Adidas defends position as fourth university ends contract
29/11/2012
A national student-led campaign, United Students Against Sweatshops, which Rutgers has sided with, claims adidas has not paid severance to works at the PT Kizone factory and owes $1.8 million to more than 2,800 employees. However, adidas says the responsibility lies with the factory’s owner, who terminated his contract with the German company six months prior to closing.
“In addition to the job placement programme and the $250,000 food aid programme we established for these former workers in the 21 months since the owner fled the country and the factory was forced to shut down amid bankruptcy proceedings, we committed another $275,000 in humanitarian aid in recognition of the hardships they and their families are facing,” said adidas in a statement.
“Although the adidas Group had no business relationship with the factory for nearly six months prior to its closure, we have directly dedicated more towards the former PT Kizone workers than any other brand.”
It added that it is collaborating with labour groups and the industry to address the root causes of illegal factory closures and protect workers’ benefits and severance.
New York’s Cornell University, Oberlin College in Ohio and, earlier this week, the University of Washington also terminated their contracts with the group. Clothing contracts at US universities can be lucrative for sportswear companies, which make apparel with the schools’ logos, which are then sold around campus and further afield.
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