Subject: Press Release – Students Raise Awareness at University at Buffalo to Defend Worker Rights
PRESS RELEASE FOR: Wednesday, February 18, 2009
CONTACT: Joanna Boron: (716) 903-7532; ubsas@yahoo.com
Rachel Goebel: (845) 728-4160
Wednesday: Students Raise Awareness at UB to Defend Worker Rights in Honduras
Call On University to Cut Ties with Russell Athletic Company
Accused of Severe Worker Rights Abuses; Universities of Miami, Houston, Georgetown, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Duke and Washington Have Severed Ties Already; More Colleges to Follow Suit
Buffalo, NY – University at Buffalo students will hang an Informational Clothesline display, rising awareness of this issue and UB’s involvement and calling on the school to cut ties with the apparel manufacturer that owns the Honduras factory which the students and workers say committed a series of labor rights violations.
The workers were fired from the factory, Jerzees de Honduras, after attempting to form a union; Russell later closed the factory altogether. The factory is owned by the Russell Corporation, a major licensee producing Minnesota logo apparel. The students are part of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, an affiliate of the nationwide United Students Against Sweatshops.
Seven major licensing schools including the University of Miami, University of Houston, Georgetown University, Rutgers University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Duke University and the University of Washington, have all already terminated their apparel contract with Russell over the violations, and other colleges are considering similar moves.
Russell Corporation violated worker rights by firing over 140 workers for organizing a union, making statements that attributed the plant’s closure to unionization, and the closure decision itself, which was found to be driven by anti-union retaliation.
Closing a factory due, partially or wholly, to the formation of a union is a violation of the University at Buffalo’s codes of conduct for apparel production.
In response to these violations, a number of U.S. labor rights advocacy organizations have filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an agency of the Organization of Americas States (OAS), to take proactive measures to assure these worker leaders’ safety.
WHO: University at Buffalo Students Against Sweatshops
WHAT: Clothesline Against Labor Rights Violations, National Week of Action
(definite photo opportunity)
WHEN: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at noon
WHERE: UB North Campus Student Union; Lee Loop Entrance
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