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Sweatshop-free policies change lives

Honduran workers at Russell Athletic and their union reached an agreement last November with vital support from the anti-sweatshop movement.

The agreement means rehiring of 1,200 workers and opening of a unionized apparel factory to replace one Russell had closed after workers there formed a union. It also contains steps to ensure the right to organize and bargain at all of Russell plants. Russell Athletic is one of the largest producers of team uniforms and college logo-ware and the largest private employer in Honduras.

	Labor rights breakthrough: At a union assembly in Honduras in December 2009 over 1,000 rehired Russell Athletic workers received the first disbursement--more than $1,000 each--from an agreement that will reopen a closed factory. Photos from the WRC

According to Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent factory monitoring group: “The agreement with Russell will make an immediate and enormous difference in the lives of thousands of workers and family members and will open the door to positive change for all Russell employees in Honduras—more than 10,000 people,”

“The victory is a maturation of the universities’ codes of conduct,” said Nova.
The victory came after years of movement-building, led by United Students Against Sweatshops. Students pressured universities to adopt codes of conduct for factories and create the Worker Rights Consortium to inspect the factories. When the Consortium reported on worker rights violations at Russell, USAS began a national campaign that convinced almost 100 schools to cancel their business relationships with Russell. Organizations around the world, including the LRC, followed students’ lead: “We put heat on the SUNY Central administration to drop contracts with Russell Athletic,” said Jordan Wells, the Coalition’s Sweatshop-free Coordinator.

Last Updated:04/26/2010
© Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State