THERE is a shoe sold in Irish shops that tells a story: Of the home-grown soccer hero, Damien Duff. Of the major international sports brand, Adidas. Of a factory in Indonesia called PT Panarub. And of 11,500 women and men who live in abject poverty, intimidated and abused and threatened by their employers. Their story is told by a shoe, by a little white label carefully sewn under the tongue of the +F50.6 Tunit football boot. It says, simply, FTY PRB. And it's selling big here.

Some 6,000 miles from Ireland, in a tiny house in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia, the union leader taps his small brown finger on the last three letters of the label code: PRB. "That means it was made in Panarub, " he says. "So one of us made it."

He leans back into his cross-legged position, shuffling a little to get comfortable on the concrete floor. Despite his status as the leader of 2,200 workers, Ali is a small man, smaller even than an average Irish woman. His checked shirt falls in folds around his torso and his legs are like sticks of liquorice under his black jeans.

He's sitting on the floor because there are no chairs. No room, really, for any furniture in this 'house' that is roughly the size of a tiny Irish bedroom. Just space enough for the pink mattress that's propped up against the wall to make space for sitting on the ground during the day. And an ancient computer, lined up beside the door, flanked by stacks of folders and white photocopied pages.

A small bathroom is the only addition to the main room. Here, a squat pan is set into the ground, yellow-brown from years of use. A bucket of water sits under a tap, used for both washing clothes and . . . after stepping on the squat pan . . . for washing feet. All the floor tiles are wet, and yellow also. There is certainly urine all over the floor. The smell is overpowering.

This little residence serves as both a home and office for members of the Perbupas union from Panarub. That is, the people who make the Adidas football boots which retail in Ireland for upwards of 180. It's nestled in the centre of a maze of similar tiny houses, accessible only by a winding mud track. The sheer density of people in this area is overwhelming. There are children everywhere, many wearing dirty pyjamas as they play on the streets.

Ali has just arrived to the union house after a meeting with his children's school principal. He has been trying to negotiate with the school about how he will pay for the upcoming school year. In Indonesia, there is no free education.

"I will manage it somehow, " he says with a shrug. "I have no choice. We minimise on food.

Often, by the end of the month, we go hungry. But you cannot minimise on education. You have to get the money, even if you have to borrow it, or sell your possessions."

He laughs then. It's a habit that appears to be common among many Indonesians . . . to smile or laugh when talking about the most desperate effects of poverty and abuse on their lives.

/68 a month When he was working in Panarub . . . before he was fired for participating in a one-day strike for better pay . . . Ali received 800,250 rupiah ( 68) a month. This is the minimum wage in Indonesia.

It is also one-third, or less, of the Western world price of one pair of +F50.6 Tunit football boots . . . 650,000 pairs of which are made by workers like Ali every month.

According to Adidas' own code of conduct, the wages paid to employees should be enough to meet their "basic needs and some discretionary payments."

With his 2 a day, Ali's 'basic needs' could not include the 70 cent needed to buy dishwashing liquid and floor cleaner, or the 16 cent needed to have the rubbish collected. He doesn't have the budget to buy four pairs of socks a year, and there was never any hope of saving the 3.39 necessary to leave the city to have a picnic. Indeed, when Ali is asked when his last holiday was, he laughs. Not a good sign.

It was because of the low pay that Ali and other leaders of the Perbupas union decided it was necessary to strike last October. Eager to talk about this, Ali goes to one of the stacks of files beside the rickety old computer.

The Perbupas leaders are well organised and well educated.

These are not ignorant people.

They know they are being exploited. They know that what happens to them doesn't happen in every other country. They desperately want to change this. Ali starts to explain.

At the time Perbupas was formed, there were horrific working conditions in Panarub. Workers were physically and verbally abused by supervisors every day. Employees often bore scars or fresh burns from working with hot glue machines. Pregnant women used to have to stand all day, a situation that workers say led to many women having miscarriages at the factory. Women were also required to undergo a humiliating physical exam if they wanted to avail of the menstrual leave that is a legal entitlement in Indonesia.

"It was very bad, " says Ali. "The environment was filthy. One toilet was being used for 200 workers. There was violence, real violence.

Supervisors would throw shoes and boxes at workers' heads if they were not quick enough."

Cautiously, the Perbupas founders began gathering union members . . . not an easy task under the disapproving glare of management. In 2000, having finally amassed some strength in numbers, Perbupas organised a strike. A few months later, one of the strikers, Ngadinah, was arrested, imprisoned for a month and subjected to an extended trial.

