For students at the University of Wisconsin, a Motion W on clothing around campus doesn’t get a second glance. But concerns about the $1.2 million contract UW has with Adidas — one of many clothing companies licensed to use the logo on its products — have garnered national attention.

The controversy centers on whether or not Adidas is working to uphold necessary labor conditions in some of its factories.

“The clothing industry is very involved and complex — there’s not one answer to it,” said Cindy Van Matre, trademark licensing director at UW.

The questions have pushed the university’s administration to make visits to Adidas factories in South America to investigate if the accusations of labor problems are true.

Dawn Crim, UW assistant director for community relations, will be traveling to El Salvador April 12-14 to investigate the conditions of area apparel factories.

When it comes to the relationship between Adidas and UW, there are two licensing contracts involved.

The first is a trademark-licensing contract, allowing Adidas to put the official UW logo on clothing and other apparel. Adidas shares this type of contract with about 475 other companies, according to Van Matre.

The second and more substantial contract holds Adidas responsible for supplying athletic gear for UW student athletes.

Both contracts were established about six years ago, Van Matre said, as the university had established a similar contract with Reebok before the Adidas agreement.

“Nike was the first company to sign universities to these types of contracts,” she added. “About every school in the Big Ten … [has] some kind of arrangement.”

The only other schools in the conference to have deals with Adidas are Indiana University and Northwestern University — every other school in the Big Ten has a deal with Nike.

Van Matre said the issues receiving recent attention from student groups like the Student Labor Action Coalition have been addressed by universities across the country since 2000.

“When Kathie Lee Gifford came out with a clothing line, … there were sweatshop issues,” Van Matre said. “After that, people started thinking more about [it] — that’s when universities came in.”

Conversation about the production of apparel in factories with unfit labor conditions led universities — including UW — to come up with a “code of conduct,” which lists certain conditions they want factories and clothing companies to follow.

As separate universities formulated their own codes in the beginning, they quickly realized it was counterproductive for each university to have its own unique code. Around 2000, a basic uniform code was established that allows universities to add provisions if desired.

Crim said UW’s code of conduct is a standard to which all companies licensed to the university — including Adidas — are required to follow.

“It basically says the goods are going to be made in the best possible conditions and workers have the ability to freely associate if they so choose,” she said. “It lay[s] out certain parameters in order to make our goods.”

Getting first-hand experience The code of conduct is the focus of the recent controversy rising between the university and Adidas.

After the 2005 closure of Hermosa, an apparel factory in El Salvador, questions arose as to whether the clothing brand had held up code of conduct provisions.

According to Crim, the factory dismissed more than 250 workers without giving them $825,000 in back pay or severance and may have penalized workers who tried to create labor unions.

Additionally, Crim said the factory’s owner had stolen money from workers through a non-existent fund believed to be developed for the workers’ health insurance and social security benefits.

While the reasons for Hermosa’s closure are not perfectly clear, Crim said there are speculations the factory did not receive enough orders to stay open.

Crim’s trip to El Salvador will allow the administration — along with the Workers’ Rights Consortium — to see the Hermosa factory firsthand and talk with former factory workers about its previous conditions.

“I actually hope to gain some firsthand knowledge about the apparel industry as a whole,” Crim said. “And I’ll get in-depth information about the closing of the Hermosa factory.”

Crim will be visiting Hermosa, along with several other factories, with administrators from the University of Maryland, Duke University and the University of Colorado, among others. But the trip to El Salvador is not a result of the recent pressure put on by SLAC, the university’s Labor Licensing Policy Committee or other organizations, according to Crim.

An investigation of the factories has actually been in the works for about two years, she said. “We were in the process of determining which factories to visit,” Crim said. “The opportunity that presented itself with WRC was perfect timing, … and the Adidas personnel were instrumental in setting it up.”

But the visit will only focus on a few factories, and Van Matre has said policing the code of conduct is difficult when more than 400 companies produce UW apparel in more than 4,000 factories.

