Russell Athletics close monitored factory in Honduras, Duke and Georgetown drop contract with company

David Bonior, Chairman of American Rights at Work, writes in the Huffington Post:

Duke and Georgetown showed that, with some exercise of moral leadership, those in the business of sports also have the power to advance human rights. Responding to news that Russell Athletic, a leading U.S. apparel manufacturer, had shut down a factory in Honduras in retaliation for workers having organized a union, the two schools, along with others such as Columbia, Miami, Rutgers and Wisconsin, announced that they are discontinuing the company’s license to put their logos on its sweatshirts.

Read the whole article.

The best summation of this news comes in the comments. Commenter emmasmack in response to another commenter who stated Russell has the right to do whatever they want to do:

The schools aren’t saying Russell wasn’t allowed to close the factory — they’re saying that since Russell closed the factory, the universities don’t want to do business with them anymore.

Sure, Russell has a right to do as it pleases, but it doesn’t have the right to revenue from licensing with any particular university. The universities get to decide who the license to, and they can insist that the companies which produce their apparel respect the rights of workers.

I think these are the kind of actions that can work to improve the garment industry. Although, it’s hard not to feel for the workers in Honduras who lost their jobs for standing up for themselves. Hopefully, their sacrifice pays dividends for future workers.

 
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