New York – Athletic shoe giant Nike Inc. on Thursday welcomed an aid agency report alleging its workers in Indonesia are overworked and underpaid, but said it had already made improvements to shed its sweatshop image.

"We are pleased the 'We are not Machines' report recognizes some of the progress that has been made in these workplaces and believe there is much work that remains to be done," Nike said in a statement from its Beaverton, Oregon headquarters.

But it also gently chided the report by Australia-based Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, noting it was based on just 35 interviews with Nike workers in Indonesia, while the athletic shoe maker was working with an independent body that talked with 4,000 employees.

The report, "We are not Machines," released on Thursday in Jakarta said Nike and rival Adidas Salomon AG have taken steps to improve conditions in Indonesian factories but that employees are still overworked and underpaid. The companies had responded to pressure from rights groups and aid agencies to improve working conditions, but had not done enough, the report said.

There was no immediate response from Adidas, but in a statement, Nike said it had received a copy of the report. "We take any concerns raised about factories where Nike product is produced very seriously. Nike is well aware of the issues raised in the report [based on interviews with 35 workers] because we engaged in a transparent assessment of our Indonesia operations with an independent entity, the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, that involved interviews with 4,000 workers."

Nike said the Global Alliance spent 4,000 hours interviewing 4000 workers in nine factories in Indonesia and Nike has addressed all issues of non-compliance found through that work. The company reports every quarter to the GA on progress on all issues raised in the "We are not Machines" report, it said.

Nike said the Global Alliance is now investing in programs that workers have identified as critical – health, harassment, management/worker relations training and life skills development.