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Keep Jerzees de Honduras Open!
Don't let Russell Athletic cut and run from Jerzees de Honduras! This collegiate factory, which is one of the only unionized garment facilities in Honduras and is directly owned by Russell, is a concrete testament to the power of student and worker solidarity. In 2007, with strong support from students and other anti-sweatshop activists, the workers won their hard-fought struggle for union representation, an unprecedented victory. Unfortunately, Russell Athletic has moved to destroy the union at Jerzees de Honduras by announcing just six days ago on October 8th that they are closing the factory. And this happened right when Russell was in the middle of negotiations with the workers over their first contract. Because of this, the workers' gains at Jerzees de Honduras have been put in jeopardy. This closure is a direct result of the business practices of Russell, and such behavior will not be tolerated! Tell Russell Athletic that they must, by whatever means necessary, ensure that the factory be reopened and its union workers remain employed!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Stop Cutting and Running!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing today to express my outrage over the recent closure of the Jerzees de Honduras factory in Honduras. As I am sure you are well aware, the workers of Jerzees, with support of students and universities in the United States and Canada, recently won a struggle for union recognition. With this, Jerzees became one of the few unionized factories in Honduras, and workers began to negotiate what would have been a historic collective bargaining agreement.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of commitment by Russell Athletic, these gains were never able to materialize. As a direct result of your company's refusal to make a real commitment to a factory where the rights of workers are respected, the workers of Jerzees de Honduras are about to lose their jobs. In addition to devastating the workers and their families, this act of cutting and running on the part of Russell will have a terrible effect on the municipality of Choloma as a whole. The Jerzees de Honduras factory is one of the primary sources of employment in Choloma, and the loss of these jobs will be felt by every member of the community.
By cutting and running from one of the only factories in your entire supply chain in which the right to freedom of association is actually respected, you have shown not just a lack of commitment to the basic principles that are supposedly protected by your code of conduct, but also a complete disregard for the lives of the workers off of whose labor you profit. Given that this is not a unique case and that your company has a history of cutting and running from factories where workers attempt to exercise their rights, I am left to wonder what your stated concern for workers' rights really means.
If your company is to exhibit a real commitment to ensuring that your goods are produced in dignified working conditions, and if these standards are to be more than just a public relations ploy, then it is imperative that you immediately reopen Jerzees de Honduras at full capacity, and ensure the union workers remain employed. Anything less will be seen by me, and the rest of the international community, as a blatant disregard for freedom of association and the rights of workers throughout your supply chain.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
October 14, 2008
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On Wednesday, October 8th, 2008, United Students Against Sweatshops learned that a unionized factory in Honduras called Jerzees de Honduras, is closing down as a result of Russell Athletic cutting and runnning from one of the few garment factories in the world that is not an outright sweatshop.
The Jerzees de Honduras facility is known for being one of two factories that was the focus of a wave of anti-sweatshop activism last year. In September 2007, independent monitors began investigations concerning Jerzees de Honduras and Jerzees Choloma, two factories which were owned and operated by Russell Athletic to produce collegiate apparel for universities. The investigations found that Russell Athletic responded to workers' organizing drives with an illegal union-busting campaign - firing 145 workers, all of whom were founding members of the unions.
Students quickly learned of Russell's anti-union activities, and immediately put pressure on the company (in the form of threats to cut Russell's licensing contracts with universities), which forced the company to provide back pay and offers of reinstatement to all of the 145 illegally fired workers. These workers went on reestablish their unions and press for improved working conditions, representing extraordinary progress in complying with the basic labor rights that are written in universities' codes of conduct.
Unfortunately, all this progress did not last long. Russell Athletic closed Jerzees Choloma in March of this year, and have now also cut and run from their only other unionized factory in the country, Jerzees de Honduras. And of course, Russell is not closing any of its other non-union factories in Honduras! We have perhaps never seen such brazen disregard by Russell for university codes of conduct before. In the span of less than a year, Russell Athletic will have destroyed two of the most successful efforts to implement university codes of conduct in history, and in doing so, will totally eliminate unions from its Honduran supply chain.
If universities allow Russell to go forward with this, it is fair to say that their codes of conduct are essentially worthless to workers. It is critical that universities and the public take immediate action to ensure that the efforts of the past 2 years are not undone.
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