Penn State United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) will host former Nike factory worker Noi Supalai on Monday, March 21 in 112 Kern. Supalai will speak about her experiences working at a Nike Factory in Thailand. She will also advocate for independent monitoring organizations such as the Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC), which Nike has disallowed from its factories. This event is the fourth of 23 stops on Supalai’s collegiate speaking tour.

Her tour is supported by the Nike Sweatshop Site, which also details the company’s controversial history. The story begins 20 years ago and includes information about sweatshops in Indonesia, Honduras, the Domincan Republic, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Thailand.

USAS is the largest student labor campaign organization in the country, having members at more than 150 campuses. The organization’s mission is to end the exploitation of university students, communities, and overseas workers by multinational corporations. Penn State USAS has brought issues to Penn State’s relationship with Nike, recently delivering letters and sweets to all PSU administrators and encouraging them to #besweetnotsweaty. Nike’s relationship with Penn State, namely involving undisclosed contracts for athletic apparel, has raised issues in the past. Penn State alumnus Mark Parker is the CEO of Nike.

More information about Penn State USAS and the event can be found on the Penn State USAS Facebook page.