Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Russell Athletics Rehires Workers

Russell Athletics, the sportswear company that drew protest at nearly 100 universities nationwide last spring for its alleged violations of workers’ rights, announced on Nov. 14 that it plans to rehire all 1,200 now-unionized workers that were laid off after it closed one of its Honduras factories in January 2009.

Georgetown was one of the first universities to discontinue its contract with Russell in February 2009 after the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, with the backing of the national group United Students Against Sweatshops, protested Russell’s decision to close its Jerzees de Honduras factory.

“Even in this time of economic recession, it was in fact viable to reopen the factory,” said Jack Mahoney (COL ’08), a national organizer for USAS.

According to Mahoney, Russell’s response is an unprecedented development in human rights activism. In addition to rehiring the workers, Russell Athletics pledged to reverse its decision to close the Jerzees de Honduras factory, to provide back pay for its workers and to respect its workers’ right to unionize.

“The extent to which this was a victory – not only the opening of the factory but also the return of back pay and the right to organize – shows that worker-student solidarity works and not only that, [it] works well,” GSC member Julia Shindel (COL ’10) said.

With the support of students, USAS organized visits from laid-off Honduran workers on college campuses throughout the country when university administrations suspended their contracts with Russell last year. GSC member Chessa Gross (SFS ’10) said it was important to allow laid-off workers to speak for themselves at events sponsored by student groups.

USAS volunteers posted flyers at The Sports Authority and tweeted customers of Dick’s Sporting Goods, and demonstrated at the NBA finals in Orlando and Los Angeles to persuade companies to cut ties with Russell.

GSC’s support of workers’ rights has had a historically strong presence on campus. In 1999, students staged a sit-in protest in then-President Leo J. O’Donovan’s office to persuade administrators to affiliate with the Workers’ Rights Consortium, an independent labor-rights organization. Additionally, members of GSC are currently involved in protests and rallies in support of a wage increase for Department of Public Safety officers.  

ahoney said that Georgetown’s role in the Russell case and in other human rights efforts has been “central” to the effort because of the dedication of GSC’s and other groups’ members. “

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