A well-respected non-governmental organisation publicly announced its belief that Panarub management was trying to destroy the Perbupas union, and that the police had arrested Ngadinah because they were in collusion with the factory. The media in Indonesia agreed.

Ngadinah was eventually allowed to return to work at Panarub. However, the effect on the Perbupas union had been devastating.

"We were trying to grow again, but people were afraid to join us, because of everything that had happened, " says Ali.

Slowly, he says, Perbupas began to regroup.

Following a damning report on the factory by the Workers' Rights Consortium in 2004, Panarub management greatly improved working conditions there. Perbupas grew in strength, and by last October, it had reached a record high of 2,200 members.

"The supervisors weren't as hard any more, " says Ali. "They knew that if they hit a worker, then Perbupas would campaign for them to be dismissed and it would happen. Before that, the supervisors could do almost anything to the workers, and only get a letter of warning, which was completely ineffective."

With wages still restrictively low, Perbupas decided to campaign for a bonus increase of 80,000 rupiah ( 6.80) per worker. Adidas pays 1,500,000 to Zinedine Zidane so that they will wear the +F50.6 Tunit football boots that Panarub workers make. But management refused the bonus, and Perbupas resolved to have a one-day strike.

"A lot of workers had asked us to come and get them out of the factory, because they were afraid to be seen leaving voluntarily by the management, " says Ali. "But when we went to get them, the supervisors had locked the doors and the workers inside were shouting to get out. Then one of the supervisors pushed one of the female workers on her breast. This was the only violence.

But it did anger the men in the group, and they shouted louder and pushed forward."

A short time later, the police were called by management and the demonstration dissipated.

It was a few days afterwards that Ali was called to the head office.

"I was given a letter saying I had committed a violation, and I was fired, " he says, rummaging in his files and producing a copy of it. "But it does not say what the violation was, or what I did wrong. And then I was asked to leave immediately, without even telling my co-workers, and I was escorted off the premises. I wasn't allowed to take anything from the Perbupas office. We managed to get the union computer later." He points to the corner.

32 union members fired A total of 32 other workers were also fired, all of them key leaders of Perbupas. The case went to the labour court, and the termination of Ali and the others was upheld.

The Workers' Rights Consortium (WRC) investigated. It found, very clearly, that the workers had been illegally terminated, and that they should be reinstated immediately.

"Several incidents during the course of the legal process reflect clear bias against workers on the part of the [Indonesian government] and the Central Labour Court, " said the WRC report.

It went on to state that Adidas, as an international sports brand with huge power and responsibility in this case, should immediately pressurise management in Panarub to "offer immediate and unconditional reinstatement, " to all 33 workers.

Adidas agreed to do this, pledging to write a letter to management saying the re-employment of the workers was "non-negotiable." And yet, Ali and the others are still unemployed.

Ali laughs. "Management have now started to turn the workers against us, " he says. "They have said that they would rather close the factory than re-employ us. And now the workers are getting scared. There is a fear spreading among them, of losing their jobs because of us. I don't think it will happen, that 12,000 people would lose their jobs because of 33, but it is a good ploy by management. It is working."

Without their leaders for almost a year now, and with the threat of unemployment hanging over them, the Perbupas membership is steadily disintegrating. Already, conditions at the factory have regressed to old times. A timid woman wearing the blue uniform of the Panarub factory speaks out now. Her name is Sari.

"We are really suffering, " she says. "We have no organisation to stand up for us. It is now a daily habit that the supervisors threaten us and shout at us and call us names. If a worker is ill, it is very difficult to ask for a break . . . the supervisor just says to wait, wait until the work is done. So then a woman will faint. It happens all the time now, that women are fainting because they are not allowed a break."

Other female workers, bunched together on the concrete floor, murmur their agreement.

Things are bad now, they say. And it will only get worse if Perbupas cannot reform.

Outside the house, the Panarub factory is only ten minutes' drive away. After a strict identification check at the gate, the Sunday Tribune is allowed entry.

The grounds are amazing. In this very hot, brown country, there is green grass growing and water spurting out of fountains. The reception is as slick and contemporary as any that might be found in an Adidas premises in Dublin.

There are models of the football boots on the walls, and a cool, air-conditioned waiting area.

Everything smells crisp and fresh. Everywhere is spotlessly clean.

'It's too loud here' The director of the factory, Hendrik Sasmito, his colleague, Chris Lee, and a representative from Adidas, Harry Nurmansyah, are on hand to greet the Sunday Tribune. They lead the way upstairs to an opulent boardroom, where a powerpoint presentation, specially prepared for the this visit, is shown.

It starts with a picture of Zinedine Zidane, tying the laces of his +F50.6 Tunit football boots.

