Kenny Woo

Kenny Woo

My name is Kenny Woo, I am twenty years old and work alongside hundreds of thousands of other people in Taiwan, putting together Nike brand athletic gear. As a team, we are required to work seven days each week, and put in at least nine hours of work each day at a minimum-that is, if we meet our boss’ desired goal. 

In the area of Taiwan, there are groups of beat up buildings that house between forty to seventy-five workers on each floor, each building enclosing around four to ten floors. Each of the (floor) levels is very wide spread and the boards creaked with every step. The windows were usually huge with mismatched curtains of old fabric and there's the constant noise of the buzzing sewing machines, pressers, huge irons and snip snip snip. After months of working side by side for hours on end in the sticky, sweaty heat, we installed rather large and loud system of metal pipes all along the ceiling to help circulate and cool the air. This helped make a difference, but it’s nothing like what the States enjoy. In the back, near the staircases, located just before the steam of the irons are a group of aligned metal poles where they hang the finished clothing on, which resemble monkey bars.

Each and every one of us was assigned to a machine based solely on our skills. Some were great at sewing and went to the sewing machines, most all of us were on sewing machines and the stronger ones were in the back in charge of the ironing and pressing. The really skilled ones were titled "sample makers" as they were the ones who first make the whole clothing that everyone uses as a plan. They are keen experts in all aspects of the clothing development and are the go-to person when you have a problem. My mother is a sample maker in the very same factory as myself. Each machine is accompanied with a short desk, a metal table that contains their belongings like a big jar of water, their bag, snacks, possibly the daily newspaper and each one has their "blades" which are an incredibly sharp pair of scissors and able to snip fine lines on even the coarsest materials.

A day in the life consists of the sample maker and boss arriving at around eight to eight thirty in the morning, and everyone else coming at nine, sharp. The mornings always begin with workers full of chatter regarding the daily news and gossip. As we get to work, the machines are warmed up and at work until around noon where we have a lunch break. At lunch, we go to the kitchen area where there’s a fridge, table and an oversized rice cooker. There is one bathroom in its own room on the opposing side, just in case one of the thousands of us needed to use it. The constant buzzing of the machines would sound until four in the afternoon where people would chip in bits of their minimum wage to get a round of coffee (or tea) and buns during our break. Shortly after the break, we continue working until eight or nine at night. If a worker’s contract states eligibility, they can continue working until midnight to meet their deadline.

As workers, our pay also depended on the contract. Because most companies of course want the lowest price, our wages reflect that. A single article of clothing for example was made up consisting of different parts, each part worth a specific number of cents. A sleeve to a shirt was maybe a nickel or a dime each, the body part was a quarter, and pant legs a whopping fifteen cents each. On average, one worker can finish anywhere from forty to seventy clothing garments depending on their ability. This is where skill and quickness factory in, this job, can range from forty to seventy dollars each day.

Some days, my mother and I would skip breakfast to save money, but this behavior couldn’t be repeated for days on end. We have been working almost double time over this holiday season, waking up at five-thirty in the morning to warm up machines by six. This has been dreadfully tiring, but also an increase in pay, which balance out one another. I have two twin siblings, a brother and a sister, who my mother and I rarely get to see. It has been an every other year basis that we get time to travel twelve thousand miles by train to see them growing up as toddlers with my grandparents. It’s not an easy life here in Taiwan, China, but it’s what we have available to us, to provide the latest Nike gear for everyone.