Why Phil Knight?
Why did Nike become a target rather than Reebok? Every social movement needs a visible villain, and in a media-driven political world, the anti-sweatshop activists couldnt have asked for a better one than Phil Knight, the founder and CEO of the largest sports-shoe business in the world, Nike. With its high-profile in the media presence through its “Just Do It” advertising slogan, high-priced athlete endorsements, the opening of Niketown mega-stores, and the increasing, ubiquitous presence of “the Swoosh” on clothing and on college campuses, consumers under 30 relate to Nike. In Indonesia, low wages made the country a destination for companies like Nike, and Indonesian labor has been a key part of the companys economic success. During 1988 and 1989, sporadic signs of labor discontent appeared in the international and Indonesian press. In 1992, the minimum wage in Indonesia ranged from 50 cents a day to $1.50 a day. A survey carried out in 1989 by the Asian-American Free Labor Institute