Then the facilities at the factory are listed . . . a counselling centre, a library, a canteen, religious facilities, sports facilities, recreational facilities. It is very impressive.

A tour of the factory grounds then begins. We pass an area that is reserved for praying. Three people are using it. The Sunday Tribune is shown the medical centre. One woman lies on a bed.

Many, many more beds lie empty.

And then we arrive at one of the production buildings, where hundreds of women are hard at work. The noise in this huge area sounds like hundreds and hundreds of sewing machines beating out a persistent noise. It is suddenly shocking to see the familiar shapes of the +F50.6 Tunit football boots forming under the small hands of the workers.

The heat is everywhere, cloying and oppressive. Almost immediately, the director of the factory, Hendrik Sasmito, begins sweating profusely, dark circular patches seeping through his light blue shirt. After five minutes in the warehouse . . . where women work all day . . . he puts his hands over his ears.

"It's too loud here, " he says. "Noisy and hot. I will meet you back at the reception."

As he walks away, a smiling woman dressed in the orange garb of a supervisor approaches.

Her name is Lika Frida, and she immediately, pleasantly, denies any claims of violence or abuse of workers by supervisors.

"I have never seen these things, " she says, and laughs as if the mere suggestion is ridiculous.

"It is Perbupas who was violent during the strike.

They forced the other labourers to stop working.

But I have never seen any violence. Supervisors throwing things at workers? Never." She laughs again.

The Tribune is offered the chance to speak to one of the workers. "Pick anyone you want, " says Chris Lee. A small, round girl called Imelda Sundai is chosen at random. She is closely shadowed by her supervisor, who stays by her side for the entire interview. Imelda looks to her supervisor before answering every question. Sometimes the supervisor simply answers for her.

"Perbupas was trying to force the workers to strike, but we didn't want to do it, " says Imelda.

"I have pity for the leaders, but they should not come back to the factory because they broke the law." She looks again to her boss, who smiles and nods.

Cheaper labour in China Back at the office, the air-conditioning has been cranked up to full. William Anderson, head of social and environmental affairs for Asia Pacific Adidas, is ready to join our upcoming discussion via speakerphone. The director, Hendrik Sasmito, has disappeared.

A long conversation follows, in which Adidas and the factory management give their version of events (see panel). As the discussion comes to an end, the director, Hendrik Sasmito, rejoins the group, looking fresh and cool again. He is grinning cheerfully.

"I have a factory in China, " he says, "and, to be honest, the conditions are much better here in Panarub than what is there. They get many more orders in China, and they handle them.

They are afraid of the police in China. In Indonesia, workers used to be afraid of the police. But now, a worker will see a policeman with a baton, and ask if he can play with it. It's funny. In Indonesia, we have more demonstrations now and more workers' rights than ever before. And the workers have been rewarded with less jobs and the closure of factories because the big brands are moving to countries like China, where the labour is cheaper and quicker. Of course, workers' rights are good and it is right that they have unions. But it's funny, you know." He grimaces a little, beneath the grin.

The Tribune is escorted back downstairs, and kept company until the car arrives. There is no point at which the Tribune is not accompanied by an official from the factory.

Ten minutes away, in the little union house, even more workers have squeezed into the floor space. They pass around a copy of the management's presentation, pointing in disbelief at the pictures of happy workers. They laugh, a lot.

But then, as they listen to what management has said, they fall silent. Ali, and Sari, and all the other workers, sitting in a quiet circle on the ground, in a tiny house, where the dirt and the heat sticks to your skin like tar. And for once, even for the Indonesians, things seem too bad for laughter.

PT Panarub factory facts

Total factory area: 16.2 acres Workers: 11,500 Wage for workers: /68 a month Retail price of one pair of boots: /180+ Boots produced per month: 650,000 Boots produced in 2005: 7.5 million

Republic of Indonesia

Capital: Jakarta Government: Republic Independence: (from the Netherlands) declared 17 August 1945, recognised 27 December 1949 Area 1,904,569km 2(16th in the world) Population (2005) 222,781,000 (4th) GDP (2005 est) Total: $977.4bn (15th) Per capita: $4,458 (110th) Human Development Index (2003) 0.697 (110th) Population below poverty line (2004):

16.7% Unemployment rate (2005) 11.8%

SPONSORSHIP DEALS PAID TO SPORTS STARS
David Beckham: /3.1m
Zinedine Zidane: /1.5m
Tiger Woods: /20m
Brazilian national football team: /12.5m over 10 years
Manchester United: /450m over 13 years
Venus Williams: /5.5m Thierry Henry: /14m over 5 years