Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu spoke at St. Olaf on Thursday, Feb. 15 to present their anti-sweatshop campaign "Real Life Survivor Story: Starving on a Nike Sweatshop Wage." Keady, a former soccer professional and college coach; and Kretzu, a social justice activist specializing in women's issues, are touring college campuses across the country to recount their firsthand experience living on Indonesian sweatshop wages and enduring the oppressive conditions that sweatshop workers face.

Kretzu and Keady founded the Olympic Living Wage Project with the goal of informing people of the devastating social effects of multinational corporations taking advantage of struggling countries such as Indonesia and exploiting their workforce for profit. Keady called the crusade an "anti-exploitation, pro-justice campaign" designed to humanize the story of sweatshop labor and to bring to Americans the sufferings of men, women, and children working up to 15 hours a day and 7 days a week for a mere $1.25 a day. United States corporations that produce sweatshop goods carry such brand names as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, The Gap, Old Navy, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Lotto, and Fila.

The conditions described in the interactive-multimedia presentation clearly depicted the consequences of globalized capitalism without globalized democracy. Open sewage runs down the streets of Tangerang, Indonesia; families' crowd into tin shacks and sleep on the cement floor; they often eat just enough to survive. Factories provide no health care and prescription medication is unaffordable. Kretzu remarked, "These are not great jobs for any human being. You cannot live on $1.25 a day. You may survive, but you cannot live."

Keady and Kretzu discussed the power of students and the ability we have to enact social change. They told their audience to no longer take a stance of neutrality; to expose the truth and bring about justice. They encouraged students to write letters to their legislators demanding changes in foreign policy in respect to working conditions in American companies abroad. They also encouraged students to tape over logos and cut tags out of clothing brands that practice sweatshop labor. Kretzu closed the presentation by saying: "It is not the laws of a country but the laws of humanity that are at stake, and it is the dignity of God's children that lies in the balance."

For information on the Living Wage Project visit www.nikewages.com. To find out how you can help on campus and for information about anti-sweat events locally, contact Priorities coordinators Caleb Kasper and Patrick Thomas at 646-2689.