Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops will meet with administrators today about suspending university contracts with two companies that the students say are violating workers’ rights.
NSAS is protesting New Era Cap Company, which is licensed to print the NU name and logo on baseball caps, and Carousel Linens, Inc., which supplies NU with linens for parties and banquets.
NU joined the Worker Rights Consortium in April and in August the WRC released a preliminary report accusing New Era of having an extraordinarily high injury rate at the factory and of threatening to cut workers’ wages because they had voted to join a new union. Since then, New Era has blocked further WRC investigations, NSAS member Mischa Gaus said.
“Workers have asked universities to suspend contracts with New Era, and three universities so far have done that: Duke, Georgetown and University of Wisconsin-Madison,” said Gaus, a Medill senior.”This isn’t something that we’re calling for, it’s something that the workers are asking for.”
In November NU sent a letter to New Era requesting a response to the WRC’s allegations, said Eugene Sunshine, NU’s vice president for business and finance. The letter demanded that the firm respond “quickly and publicly” to the allegations, Sunshine said.
New Era’s reply to NU came in early December, asking for “sufficient time and indulgence” while the company works for an answer, Sunshine said.
“The WRC preliminary report had some disturbing observations,” Sunshine said. “If it’s found by the WRC in a conclusive way that New Era is violating the code of conduct, then we will not maintain the relationship with them. We are used to having our conditions being granted, especially something as important as the code of conduct.”
But NSAS members said they are impatient with New Era and hope to persuade NU administrators to use the university’s power in pushing for the firm’s cooperation with investigations.
“There has been fairly substantial evidence against New Era Cap Company in violation of federal law, and I’m sure Mr. Sunshine will take that seriously into account,” Gaus said. “(Investigations) can’t be effective unless the management chooses to cooperate.”
NSAS members are also asking that NU suspend contracts with Carousel Linens of Highwood.
The company’s mostly Latino workers have been on strike for four months, trying to force the owner to recognize their right to form a union. And there has been physical and verbal abuse against the employees, Gaus said.
“It’s time NU sends a strong message to Carousel that we won’t tolerate that kind of behavior,” Gaus said.
Carousel owner Scott Close denied the allegations of abuse and union obstruction, saying workers continue to block a National Labor Relations Board vote about their rights to a union.
“I’m a small company. I’m not a big conglomerate,” Close said. “And I just want to go on with my day and run a business.”
