[Vnbiz] Strike over at Nike Vietnam plant

[Tai Phan]

Strike over at Nike Vietnam plant The South Korean-owned factory agrees to
give workers a transportation allowance and better cafeteria food. [image:
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  HaNoi, Vietnam (AP) -- Some 14,000 striking workers returned to a plant
that makes sneakers for Nike Inc. Monday after receiving a pay increase to
help cushion the impact of Vietnam's rising inflation rate, a company
official said.

The five-day strike at the South Korean-owned Tae Kwang Vina plant ended
after management agreed to give workers a $4.50 monthly transportation
allowance, said Vu Dinh Quan, the company's human resource manager.

The company also agreed to improve the food at the factory cafeteria, Quan
said.

The plant in Dong Nai, some 19 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, employs
more than 14,000 workers, most of them young rural women. It is one of 10
contractors that produce shoes for Nike in Vietnam.

"We are pleased that factory management and workers were able to openly
discuss grievances and quickly reach resolution," said Chris Helzer, a Nike
spokesman said Monday.

Nike<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=NKE&source=story_quote_link>(
Charts<http://money.cnn.com/quote/chart/chart.html?symb=NKE&source=story_charts_link>,
Fortune 500<http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/snapshots/945.html?source=story_f500_link>)
reported a 51 percent rise in profits last month during its first quarter.
In the most recent fiscal year, Nike made $1.5 billion on record sales of
$16.3 billion.

Prices in Vietnam, Southeast Asia's fastest growing economy, are 10 percent
higher than they were a year ago. The government has promised to increase
the minimum wage by roughly 12 percent, starting in January 2008.

As inflation has picked up in recent years, strikes have become more common,
with workers demanding higher pay and better work conditions. Last year,
workers in Vietnam went on strike nearly 400 times.

"Inflation is very high now, and it definitely affects our workers a lot,"
Quan said.

The average salary of workers at the Tae Kwang Vina plant is about 30
percent higher than Vietnam's minimum wage of 845,000 Vietnamese dong ($53)
per month.

The plant makes about 10 percent of the 75 million pairs of shoes that Nike
produces in Vietnam each year, according to Nike. [image: To top of
page]<http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/03/news/international/bc.apfn.vietnam.nike.strike.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007120310#TOP>
 LeBron Inc.<http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/28/news/newsmakers/lebron_james.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007112807>
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