
Two days after chastising Chancellor Biddy Martin for a change in policy regarding campus workers, the University of Wisconsin Student Labor Action Coalition presented her with a homemade cake in gratitude for her recent standoff with Nike over the compensation of workers; however, she was unable to share in the festivities.
On Nov. 3, Martin sent a letter to Nike expressing UW’s disappointment at Nike’s decision not to compensate employees of two apparel factories in Honduras with adequate severance after the factories were closed in January.
Nike’s decision to forego severance pay is a violation of UW’s code of conduct and was brought to the administration’s attention in a report released Oct. 8 by the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who make products for sale in the U.S.
According to the WRC report, Nike owes more than $1.7 million to workers at the Hugger de Honduras facility and more than $450,000 to workers of the Vision Tex facility.
In the letter, Martin said UW “believe(s) under the university code of conduct, it is Nike’s responsibility to ensure that alleged labor rights violations by [their] subcontractors are remedied.”
Martin’s action prompted gratitude from SLAC, who baked the cake as a way to encourage her to keep standing up for workers’ rights and making sure UW continues to enforce its codes of conduct, said Jan Van Tol, UW senior and SLAC member.
“We want there to never be a question whether they’re enforced or not and part of that is swift action so that apparel companies like Nike know that if they violate the code, the University of Wisconsin will hold them accountable to that,” Van Tol said.
Martin said she was unable to share cake with SLAC due to prior time commitments, but she did write to thank them.
Max Klos, UW sophomore and SLAC member, said UW’s service to the community has helped make it the flagship university of the state and as such, it needs to have an active voice.
Universities are just “one piece of the cake,” Martin said. The most effective way to reach multinational corporations such as Nike is to educate consumers.
While it is uncertain what the next step in the campaign is, Martin said UW does not plan to take action against other apparel companies such as adidas.
While SLAC members were disappointed Martin could not accept the cake personally, Klos said they understand she is busy and said SLAC did not schedule an appointment because their requests are usually denied.
SLAC’s act of goodwill came two days after they sent Martin a letter protesting UW’s change to a policy that allows campus workers to attend union functions.
“The change disproportionately affects second and third shift workers, which is the most diverse workforce on campus, with 61 percent comprised of people of color,” the letter said.
While the timing of the two separate motions seems to send conflicting messages, Van Tol assured the timing was not intentional.
“We want to give credit where credit is due and it’s due on the Nike issue,” Van Tol said. “At the same time we want to share that the university’s stance on labor issues isn’t perfect.”