Matthew Kish – Workers at two Indonesian factories that make products for Fanatics and Nike have reached a "groundbreaking" deal to address sexual violence in the workplace.
Workers at the PT Batang Apparel and PT Semarang Garment factories in central Java had alleged they were subjected to unwanted touching, sexual comments and verbal abuse, sparking investigations by the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor rights group, going back to 2021.
The factories employ roughly 6,500 of Nike's roughly 280,000 contract factory workers in Indonesia, according to Nike's online factory database. They make products for Fanatics, including some with the Nike swoosh, as well as college sports apparel. The factories also make products for other brands.
The Worker Rights Consortium – whose investigations have the backing of the American universities that license their names and logos to apparel companies like Fanatics and Nike – documented systemic problems at the factories that had been missed by regular audits.
The group credited Fanatics with moving "promptly" to address the problems and supporting corrective action that included terminating managers who abused workers and reinstating, with back pay, workers who faced persistent harassment.
The factories are now under new ownership.
The deal is formally known as the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice. The agreement prohibits violence and harassment, and penalties for violating the agreement could include losing business from Fanatics and Nike.
Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fanatics said it's committed to ensuring workers in its contract factories are "treated fairly and respectfully."
"The comprehensive program created by this agreement is creating a safer and more secure workplace for all workers at these factories," Chris Fox, chief sustainability officer of Fanatics Commerce, said in a statement.
The deal was negotiated between the new factory owner, the four unions that represent workers at the factories, the Worker Rights Consortium, Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Global Labor Justice.
The deal is a model for "how the industry can address the workplace assault and harassment that is the daily reality for too many garment workers around the world," Jessica Champagne, a deputy director at the Worker Rights Consortium, said in a press release.
"Major brands like Nike have long accepted responsibility for what happens in factories that produce their licensed goods, and we believe they should both be held responsible when things go wrong and credited for when progress is achieved," she said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Union organizers hope the deal is recognized at other factories.
"This agreement is not just about two factories in Central Java," said Egye Gumilang, one of the labor organizers. "It sets a precedent for the garment industry in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and globally that workers can and must have the right to a safe and dignified workplace."
– Matthew Kish covers business, including the sportswear and banking industries.