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Sweatshop complaint: Student group pressures UW over adidas deal

Anita Weier  —  5/04/2008 7:28 pm

The Student Labor Action Coalition is once again pressuring UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley to end the university's exclusive contract with adidas for athletic apparel.

The long-running dispute stems from treatment of former workers at the Hermosa factory in El Salvador, which closed in 2005 while owing 260 workers about $825,000 in back pay and severance funds. Sixty-three workers who were union members protested and were blacklisted and labeled as troublemakers, the students say.

There are also allegations that the owner of the Hermosa factory, which had made clothing for adidas, embezzled some employee funds.

"With four months left in his tenure as chancellor, Wiley has one last chance to redeem himself by taking decisive action in support of workers by cutting the UW's exclusive contract with adidas. If he doesn't act, students will forever remember him as the Sweatshop Chancellor who sold out UW-Madison to corporate interests," said coalition member Phoebe Taurick.

Wiley, reached by phone in Washington, D.C., agreed with the students that the situation with the blacklisted workers has not been resolved.

"Some blacklisting or the equivalent has been going on. We are having talks with adidas about the situation. They understand how seriously we take this," Wiley said.

However, the situation is complicated because of indications that a union that many of the workers are involved with is somewhat corrupt, he said. Another factor is that the government of El Salvador has failed to enforce its own laws, Wiley contends.

"So it is a messy, ugly situation -- the sort of thing you would expect when dealing with a corrupt government as well," he said.

"But I don't know a company that is doing more than adidas or treating it more seriously. If the students know of an apparel maker that is doing a better job, they should tell me. I think adidas' record is best, as bad as it is."

Both the University of Wisconsin-Madison and adidas have contributed to a relief fund for workers, and adidas has tried to persuade the government of El Salvador to act. A representative of the company met with the UW-Madison's Labor Licensing Policy Committee in April to discuss possible remedies for the situation. The committee recommended that 10 workers receive long-term jobs by June 1 and another 10 by Sept. 1.

The university contracts with adidas to provide athletic uniforms and equipment, and the company is a university licensee. The current deal runs through 2011 and is worth about $1.2 million annually to the university, mostly in athletic gear but also bringing in some scholarship funds.

 

Anita Weier  —  5/04/2008 7:28 pm