“One of the things we found out (is) it’s kind of an honor system,” Van Matre said. “It’s kind of impossible to know exactly what’s going on in each factory.”

Is it enough?

Crim believes the visit to El Salvador is an indicator of the university’s commitment to quality, from academics to the clothes it sells. But SLAC members feel the efforts in El Salvador this week are not enough to support the struggle for workers.

“It’s good that they’re going down there to see what it’s really like; I wish it wasn’t a way of just stalling,” SLAC member Nick Limbeck said. “They’re coming up with symbolic actions like going down to El Salvador instead of what needs to be done.”

SLAC wants the university to sever ties with the company instead of renegotiating contracts, especially after the WRC notified UW of Adidas’ violations.

“Often, abuses still occur despite the code of conduct. … [Adidas is] one of the most egregious violators of workers’ rights around the world,” Limbeck said. “[Administrators are] stalling until May, until we go to summer break, then they can brush it under the rug because all the students are gone for the summer.”

The student coalition has publicly opposed the Adidas contract but has implemented the Designated Supplier’s Program, a policy allowing production of university products only in factories with unionized workers.

While it is still a challenge to find a business large enough to handle the university’s demand and create a supply that will still produce profits, Crim said there is an effort to identify and work with companies that make products in the “best possible condition.” Crim referred to Fair Indigo, a company that creates clothing and pays their workers fair wages.

But Limbeck said cutting the contract would not affect business because suppliers will always be there.

“Someone else will come to the table. … They’ll get the message that if you violate the code, we will not do business with you,” Limbeck added. “The more important issue is that people are being exploited to an extreme level.”

As for Adidas, the company has remained relatively quiet about the situation, but Crim said Adidas has been cooperative in the investigative efforts.

“We have a one-of-a-kind relationship with Adidas — they allow us to view their books on workers and communications with workers,” Crim said. “No other university in the nation can do that.”

The UW athletic department also keeps tabs on the current issues revolving around its contract with Adidas, and according to Senior Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney, the company has been “very responsive.”

The athletic department works closely with the chancellor’s office when renegotiations of the Adidas contract occur, and the department offers its opinions, Sweeney said. Adidas works well with other universities as well, according to Gary Wyant, executive associate athletic director for the University of Tennessee.

UT has a similar contract with Adidas, where the company supplies all athletic gear needed for its student athletes.

In Wyant’s experience, he said the university examined the standards of Adidas and other bidding companies when choosing a supplier. “There hasn’t been any controversy about that at all,” Wyant said of Adidas, which has been associated with UT for about 11 years. “Adidas has been very cooperative, and we’ve never had one moment of problem.”

Future consequences

When Crim returns from her visit later this week, she will present her findings to Chancellor John Wiley and his cabinet. Crim will also discuss her experiences with the LLPC and inform the committee of the conversations held with Adidas on the trip.

The administration will then focus on its future actions and will take a look at the current contract, which extends until 2011 and is worth $1.2 million to the university.

While the idea of completely terminating the contract with Adidas is an option, Crim said the more preferable method is to work out any problems she finds with the company first.

“There are points where we can mediate where they can fix the problems,” Crim said. “It’s our desire that they fi x it, because ultimately, the workers benefit.”

It is an issue that UW will continue to face as an active student body and its organizations fight for what they believe is right.

“The difference is the level of activism from students, faculty and staff in terms of passion,” Crim said. “It’s a notion held in high esteem by all of them.”

And while administrators believe Adidas will be cooperative, the issue at hand affects not just UW, but universities across the nation and factories around the world — a struggle that will not end immediately, according to Limbeck.

“We’re supporting these workers’ struggle in El Salvador, but it’s part of a larger, broader struggle in support to empower sweatshop workers all over,” he said. “They’re not trying to sit back — they’re trying to do something and liberate themselves.”