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--> --> Nike releases report on labor By William McCall AP Business Writer BEAVERTON - Nike released a corporate responsibility report on Tuesday aimed at demonstrating the athletic shoe and clothing maker has taken seriously years of complaints by labor rights and student groups who say Nike should use its business clout to improve conditions at contract factories around the world. "In this report, Nike for the first time has assembled a comprehensive public review of our corporate responsibility practices," said Nike chairman and co-founder Phil Knight. The report looks at Nike's efforts to monitor compliance with health, safety, wage, benefits and management requirements. The company lists concerns of internal auditors and outside monitors, and takes itself to task for not being tougher on problems such as worker harassment by managers at some factories under contract to Nike in Indonesia. The report also criticizes the company for not monitoring a Korean-owned factory in Mexico more carefully, where violence and dismissals followed a January work stoppage to protest abusive managers, a wage dispute and cafeteria conditions. Nike stepped in to support formation of an independent union, which was certified last month at the factory in the Mexican state of Puebla. The company also forced factory managers to bring in a new caterer to revamp the cafeteria. The report analyzes "living wages" - the amount needed to support a family - in various countries, including U.S. workers. It also assesses the company's impact on the environment, said Maria Eitel, chief of corporate responsibility for Beaverton-based Nike. The company adopted its first corporate environmental policy in 1998. Goals include eliminating waste and potentially harmful substances from manufacturing, and designing products that can recycled or safely disposed. Eitel said Nike is one of four companies that has joined a World Wildlife Fund program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company is reducing emissions in Nike-owned operations, as well as contract factories, shipping and corporate travel. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing