"EXCLUSIVE: Fanatics, Nike Back Binding Agreement to Fight Workplace Sexual Violence in Indonesia", 12 March 2025

Two Indonesian factories, where thousands of women have for years stitched licensed college apparel for Fanatics and Nike...have signed a new binding agreement to combat gender-based violence and harassment.

The Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice, whose negotiation was supported by the labor watchdogs Worker Rights Consortium, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Global Labor Justice, follows the mold of enforceable pacts such as the Lesotho Agreement to End Gender-Based Violence and Harassment and the Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment...

For the 6,250 women who stitch clothing at PT Batang Apparel Indonesia and PT Semarang Garment Indonesia, of late owned by...Ontide...the change could not be more welcome. Their male overseers, they said, openly subjected them to leers and taunts. They were regularly groped, pressured to be girlfriends or “second wives” and exposed to crude speculation about their bodies and sex lives...

The women also faced gendered verbal attacks from their bosses if they couldn’t meet quotas or whose performances were otherwise deemed unsatisfactory...Some workers said they were made to kiss one particular supervisor’s hand each day before taking up their positions on the production floor. To avoid being falsely targeted for disciplinary action, they were forced to pool money for expensive gifts...or extend “loans” that would never be repaid...

Mechanics would decide when and if a sewing operator’s malfunctioning machine would get repaired, perhaps trading a timely response that wouldn’t result in lost income or additional abuse for cigarettes, food or sexual favors...

It was also WRC that initiated an investigation into PT Batang and PT Semarang at the behest of unions representing the workers...In 2022, it brought its findings to Fanatics, which also communicated on behalf of Nike....Its audits hadn’t picked up any issues, but Fanatics agreed to push Ontide to take remedial action, including dismissing the worst perpetrators of GBVH and rehiring the women who had resigned to escape the abuse. It worked.

“Upon learning of these troubling allegations, we moved quickly to terminate or otherwise discipline numerous individuals found to be involved in inappropriate behavior,” John Yoon, sustainability director of Ontide, wrote in an email. ”We welcome the continued engagement with union leadership, the WRC, our buyers and other stakeholders….to provide one of the safest workplaces in the country for female garment workers.”...

...the women said they felt less vulnerable after the firings, but they and their unions also wanted a more permanent solution. They looked at the Lesotho Agreement [and] also referred to the Dindigul Agreement...

Though the two agreements differ in details, they share the same broad strokes regarding union and worker oversight, deploying training for workers, supervisors and managers; a peer education program; multi-channel grievance mechanisms; shop floor monitors to identify and flag issues on the production line; and fair and prompt remediation of complaints...

Signed in July 2024 by Ontide, WRC, AFWA, GLJ and the unions—and enforced through the binding commitments that Fanatics and Nike have made to WRC-affiliated universities through licensing contracts—the Central Java Agreement draws from the best practices of those that preceded it...

As part of the deal, the factories created GBVH-specific labor-management committees to oversee both of their programs on a daily basis, instituted a so-called global coordination dialogue to ensure effective collaboration among all stakeholders—buyers included—and defined strong protections for whistleblowers and freedom of association...

Fanatics has committed to enforce Ontide’s compliance. It’s this and Fanatics and Nike’s ongoing backing that WRC says will be crucial to preventing a recurrence of abuses and to safeguard women workers at the factories in the short and long term.

“As part of our commitment to ensure that the workers who manufacture Fanatics’ products worldwide are treated fairly and respectfully, we are pleased to have had the opportunity to support the negotiation and implementation of the Central Java Gender Justice Agreement between our supplier Ontide, Indonesian unions, the Worker Rights Consortium, Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Global Labor Justice,” Chris Fox, chief sustainability officer of Fanatics, said in a statement. “The comprehensive program created by this agreement is creating a safer and more secure workplace for all workers at these factories.”

Nike did not respond to a request for comment...