WILLIAM McCALL, AP Business Writer
AP Online
04-20-2000
Nike Chair Wary on U. of Ore. Funds
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) -- Nike Chairman Phil Knight complained Thursday about the University of Oregon's decision to join an organization of students and activists protesting sweatshop conditions at clothing and shoe industry factories abroad.
But Knight, an Oregon graduate and track athlete, declined to comment on a television report that he would withdraw a reported $30 million pledge to help expand Autzen Stadium because the school joined the Worker Rights Consortium last week.
Still, he hinted he may be rethinking his financial generosity toward the university, saying the school was free to join the consortium but ``it does not mean that we are required to support those efforts with which we have fundamental disagreements.''
Knight refused to confirm the size of the stadium donation or a report by Portland-based KGW-TV, which quoted unidentified sources as saying Nike told university officials Monday that Knight was withdrawing his pledge.
``The details of Phil's private philanthropy have and will continue to be personal,'' according to the company statement.
Oregon officials said no changes had been made in any donations to the project.
``We had not heard from any of our donors that anything was any different, whether it was Phil Knight or anybody else,'' Dave Williford, UO sports information director, said Thursday.
Nike has repeatedly been the target of labor rights groups who have admitted their strategy is aimed at the Beaverton-based athletic shoe company because it is an industry leader and can pressure other companies to follow its example.
Knight, Nike's billionaire co-founder who once sold shoes from the back of his car at Oregon track meets, defended the company's labor record, saying it had become a leader in ensuring worker rights around the world.
He noted that, since he appeared at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in May 1998 to promise industry reforms, Nike has increased its minimum age requirements for footwear workers to an industry high of 18 years old.
Knight said Nike has raised wages more than 70 percent for footwear workers in Indonesia during the last 20 months, improved air quality at factories and disclosed the location of 45 domestic and foreign factories producing clothing licensed by U.S. colleges and universities.
The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
AP Online
04-20-2000
Nike Chair Wary on U. of Ore. Funds
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) -- Nike Chairman Phil Knight complained Thursday about the University of Oregon's decision to join an organization of students and activists protesting sweatshop conditions at clothing and shoe industry factories abroad.
But Knight, an Oregon graduate and track athlete, declined to comment on a television report that he would withdraw a reported $30 million pledge to help expand Autzen Stadium because the school joined the Worker Rights Consortium last week.
Still, he hinted he may be rethinking his financial generosity toward the university, saying the school was free to join the consortium but ``it does not mean that we are required to support those efforts with which we have fundamental disagreements.''
Knight refused to confirm the size of the stadium donation or a report by Portland-based KGW-TV, which quoted unidentified sources as saying Nike told university officials Monday that Knight was withdrawing his pledge.
``The details of Phil's private philanthropy have and will continue to be personal,'' according to the company statement.
Oregon officials said no changes had been made in any donations to the project.
``We had not heard from any of our donors that anything was any different, whether it was Phil Knight or anybody else,'' Dave Williford, UO sports information director, said Thursday.
Nike has repeatedly been the target of labor rights groups who have admitted their strategy is aimed at the Beaverton-based athletic shoe company because it is an industry leader and can pressure other companies to follow its example.
Knight, Nike's billionaire co-founder who once sold shoes from the back of his car at Oregon track meets, defended the company's labor record, saying it had become a leader in ensuring worker rights around the world.
He noted that, since he appeared at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in May 1998 to promise industry reforms, Nike has increased its minimum age requirements for footwear workers to an industry high of 18 years old.
Knight said Nike has raised wages more than 70 percent for footwear workers in Indonesia during the last 20 months, improved air quality at factories and disclosed the location of 45 domestic and foreign factories producing clothing licensed by U.S. colleges and universities.
The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
