Protesters marched to Oxford Circus from the Mexican Embassy in London's swanky Hyde Park area and stormed the sportswear outlet. Nike security guards were joined by staff from nearby Top Shop (as well as suspected undercover cops who were already within the store) as they aggressivly attempted to force out the protesters - several people were punched and man-handled by security staff as they maintained a human-chain while chanting "Nike, Nike - take a hike!" and unfurled banners within the central area of the superstore.

Within the shop campaigners wearing white overalls made speeches to supporters and shoppers who had gathered to watch the spectacle. "This company are scum," shouted a speaker, "they are exploiting women workers around the world". At the same time a long green banner saying 'Nike Sucks Life Out of Mexico' complete with a Nike swoosh logo dripping blood, was dropped from the 2nd floor walkway - shortly followed by showers of leaflets (which saw staff scrambling to pick them up before people got a chance to read them).

Within about five minutes several police officers had arrived at the scene. "Who is their leader, representative, whatever?" asked a senior officer.

A banner reading, "We are all Zapatistas" was unfurled at the bottom of the main store escalator where spontaneous speeches were being made.

After about 15 minutes the group, made up of campaigners from The Wombles ('white-overall movement bringing libertarian effective struggle' based on Italy-based Ya Basta), No Sweat, Revolution and other groups moved onto the pavement and walls outside. Niketown was then shut to new customers for approximately 20 minutes while leaflets were handed out explaining Nike's brutal treatment of its factory workers in Indonesia, Cambodia and beyond.
Alfonso, a Mexican who had joined the demonstration at the embassy, explained his reasons for protesting: "I want to show my support for the Zapatistas who have been active since 1994".

Nearby a woman in white overalls held up a sign while she explained why people had decided to storm the building. "For months we've asked for dialogue with the owners and they've failed to respond to al lour calls. We are now waiting for them to come and talk to us ... in Indonesia No Sweat campaigners picked five Nike factories at random and found them rife with sexual abuse. Nike say they are ethical and it's proven time and time again to be bullshit".

A Peruvian musician also explained to a small group the parallels between the struggles of people in the majority world and western-based multinationals like Nike: "I'm here in solidarity with the Zapatistas because in Mexico and Peru, these multinationals make big business".


Links for more info:

Sweatshopwatch Site - excellent site:
 http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/

Corporate Watch on labor practices:
 http://www.igc.org/trac/greenwash/sweatwash.html

Nikewages site:
 http://www.nikewages.org/index2.html

Nosweat Campaign:
 http://www.nosweat.org.uk