The negative publicity -- at odds with the company's sleek designs and "Just Do It" slogan -- has seen the sales of its shoes plummet.
While its US$9 billion turnover in 2000 was an increase of 2.5 percent on the year before, sales of Nike products fell by nearly 8 percent in 1999.
And as rival shoemaker Reebok has seen its share price rise from US$8 to US$30 in the past year, Nike's stock has fallen by 15 percent.
In February, Nike issued a report confessing the company's role in facilitating worker exploitation. It uncovered the exchange of sexual favors for jobs at factories in Indonesia.
The company -- which sponsors sports celebrities such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods -- revealed that 30 percent of the employees interviewed at Nike franchises in Indonesia had been abused verbally.
Jason Mark, of Global Exchange, said: "The key to solving many of Nike's problems would be to pay a living wage that allowed workers to save money, raise a family and move up to their society's middle class. Nike says they can't find a formula because it's different for every country.
"It's an assumption that it is convenient for them, because it allows [the company] to pay lower wages."
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