Thursday's Fact

New press links keep popping up, here's another from the 19th:

Wisconsin Public Radio:

For audio-(Scroll down to "Students Call on UW to Cut Ties with Adidas")
http://www.wpr.org/news/newsstories.cfm

For article-(Scroll down to "Students Call on UW to Cut Ties with Adidas")
http://www.wpr.org/news/newsheadlines.cfm

Today's Fact:
Adidas has violated workers' right to freedom of association in the BJ&B factory of the Dominican Republic. The FLA and WRC not only agree that this violation has occurred, but are also working together to resolve the situation, but the brands, including adidas are basically absent from the process. Below is an excerpt from a Clean Clothes Campaign Report on the FLA/WRC cooperation at BJ&B. The memo is from June 2003, and since then, the situation at BJ&B has only worsened.

FLA/WRC COLLABORATE AT BJ&B

The Fair Labour Association (FLA) and the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) have both released reports on the positive resolution of worker rights violations at the BJ&B factory in the Dominican Republic.

The reports indicate that despite their fundamental differences about code monitoring and certification issues, the FLA and WRC were able to cooperate in facilitating respect for freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively at the factory, which produces baseball caps for Nike, Reebok, Adidas and a number of US universities.

On March 26, 2003, a first collective bargaining agreement was signed between Sindicato de Trabajadores de BJ&B and management at the factory. The workers achieved a 10 percent wage increase, which will come into effect in January 2004, plus improved health and safety protections, a productivity bonus and other monetary incentives.

The WRC first became involved in the case in December 2001, when workers at BJ&B filed a complaint, charging their employer with illegally firing 20 union leaders. The FLA became involved in early 2002 when Nike, Reebok and Adidas filed a joint third party complaint with the FLA, charging their supplier with violating freedom of association provisions of the FLA code of conduct.

The intervention of the FLA, the WRC and brand and university buyers resulted in the reinstatement of fired union leaders, as well as some improvements in factory conditions. BJ&B finally recognized the union in October 2002.

-Clean Clothes Campaign, Codes Memo 14, June 2003