Just Don’t Do It

There seems to be a lot of pressure on Nike to start doing what is right, but they just plain won’t admit to doing anything wrong.  One big issues that was being brought up some years ago was the contract they have with the Univesity of Michigan.  This contract requires all U of M coaches, players, and staff wear only Nike gear and have it openly visible at all times at all of their athletic events.  Along with the contract, which gives the school a bunch of free gear and other stuff (but not that much), Nike gets total access to swipe their swoosh and advertisements all over everything having to do with the University of Michigan.  I know I wouldn’t agree with this if I were an athelete there.  U of M endorsing Nike, and Nike endorsing the ill-treatment of impoverished workers!    As a prestigious university, they should make some demands of their own on this contract, and that is what some U of M students and faculty said.  These concerned citizens created a campain called “Just Don’t Do It” that pushed for the U of M to make these demands or suspend the contract – demands like paying a living wage, having safe working conditions at factories, and explaining to workers what their rights are.  This movement was being backed by quite a few organizations, but I haven’t found any evidence that anything came of this campaign.  It sounded like a good start, but universities are usually pretty hesitant to back out on these big corporate deals.