When the University of Chicago allows a company to profit from manufacturing apparel with the university logo, we implicitly endorse and directly support the company that produced that apparel. That means that every hoodie, every backpack, every t-shirt with the University of Chicago logo printed on it represents a nod of approval on the part of the school and the school community for the labor practices that went into making that item. Do we, as students, really want to be a part of a system that allows corporations to commit worker rights abuses with no repercussions? In 2005 the student body said no. Students staged a campaign that pressured the University to affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent watchdog organization that monitors the labor practices of companies that produce university apparel. As an affiliate of the WRC, the University adopted a Code of Conduct for all companies that produce U of C apparel, holding them accountable for maintaining fair labor practices. Now, that commitment is being put to the test for the first time, but the University has shown no intention to follow through.
The WRC recently contacted its affiliate schools with some news about Adidas. According to the WRC, PT Kizone, a factory in Indonesia, was shut down abruptly and its owner fled the country, failing to pay 2,800 workers at least $3.3 million in legally mandated severance. NIKE, Adidas, and the Dallas Cowboys Merchandising Group were producing logoed university apparel at this factory. For many years, all these brands have profited from the work of its lowest low-paid workers in Indonesia and they owe those workers fair treatment in return. Adidas’ refusal to pay the money owed to workers producing their apparel not only represents a grave violation of Indonesian law, but the University’s Licensing Code of Conduct. The University has in fact already made a commitment to cut the licensing contract with Adidas in response to these labor violations by adopting the Code of Conduct. The agreement has been made since 2005, what is missing now is action.
Adidas’s actions warrant such dramatic action on the part of the University because other companies have shown a willingness to meet their obligations when faced with similar pressures. In response to the WRC contacting its affiliate universities, NIKE came forward and paid the workers in proportion to their production at the factory—nearly half a million dollars. Adidas, however, has failed to pay the workers any of the money that it owes. Student groups at other schools across the country are running similar campaigns to make their schools pressure Adidas to pay its workers. NIKE was, undoubtedly influenced to do this by the past “Just Pay It” campaign, wherein major universities cut their licensing agreement with NIKE in order to pressure it pay workers at a factory in Honduras. The success of that campaign depended on a domino effect beginning with just a few schools, and leading to a wave of cut contracts. By cutting its licensing contract with Adidas, a well-regarded school like the University of Chicago would begin the same kind of domino effect—a series of losses that would push Adidas to correct its labor violations in Indonesia.
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Students Organizing United with Labor (SOUL), a labor rights RSO, has repeatedly asked President Zimmer to cut the university’s contract with Adidas but has yet to see the administration take any action. After sending a message to President Zimmer asking him to cut or suspend Adidas’ licensing contract, we received a flat rejection. The administration asserted that “Adidas has expressed concern about the situation and continues to work with Fair Labor Association (FLA)”. But such a fact should be obvious – Adidas holds a seat on the Board of Directors of the FLA. The school cannot continue to hide behind the clearly biased FLA in order to avoid taking action.
Ultimately, it is up to the members of the University of Chicago community to make sure that President Zimmer lives up to its commitment by requiring Adidas to fix these violations or lose their ability to profit using the U of C logo. The University’s response to our message asking President Zimmer to cut the Adidas contract concluded by saying, “As you know, we share a long-standing commitment to fair labor practices”. Let’s prove it.
