekistan by pledging to not buy forced labor cotton from Uzbekistan. Now, Uzbek human rights activists are calling on apparel companies to completely cut ties with companies, like Daewoo, that are profiting from Uzbek cotton.

Unfortunately, Nike, which sources synthetics from Daewoo, is refusing to end its relationship with the South Korean company in spite of the fact that several other companies, including H&M, The Limited, C&A, and Michael Kors, have moved to cut ties with Daewoo. Nike’s decision to protect Daewoo sends a dangerous message to other companies and damages the efforts of Uzbek citizens who have risked their lives to bring justice to Uzbekistan’s cotton fields.

Please join us in asking Nike to stop doing business with Daewoo and agree to implement the Daewoo Protocol – a series of steps the company needs to take to eliminate forced labor cotton from Nike’s supply chain.

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