All Star

Converse is a brand of shoe that used to be associated with counterculture. Then in 2003, the American company was purchased by Nike, a corporation which is notorious for its human rights abuses.

Converse are now made in China, Indonesia and Vietnam by workers paid twenty cents an hour. These workers normally work 26 to 27 days per month plus 40 to 65 hours of manditory overtime. Workers cannot go to the bathroom more than once per 8-hour shift and they are not allowed drink water more than twice per shift. It is a common occurrence for workers to faint from exhaustion, heat, fumes and poor nutrition during their shifts. Health care also is inadequate in these factories. At the Sam Yang factory, with 6000 employees, one doctor works only two hours a day but the factory operates 20 hours a day. Night shift employees do not have any on-site medical emergency services. Corporal punishment is also employed in these facilities, and Nike has been accused of using child labor in its factories to boot.

Yes, Converse look cool. But are they really worth it?