The article in the url below reports changes made by Russell Athletic, due to activist pressures brought by a nationwide student anti-sweatshop campaign (United Students Against Sweatshops, http://usas.org/):
“[The campaign’s] pressure tactics persuaded one of the nation's leading sportswear companies, Russell Athletic, to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when Russell closed their factory soon after the workers had unionized.”
The activist organization, which has been building its campaign over a decade, has focused on persuading universities to ensure the firms they enter into apparel licensing contracts with adopt codes of conduct to protect the rights of their suppliers’ employees. The campaign, which turned its focus on Russell in January last year:
“… persuaded the administrations of Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, Michigan, North Carolina and 89 other colleges and universities to sever or suspend their licensing agreements with Russell.”
The campaign also picketed NBA sporting events because of Russell’s relationship with the league and also retail outlets that stock Russell, such as Sports Authority.
The success of the campaign demonstrates that firms will react once it becomes evident their stakeholders are unhappy with an aspect of their business model and are willing to act on it in a way that threatens profits:
“In its agreement, not only did Russell agree to reinstate the dismissed workers and open a new plant in Honduras as a unionized factory, it also pledged not to fight unionization at its seven existing factories there.”
Understandably, a Russell spokesman:
“… declined to discuss why Russell had adopted a friendlier attitude toward unionization after years of aggressively fighting unions.”
Take care
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Labor Fight Ends in Win For Students
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
1126 words
18 November 2009
NYTF
Late Edition - Final
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/18labor.html
