Administrators agreed Friday to write a second letter to a company accused of violating workers’ rights after students asked them to put more pressure on the firm.
Eugene Sunshine, vice president for business and finance, said after meeting with two members of Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops that NU will push New Era Cap Company to make its manufacturing process more transparent.
New Era has prevented investigators from the Worker Rights Consortium, of which NU is a member, from examining practices in its factories, students told Sunshine. The company is licensed to make hats with NU’s logo and name.
New Era representatives were unavailable for comment, but have denied the allegations.
NSAS leaders have said that the company is dragging its feet in responding to workers’ concerns about workplace injuries and treatment. The company had said it would respond to the WRC’s allegations by the end of last year.
Students asked administrators to revoke New Era’s license to produce hats with the NU logo, but Sunshine said the university will wait for conclusive evidence before making such a decision.
“I was concerned that New Era might not have been given due process to respond to the WRC,” Sunshine said after the meeting. “We take granting and withdrawing licenses very seriously with proper research. We do our homework on it, but we can’t do anything without conclusive evidence.”
The WRC issued a preliminary report in August that alleges New Era treats its workers unfairly in its Derby, N.Y., factory. Further investigations have been delayed because of opposition from the firm’s management, said McCormick senior Jennifer Abrahamian, a member of NSAS.
Abrahamian said she understands the complexity of the issue and the difficulty NU faces in such a situation.
“We wanted to touch base with the administration but it was also frustrating because we know we can’t do anything yet until the WRC … publishes final evidence about the company,” Abrahamian said.
NU also belongs to the Fair Labor Association, which has written its own report about New Era. The FLA will not release its findings until April.
“I do not like the idea that their report is done, but they won’t be disclosing it until the next board meeting in April,” said Sunshine, who plans to ask the FLA to release its report early. “I really feel that they should make an exception.”
NSAS also alleges that an NU subcontractor is mistreating its workers. At Carousel Linens, Inc., in Highwood, a group of mostly Latino workers is trying to unionize. Students say they face opposition from the company’s president, Scott Close.
Close has denied that he is preventing the union’s formation.
NU has no licensing contract with Carousel and uses it to supply linens for parties and banquets, Sunshine said.
“There’s a difference between the two situations: One company is a licensee and one we just do business with,” Sunshine said. “We don’t have the right to go around and regulate every company that we do business with. It just doesn’t work that way.”
NSAS also will write a letter to Close, asking him to clarify the workers’ situation.
“To NSAS, a worker is a worker and justice delayed is justice denied,” said NSAS member and Medill senior Mischa Gaus.