This week the company refused a customer's request to sew the word 'sweatshop' on his trainers. Here's our online guide to why they took it seriously

Sarah Left
Guardian Unlimited

Friday February 23, 2001

1. Workers at nine Nike plants in Indonesia have been found to suffer from sexual and verbal abuse, lack of medical attention and compulsory overtime.

2. According to the report from the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, female workers gained jobs through sexual "favours", employees were coerced to work overtime in violation of Indonesian law, and medical facilities were inadequate.

3. The report was funded by a £5.4m contribution from Nike to the Global Alliance, whose members include Gap, Nike and the World Bank.

4. The company has issued a remediation plan to placate its critics.

5. Nike's healthy corporate image has been battered in recent years by allegations that it employs underage workers in its Asian factories and asks all employees to work long hours for low pay in conditions that would never pass US inspections.

6. Sites such as Nike Sweatshop Olympics - tagline:"It's not just 20 cents an hour, it's an athletic adventure" - and Nike Watch have drawn attention to working conditions in factories that produce one of the world's most popular labels.

7. A recent addition to the Nike pantheon of designer gear is iD, products that will provide extra work for textile labourers as they are emblazoned with a personalised logo.

8. But Nike turned down graduate student Jonah Peretti's attempt to have "sweatshop" sewn onto his trainers.

9. Obviously some people do very well by Nike. Sports stars like tennis player Andre Agassi, sprinter Marion Jones and golfer Tiger Woods have signed multimillion dollar contracts to have the infamous swoosh plastered over their bodies.

10. Basketball god Michael Jordan even has his own Air Jordan brand.