Penn State Misses Memo About Russell
United Students Against Sweatshops has been lobbying the university to suspend its contract with Russell Athletic for a long time now. You might remember this fall, they staged a study-in at Old Main to raise awareness about the issue. The USAS argument is simple: Russell was cited by the Workers Rights Consortium for closing down a unionized factory. Penn State is affiliated with the WRC (1% of the university’s apparel profit goes to that agency to monitor situations like this) and as such, it should listen to what the WRC has to say.
In January, Graham Spanier tried to handle the issue by announcing a new partnership between Penn State and Knights Apparel that mandates better conditions and pay for workers in the factories that produce clothing for Knights Apparel. However, he has not suspended Penn State’s contract with Russell Athletic.
But guess who has suspended their contracts with Russell…
The University of Miami was the first to cancel its contract with Russell in December
The University of Wisconsin suspended its contract with Russell last week.
When will Penn State cancel the contract? Will Penn State cancel the contract? Who knows…
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