In addition to the work of students, ILRF and other anti-sweatshop organizations have been quite active in supporting workers. ILRF helped introduce a shareholder resolution at Berkshire Hathaway’s meeting this year given that Berkshire is the parent company of Russell. Another avenue utilized included ILRF and several other organizations in filing a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concerning freedom of association violations within Russell’s supply chain. ILRF has also continued to follow this issue as you can see in a previous blog post. ILRF also called out Russell in its Working for Scrooge publication in Dec 2008.
Though Russell claims the reasons for closure are purely economic, worker reports of unabashed anti-union intimidation prove otherwise. Russell has a long history of anti-union activity, even admitting in the past to firing workers because had begun to organize. In the case of Jerzees de Honduras, the announcement of closure came in response to workers standing up for their rights to a fair wage, a safe workplace, and the freedom to organize, rights guaranteed under the International Labor Organization (an office of the UN) and national labor law. The announcement also came during the first round of negotiations between the company and the union, SITRAJERZEESH. The closure, if allowed to stand, would put 1,800 Jerzees de Honduras employees out of work. Unfortunately, the corporate practice of shutting down factories once workers begin to unionize is not uncommon. ILRF has worked with unions in many countries that have faced discrimination for their organizing.
While Russell may have hoped to get away with this act of blatant disregard for human dignity and international labor standards, it quickly learned otherwise. Russell Athletic is a major supplier of university and collegiate apparel to hundreds of universities throughout the U.S., and its Jerzees de Honduras factory is one factory where this apparel was produced. After learning of the planned factory closure, the SITRAJERZEESH contacted United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), and together the student-run, grassroots organization and the Honduran union have led an unprecedented campaign in support of workers’ right to organize. To date, 96 universities in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom have severed their contracts with Russell, thanks to student mobilization. The campaign will continue until Russell agrees to reopen the factory and rehire its union workers.
Let Russell know how you feel by sending them an email here.
In addition to actions led by individual USAS chapters throughout the country, USAS also organized two national speaking tours, through which members of SITRAJERZEESH toured universities with Russell contracts throughout the country. Present at a national USAS conference held this weekend were SITRAJERZEESH President Moises Montoya, Vice-President Norma Meija, and Mirna Chavarria, a member of the negotiating committee. After the action on Friday, the students and the SITRAJERZEESH representatives reunited (many knew each other from the speaking tours) and chatted. Before their departure back to Honduras, the union representatives shared a popular chant used in Honduras with the group of students: “El trabajador consciente, aquí está presente” (the conscious worker is present here). As the group gathered for a parting photo on the steps of a Columbia Heights community center, students took up the chant and, in a show of solidarity, substituted the word “trabajador” (worker) with “estudiante” (student) in alternating verses.
With only weeks until the beginning of the academic year, students are already planning for what they hope will be the final push to force Russell to reopen the factory, reinstate its workers, and recognize the demands of SITRAJERZEESH.
