Lands’ End clothing firm will begin supplying Northwestern apparel again after the company settled a labor dispute Monday, said Brian Peters, director of University Services. The resolution ends a year-long controversy over Lands’ End’s labor practices at a clothing factory in El Salvador.
Both Peters and Lands’ End, based in Dodgeville, Wisc., declined to specify when the company would begin offering NU clothing again. A spokesman for Lands’ End said the company was pleased to have resolved the dispute.
“We’re glad that we’ve reached a settlement and that we can move forward,” said Chris Mordi, a spokesman for the company.
Lands’ End was a supplier of NU apparel until the university declined to renew its contract in February. The company has faced recent criticism over its labor practices in El Salvador factories.
The resolution reached last week settles the dispute between Lands’ End and Worker Rights Consortium, a group that lobbies for labor rights on behalf of universities. The dispute began when the group — which counts NU among its 122 members — alleged in a 2003 report that Lands’ End was “blacklisting” union employees at its El Salvador factory, called Primo S.A. de C.V.
Monday’s settlement requires Lands’ End to provide thousands of dollars worth of financial assistance to the independent El Salvadoran clothing factory Just Garments, which manufactures collegiate clothing for Lands’ End and employs many unionized workers, according to a statement released by Lands’ End.
The agreement also requires training for Lands’ End’s vendors in Central America that focuses on respecting workers’ free association rights, the statement said.
Mordi would not specify how many universities cancelled or declined to renew their licenses with Lands’ End following the dispute, but he said Duke University also decided this week to renew its license with Lands’ End after hearing news of the resolution.
“By providing essential machinery, a substantial amount of cloth and 100 hours of valuable technical assistance to Just Garments’ management and workers, Lands’ End will make a critical contribution to making Just Garments a success,” WRC Executive Director Scott Nova said in a statement released by the group.
Nova could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Lands’ End was a licensed distributor of NU apparel for two and a half years until its contract with the university expired, Peters said.
“We were very pleased with the short time between the contract’s expiration and the time that the issue was resolved,” he said.
