How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
This past February, NYU cut its ties with the Russell Corp., after allegations that the athletic clothing company violated its university licensing agreements by closing a production plant in Honduras in response to its workers' unionization.
Following Russell's recent decision to reopen the plant and rehire the 1,200 employees who lost their jobs, NYU is considering re-licensing with the company, NYU spokesman John Beckman said.
Ninety-five other colleges also chose to end licensing with Russell, a subsidiary of Fruit of the Loom, after receiving a notice from the Worker Rights Consortium that Russell was not complying with WRC code. Because of this significant loss of revenue, the company decided to reopen the plant and rehire the Honduran workers, also allowing them to unionize. Beckman said NYU is currently waiting for a report from the WRC about an agreement with Russell, which is expected to be released around January 2010.
"If that report is positive, there is a good likelihood we would re-license Russell and resume buying their products sometime shortly afterward," Beckman said.
Beckman said that at the time NYU terminated the license, Russell Athletic (a division of Russell Corp.) did not produce many items for the university and that the impact at NYU's bookstores was minimal.
The University of Miami, the first university to break ties with Russell, is also reconsidering licensing with the company.
"Our reasoning in severing our relationship was their noncompliance of our labor Code of Conduct in the manufacture of items that utilized the university's marks and logos," said Mel Tenen, assistant vice president of auxiliary services at the University of Miami.
Because the company has now taken actions to ensure compliance, a renewal of the license is possible, Tenen said.
In light of these changes, members of Oxfam America at NYU, which works to find solutions to social injustices, believe it would now be appropriate for NYU to rethink a contract with Russell. They want the company to fulfill the commitments it recently made with United Students Against Sweatshops regarding union neutrality in all their facilities. The group is also calling for Russell to educate employees on their right to freedom of association.
"By reopening the factory and recognizing their right to organize, Russell did the right thing," said Gallatin sophomore Marlie Wilson, a member of NYU's Oxfam America. "We should be positively acknowledging this decision and supporting the newly organized workers, but at the same time, we should do so with caution. We need to monitor the activity of Russell Athletic and make sure they stay true to their word."
