For two students, spring break trips offer glimpse into clothing factories

By Alison Kepner
Collegian Staff Writer

Penn State students Martin Austermuhle and Alex Levit spent their spring breaks in the warm climates of Mexico and Nicaragua, respectively. But instead of basking on the beach, they spent their vacations inspecting factories for unjust labor conditions.

Inside Nike plants

Austermuhle (junior-international politics), was one of fewer than 20 students across the country chosen to monitor working conditions in Mexican factories during a trip sponsored by Nike Inc.

He is also a member of Students for Accountability and Reform (STAR), a student activist group lobbying Penn State to join the Worker Rights Consortium, a sweatshop monitoring organization.

Through an affiliation with St. John's University, the program allowed Austermuhle to spend three days touring three factories in the poverty-stricken area of Puebla, Mexico.

"You wouldn't go in and see slave drivers," Austermuhle said. The problems were subtler, he said.

Factory workers complained of excessive heat, lack of clean water, insufficient fire exits and low wages, he said, adding, "On their salaries, they couldn't adequately survive."

After a day-long training on both the monitoring process and Mexican labor laws, Austermuhle spent three days accompanying a representative from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), an independent monitoring organization hired by Nike to inspect its factories. Having lived in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Costa Rica, Austermuhle said he is fluent in Spanish and could easily communicate with the factory workers.

Upon arrival at each factory, Austermuhle met with management before touring the plants. However, he said the factories had been given notification of the inspections.

Nike representative Cheryl McCants said the factories were notified to ease any interruption of the workday.

"These are places of business. Anytime someone is coming in to do a tour, it is going to disrupt business," she said, adding Nike also has unannounced inspections.

While touring the plants, Austermuhle said he looked for fire exits, drinkable water and clean bathrooms. Accompanied by the PWC representative, he randomly chose 25 workers in each factory to interview. The two monitors also examined the workers' files, looking for contracts, social security information and proof of age, all of which are required by Mexican law to be on file. They also looked at workers' pay stubs, how many hours employees worked and if overtime was paid.

Austermuhle said he discovered many files were missing items, especially social security information and contracts. Others also were missing age verifications.

Although Austermuhle and the PWC representative interviewed the employees privately, Austermuhle said the factory management recorded the names of the workers questioned.

"Management knew exactly who we were talking to," he said. "A lot of the workers said they were scared what they were saying would get back to management and they would lose their jobs."

Several workers interviewed mentioned they were fired from past jobs for considering unionization or for meeting with monitoring organizations, he said. "They didn't trust us."

Despite the leeriness of some workers, others revealed problems to the monitors, many of which related to water.

The factories had problems with running water being cut off during the day, Austermuhle said. Though unsure whether it was a local problem or a problem within the factory, he said some workers said it was the plants' problem.

The lack of running water also led to problems with the factories' bathrooms. Without water, toilets could not be flushed, causing a stench within the plants, Austermuhle said.

Workers also complained about inadequate drinking water, citing the bottled water available for consumption would sometimes run out and not be replaced for three to four days, he said.

However, despite the problems, Austermuhle said the employees were satisfied with the plants.

"They were appreciative to have jobs," he said. "They didn't realize it could be better for them."

The workers Austermuhle met with averaged $3 to $7 a day in wages, he said. Although unsure of what the standard of living in Puebla is, Austermuhle said he is positive the workers' salaries are not adequate.

"It wasn't up to the living standards," he said. "I can safely say that. I don't have to look at any numbers to know that."

However, McCants maintained Nike pays its employees fairly, often above the minimum wage requirements of foreign countries.

"Our wages are in line," she said. "Our factory partners pay at least minimum wage."

Nike has been working to increase the wages of its employees, she said, citing that the company recently raised the wages of employees in Indonesia by 70 percent.

Another problem Austermuhle encountered in the toured factories was communication between the management and employees. Other than suggestion boxes, he said the factories did not have a system set up for workers to bring complaints to the management.

Relations between the two groups were also poor.

"There was a big communication gap," Austermuhle said. "That kind of alienated them from the workers."

Because PWC is hired by Nike to do internal inspections, the monitors' report is kept confidential and sent directly to Nike.

"The purpose of the report is not to point the finger and say, 'Here's what you've done wrong,' " McCants said.

Through the report Nike finds out where progress has been made and what still needs improvement, she said.

Because he has not seen other companies' factories, Austermuhle said he does not have a basis of comparison to tell whether or not the Nike plants are the exception or the norm. However, another Penn State student also witnessed Central American factories.

Labor in Nicaragua

Levit (senior-labor industrial relations, traveled to Manangua, Nicaragua, as part of an honors thesis project. He spent eight days in the country, including two home stays with worker families.

"Seeing them struggle every day . . . they still keep a smile," said Levit, adding no matter how difficult their conditions were, the workers would continue to fight so their children would have a better life.

"They smile because they want their children to be happy," he said.

During one of his home stays, Levit lived with a mother who earned about $15 a week to support her family. According to Levit's research, the basic living wage needed for a family of four is about $170 a month. However, the factory workers he met with, who were paid by piece rate rather than hourly wage, earned about $50 a month, he said.

Levit rose early to travel to the factory with the workers. After taking a $0.16 bus ride in which people had to hang out windows to fit inside the vehicle, Levit said the workers arrived around 6:30 a.m. to wait in long lines outside the factory gates. Levit was disillusioned when he saw the plant.

"It looked like Auschwitz," he said, referring to the plant's gates and bunker-style buildings inside the fence. He added the gates appeared to be locked throughout the day.

Levit said he attempted to meet with management at the factory and question them about the wages and working conditions.

"They would never give straight answers," he said.

When Levit's party attempted to tour the plant, he said they were purposely diverted.

The management said there was going to be a fire drill and a tour would be in the way, he said. However, Levit said he waited more than an hour with no drill occurring.

Levit said the factories in Nicaragua are subcontractors for major American retailers including JC Penny, Liz Claiborne, Wal-Mart and Kmart. Although the corporations do not directly own the plants, they buy their goods from them, which Levit said allows the companies to denounce liability for the conditions.

"That's how they get around it," Levit said. "They still know what's going on."

A Wal-Mart public relations representative said the company was unaware of any factories or subcontractors in Nicaragua. Representatives from JC Penny, Liz Claiborne and Kmart could not be reached for comment.

Although he is not a member of STAR, Levit said he supports affiliation with WRC and feels the group could make significant changes.

"We have the means to help these people," he said. "A lot of changes start at this level."