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A large university in the US has cancelled a licensing agreement with Nike over concerns about the company’s treatment of workers in Honduras.
The University of Wisconsin accuses Nike of failing to help workers collect severance payments they are owed from two factories making Nike products which closed last year. ‘Nike has not developed, and does not intend to develop, meaningful ways of addressing the plight of displaced workers and their families in Honduras,’ said the university.
It said Nike ‘has not presented clear long-range plans to prevent or respond to similar problems in the future. For this combination of reasons, we have decided to end our relationship for now’.
A previous university boycott of sportswear firm Russell Athletic, which was accused of sacking 1800 workers in Honduras because of their union activities, forced the company to rehire most of the workforce. In that instance, almost 100 American universities and colleges, including Wisconsin, eventually terminated licensing agreements worth up to and above $1million per year.
The labour rights watchdog Worker Rights Consortium says nearly 2000 Honduran workers in the Nike case are collectively owed $2.2million, and most are now without jobs, food and money.
Wisconsin’s code of conduct requires its suppliers to take responsibility for its subcontractors. Under Nike policy, however, subcontractors are responsible for employee compensation, and the firm says no Wisconsin-branded products were made at the two Honduras factories.
The University of Wisconsin accuses Nike of failing to help workers collect severance payments they are owed from two factories making Nike products which closed last year. ‘Nike has not developed, and does not intend to develop, meaningful ways of addressing the plight of displaced workers and their families in Honduras,’ said the university.
It said Nike ‘has not presented clear long-range plans to prevent or respond to similar problems in the future. For this combination of reasons, we have decided to end our relationship for now’.
A previous university boycott of sportswear firm Russell Athletic, which was accused of sacking 1800 workers in Honduras because of their union activities, forced the company to rehire most of the workforce. In that instance, almost 100 American universities and colleges, including Wisconsin, eventually terminated licensing agreements worth up to and above $1million per year.
The labour rights watchdog Worker Rights Consortium says nearly 2000 Honduran workers in the Nike case are collectively owed $2.2million, and most are now without jobs, food and money.
Wisconsin’s code of conduct requires its suppliers to take responsibility for its subcontractors. Under Nike policy, however, subcontractors are responsible for employee compensation, and the firm says no Wisconsin-branded products were made at the two Honduras factories.
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