Portside

After moving manufacturing to the developing world to save on labor, Nike and other apparel brands are shifting employment in their Indonesian supply chain away from high-wage parts of the country and into less-developed areas.

For global companies that have shifted production to Southeast Asia's low-cost manufacturing hub, greater cross-boarder labor coordination could mean less room for wage bargaining, a squeeze on profits and maybe even higher price tags on anything from shoes and clothing to cars and electronics appliances. But even as wages rise, labor activists are confident they aren't at risk of pricing themselves out of the market.