Fourth, the contracted factories create the shoe in entirety.
Initially, they divide the shoe into 3 main groups being upper, midsole, and outsole. Then the 3 parts are put together to form the complete shoe. This is where the controversy has been, because the independent factories can choose to hire child labor, not fairly pay its employees, or have employees work too many hours. In 1998, the following was reported stating that,”Nike says that it pays a wage that exceeds community standards, but in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the site of several factories, the GDP per person is $925 per year, but Nike workers earn $564. The legal minimum wage is $45 per month, but Nike has been reported as paying, in some cases, $42 per month” (Boje).
However, Nike is doing its best to contract its manufacturing to more responsible factories. “We require contract manufacturers to comply with NIKE’s Code of Conduct and have taken active steps to help prevent underage workers being employed in the factories we contract with – in fact, the average age of a worker in factories that produce NIKE product is 32” (Nike).