Nike sneakers are produced at:
Sewon Factory
Jiaozhou City
Shandong Province, China

Nike in China

Summary - Nike Made in China

Nike in China, and Proud of It Nike Puts the Swoosh on Contractors’ Factories

On the walls of the Sewon Factory in Jiaozhou City, you see the famous Nike Swoosh and “Just Do It” – right behind the locked metal entrance gate, the iron bars covering the windows and the spiked metal fence surrounding the factory.  There was a serious fire in the plant in 1995, and the factory was told to take the iron grates off the windows.  But apparently Sewon’s management did not feel it had to.
The base wage in the factory is 20 cents an hour, and people in the neighborhood said the women had to work 11 to 12-hour shifts, six days a week.  Nor would Sewon and Nike hire anyone over 25 years of age, figuring that by that time the workers were “used up” and “exhausted.”

Nike:  110,000 Workers in China

The best estimate is that Nike contracts with approximately 50 hidden factories in China, employing over 110,000 workers.  Forty percent of Nike’s footwear is now made in China.  Nike also has 70,000 workers in Indonesia, who earn 19 to 21 cents an hour, and 45,000 workers in Vietnam, who earn 20 to 23 cents an hour.

Sewon factory. Nike contractor in Northern China displays the Nike "swoosh".

Sewon is a South Korean-owned footwear manufacturer with two plants in Jiaozhou City, which since 1989 have produced exclusively for Nike.  The factory we visited had 1,500 workers, mostly young women 18 to 25 years of age.  The outside walls of the factory were covered with Nike’s “Swoosh” and “Just Do It.”  But with the heavy metal entrance gate locked and bars of the windows, it resembled more an army barracks than a factory.  Sewon’s second factory was much larger, with 4,000 young workers. 

There are three other factories in Jiaozhou City employing up to 15,000 workers who also work exclusively producing Nike sneakers.  So, in this one city in China, there are 20,500 young women sewing Nike sneakers. 

All of Sewon’s raw materials come from South Korea.  Frequently Sewon must subcontract its overflow work to other local factories. 

Fleeing $2.49-an-hour wages and unions

Sewon’s managers further explained that they left South Korea in 1989 and relocated to China to escape the high wages and unions in South Korea.  In South Korea in 1989, a footwear worker earned $600 U.S. a month, for six day, 55½-hour workweeks.  This came to $138.96 a week, $2.49 an hour.  Sewon’s direct labor costs in China are less than 9 percent of what they were in South Korea.  Instead of paying $7,200 a year to its workers, Sewon can pay just $650.60 in China, which is an annual savings of $6,549.40 per worker.  With their 5,500 employees in Jiaozhou City alone, they are saving more than $36 million a year in direct labor costs, not to mention paying little or no taxes in China, and the absence of any independent unions.  One can understand why they fled South Korea.  This massive relocation of factories to China has had a disastrous impact on the South Korean labor movement, which represented 20 percent of the workforce in 1989, but less than 10 percent by 1999.

Nike Air Max sneakers Retail price: $135

Sewon/Nike Wage after one year (fully loaded wage, including all incentives, overtime and bonuses)

·<>         26 cents an hour
·<>         $2.31 a day (9-hour day)
·<>         $12.51 a week (for a 5½-day, 49-hour workweek)
·<>         54.22 a month
·<>         $650.60 a year   

Twenty to 26 cents an hour; 44 to 66-hour workweek

Sewon managers said they limited the workweek to 49 hours, working just every other Saturday, beyond the standard 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. shift five days a week.  This would put the workers at the factory 55 hours a week, while being paid for 49 hours.
However, people in the neighborhood, including local vendors, said that the factory was always working 11 to 12-hour shifts, six days a week.
If this were more accurate, then the shift would be from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. six days a week.  This would put the workers at the factory 66 to 72 hours a week, while being paid for 60 to 66 hours.
The starting wage making Nike sneakers at the Sewon factory was 360 rmb, or $43.37 U.S. per month, which would amount to $10.01 a week—20 cents an hour, for a 49-hour workweek.

However, Nike and Sewon have a policy to increase wages 30 cents a week every third month, a raise of six tenths of a cent per hour.  This means that a skilled worker, after one year, would earn 450 rmb per month, or $54.22 U.S. to make Nike sneakers.
When we visited the factory in July 1999, it was over 95 degrees, but the factory had no air conditioning.
People in the community said Sewon never hires anyone over 25 years of age, at which point the workers are fired.  The factories do this to keep their workforce young and energetic, knowing that by 25 years of age, the workers are worn out, used up and exhausted.  And besides, they may want to get pregnant and the companies do not want to have to pay maternity benefits.
There is no union at the Sewon factory and any attempt to organize one would be met with mass firings, arrest and imprisonment without trial.