Univ. cuts Russell Athletic ties

The university ended its contract with apparel manufacturer Russell Athletic yesterday after months of criticism for dealing with the company, which is accused of violating workers' rights.

Student groups, led by Feminism Without Borders, have been pressuring the university to end the contract since last semester, but momentum against the contract had been building in recent weeks. The Student Government Association unanimously approved a resolution asking the university to end the contract last week, and the Student Power Party, which claimed several legislative positions in the recent SGA elections, made terminating the contract a key part of its platform.

The company is accused of shutting down a factory in Honduras after workers there formed a union in 2007. University officials had been evaluating the allegations and decided yesterday to end the contract.

"The University of Maryland strongly supports responsible treatment of workers who produce its university-licensed apparel, as evidenced by our licensee labor code of conduct, membership in the Fair Labor Association and Worker Rights Consortium, and high standards for selecting and monitoring licensees," Joe Ebaugh, the university's director of licensing, said in a written statement.

"We recognize that apparel production is a challenging process, and we remain committed to working with companies that are attentive to their corporate social responsibility," he added.This university joins 25 others nationally -a number that continues to rise - that have also cut ties with Russell, including two of the university's peers, the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Officials from Russell Athletics said they closed the factory for economic reasons. While an investigation by the Fair Labor Association found there were some economic reasons to close the factory, the Worker Rights Consortium accused the company of employee abuses in factories throughout Honduras in 2008. "We're really excited about this decision, and it's going to send a strong message to our other licensees," said sophomore American studies major Casi O'Neill, who is an active member of Feminism Without Borders. "If there are workers' rights violations, there will be consequences."

The university's decision to cut the contract ends a long series of protests by Feminism Without Borders and other student groups, including demonstrations on the mall, hand-delivered petitions to university President Dan Mote's office and incessant phone calls to Ebaugh. Two weeks ago, they attempted to deliver a Maryland Public Information Act request for records of Ebaugh's e-mail correspondence with officials from Russell Athletic to Mote's office but were locked out of the Main Administration Building.

While the activists are pleased with the university's choice, they said they hope the administration will make future decisions with greater transparency and student input.

"We really want to have more conversations with Ebaugh and President Mote about workers' rights," said undergradate Senator-elect Josef Parker, a sophomore American studies major who is a member of Feminism Without Borders. "We're developing a committee with more students who want to get involved with the process."

Even though the Russell Athletic contract has been ended, Parker said, the university could still do more to promote workers' rights. He said the group will continue to pressure the university to sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program, an agreement promoted by the Worker Rights Consortium that would require the university to work exclusively with companies and factories that guarantee workers' rights will be respected.

"We're confident our university will sign on eventually," Parker said.

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