Bearing human rights in mind, the University signed a new contract this summer with Nike to outfit its football, women's basketball and women's soccer teams.
The contract includes the most explicit language ever in a University apparel contract regarding the rights of the workers who manufacture clothing with the University logo, said Ross Kane, president of the University chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops. USAS is a national organization working to establish human rights standards in collegiate apparel contracts.
The four-year Nike contract calls for the sporting goods giant to provide University teams with uniforms and other gear, as well as financial compensation for advertising the Nike logo, said Keith Vanderbeek, associate athletic director for business operations.
Nike resisted including the anti-sweatshop language in the contract, making it a "sticking point" in negotiations, Vanderbeek said.
Nike factories, usually located in third-world countries, manufacture collegiate apparel alongside other clothing, Kane said.
"We're trying to use the leverage the University has to change the [sports apparel] industry," he said.
The contract with Nike replaces a five-year deal with Reebok that covered some University sports teams.
The Reebok agreement also had an attachment dealing with labor standards, but the language in the Nike contract is "much more explicit, more detailed," University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said.
Dudley, along with University Bookstore Director John Kates, University Attorney Susan Harris, Associate Athletic Director Andrew Rader as well as Kane and other students, formed a committee that has examined ways for the University to protect labor rights in its apparel contracts.
Informally known as the "No-Sweat Committee," the ad-hoc group was formed last fall, shortly after the founding of the University chapter of USAS.
USAS helped the committee by researching ways to implement labor standards, Dudley said.
Specifically, the new Nike contract establishes standards for workers' wages, hours and benefits. It also creates rules for child or forced labor, health and safety concerns and discrimination. It guarantees freedom of association and collective bargaining - or the right to form unions - and full public disclosure of often secret factory locations, Kane said.
The standards mirror a code of conduct advocated by the Collegiate Licensing Company, a company through which the University negotiates its apparel contracts. The next goal of the anti-sweatshop committee, a goal which Kane sees as attainable soon, is to convince the University to adopt the CLC code as a code for all its apparel contracts, Kane said.
"This is a big victory, considering none of this was even talked about a year ago," he said. "This could be a major turning point for the University in human rights issues"
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