Taking A Look Inside Nike's Factories

Last week an activist group called the National Labor Committee accused Nike and other companies of running virtual slave factories in China, alleging that workers are habitually overworked and underpaid. It's the kind of charge Nike has faced, and denied, repeatedly regarding its operations in Asia. Nike subcontractors employ nearly 500,000 workers in plants in Indonesia, China and Vietnam.

TIME visited Nike plants in China and Vietnam recently and found them to be modern, clean, well lighted and ventilated, and paying decent wages by local standards--although by no means are they trouble free. Make no mistake: these are factories, not amusement...