When Haryanto was 19 years old and working in an Indonesian sweatshop for $15 per week, he lost two fingers of his right hand making outsoles for Nike sneakers.

"My hand got stuck and pinched into the mechanism of the rubber-rolling machinery, which caused me to lose two fingers on my right hand and caused me to become disabled," he said.

After his 1996 accident, Haryanto became an advocate for workers' rights in Indonesia. Last night he addressed about 50 students and community members in Sever Hall, in a speech sponsored by the anti-sweatshop campaign of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM).

Haryanto told the audience that his injury was due to unsafe working conditions. He said seven of his friends also lost fingers in the same machine, but the factory owners refused to address the problem.

"The machine was not functioning, the off-button was dysfunctional," he said. "The machine had to be turned off at the fuse box by my friend."

Haryanto said he has spent the last three years agitating for improved conditions in Indonesian factories and organizing an independent union.

"I became conscious of the need to defend the rights of workers, so with colleagues and friends I began to give training and workshops," he said.

A slight man, the 22-year-old native of Jakarta spoke through an interpreter about the conditions in Nike sub-contracted factories.