Russell Athletic is currently under fire after announcing its plans to close one of its factories. The factory Jerzees de Honduras is located in the city of Choloma and employs 1,800 people. Jerzees produces licensed collegiate apparel for more than 50 universities, including the University of Wisconsin. Although last week 300 workers were laid off, even larger layoffs will begin this December. The factory is expected to be closed by April of next year.
The announced closure comes at a time when employees and their union at the factory are in the midst of collective bargaining negotiations with factory management. These workers have accused Russell of undermining their associational rights, and of a pattern of hostility toward their unionization. Russell has faced these accusations before. The independent labor rights monitoring agency, the Workers’ Rights Consortium, which UW relies on for labor rights information, has been investigating Russell-owned factories in Choloma, Honduras, since September 2007. The investigation was sparked by complaints filed by employees at two factories owned by Russell in response to an illegal mass firing of workers who were attempting to unionize.
On a conference call Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008, between Jerzees employees and members of the U.S.-based organization United Students Against Sweatshops, workers at the factory said they received threats factory ownership would “never coexist with a union” and the closure is Russell’s way around addressing workforce issues.
If workers’ allegations regarding the factory closure are true, which will soon be verified by an official report from the Workers Rights Consortium, Russell may find itself in violation of UW’s Trademark Licensee Code of Conduct. The code is part of UW’s contract with clothing companies. It sets standards and practices for brands like Russell to adhere to. These standards address areas of concern such as child labor, harassment and abuse, forced labor, and freedom of association and collective bargaining. According to this code, “Licensees shall recognize and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining. No employee shall be subject to harassment, intimidation or retaliation in their efforts to freely associate or bargain collectively.”
Russell has claimed the factory closure is not related to the collective bargaining taking place, but rather it is due to unrelated economic reasons concerning fleece production. Based on past experience with the company, those investigating the case are wary of this explanation. Workers at Jerzees de Honduras also believe this to be deceptive, since two of Russell’s other factories in the area will remain open.
“The closure, if carried out, will demonstrate to workers that there is no point in filing complaints about violations of their rights, because even if labor rights monitors can compel a company to end the violations, the company can simply wait a few months and then shut down the factory,” wrote Scott Nova, executive director of the Workers’ Rights Consortium, in a letter to the UW. “A factory that workers and workers’ organizations in Honduras have viewed as a harbinger of progress in respect for basic labor rights in that country will instead be seen as convincing proof that codes of conduct and monitoring programs offer only false promises to workers.” Nova went on to write, “As news of the closure spreads, the lesson workers can be expected to draw is that codes of conduct are meaningless and that if employees try to exercise the rights protected by these codes, the result will be the loss of jobs and livelihood.”
If Russell has again violated our Codes of Conduct by systematically disregarding workers’ rights, UW must enforce its Codes of Conduct and sever its contract with Russell Athletic.
Eric Hoyt is a junior majoring in history. He is a member of the Student Labor Action Coalition.