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Kim Miyoshi, a representative of Global Exchange, addressed students during the March 6 rally at De Anza. Organizers urged those in attendance to stop wearing Nike products or to cover up the company's swoosh logo with tape.

De Anza students call for Nike boycott

By Justin Berton

Citing unfair labor practices and a hypocritical advertising campaign, students at De Anza Community College March 6 called for a boycott of Nike products.

David Tran of Students for Justice asked people who wear Nike clothing to cover the swoosh logo with tape or write the word exploit above the logo.

None of the 18 sports teams at the Cupertino campus are sponsored by Nike; T-shirts for the De Anza athletic department carry the Reebok logo.

Rudy González, one of the organizers of the meeting and a member of the swimming team, said his reluctance to wear the logo caused friction on the team last year.

González agreed to wear the shirt at his coach's insistence.

González's coach did so because he "wanted to show that we were united as a team," González said.

De Anza Athletic Director Al Vacio said the school has no exclusive contracts with sports companies, but the teams do accept discounted prices on apparel from suppliers such as Reebok.

The district gives $25,000 to the athletic department annually for supplies and equipment for the 350 student athletes at the school. Student athletes also participate in fundraisers, such as selling coupon books, to help finance the cost of equipment and uniforms.

Speakers focused on Nike because the company, they charged, is the largest corporation that exploits its workers abroad and manipulates its consumers in the United States.

Kim Miyoshi from Global Exchange, a human rights group based in San Francisco, told students she met underage and underpaid workers at the factories in a trip last year to Indonesia.

"They're very frustrated because they're in a desperate situation," she said.

Miyoshi and Tran also took issue with Nike advertising, saying it uses images to promote consumer values rather than moral values. Tran said the commercials also conflict with Nike labor practices.

"They champion women, they champion people of color, and yet 10,000 miles away, they are exploiting the very people they champion here," he said. "It's racist and it's hypocritical."

Vada Manager, senior spokesperson at Nike, was unaware of the local protest.

Manager warned that a boycott of products could lead to the loss of jobs in foreign countries and would be devastating to the local economies.

"These jobs are critical," he said, adding that the monitoring of working conditions is taking place.

Students at De Anza are not alone in their drive to pressure Nike. According to Global Exchange, organized acts of protest against the company have occurred on at least 20 campuses across the country in the last year.

Administrators at nearby Stanford University announced last month they will explore ways to reduce commercial sponsorship.

Jim Young, athletic media relations director at Santa Clara University, said administration officials at the university are also reviewing their annual contracts with Nike.

Young said other companies have supplied Santa Clara with products in the past.

"If we decided not to go with Nike, it wouldn't be a case where we would lose," he said.

After the meeting a handful of De Anza students pledged to join other demonstrators outside Nike Town in San Francisco on April 18 to protest the company.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 11, 1998.
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