A settlement was reached Tuesday between adidas and the union representing workers from an adidas-contracted factory that owed workers over $1.8 million after closing unexpectedly in 2011, according to Executive Director of the Worker Rights Consortium Scott Nova.
The dispute between the apparel company, which is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s primary licensing partner, and the workers began in January 2011 after the factory shut down without compensating over 2,700 adidas workers.
Groups from UW-Madison, including the Student Labor Action Coalition and the Labor Codes Licensing Compliance Committee, called for Chancellor David Ward to cut the university’s contracts with adidas following the complaints.
Ward said in a statement the university’s negotiations with adidas have been ongoing for a long time, adding he is thankful for the cooperation and determination from faculty, staff and students on the LCLCC.
LCLCC member Lydia Zepeda said the settlement is “fantastic news” and she hopes the workers receive their full pay soon.
“It’s wonderful, I mean [the workers] have been waiting so long to get their money,” Zepeda said. “It’s been over two years now.”
Still, Zepeda said it is unclear how the settlement will affect UW-Madison’s current litigation with adidas to determine if the company violated the university’s codes of conduct.
Nova said he hopes this settlement will become a model for the entire apparel industry to ensure workers are properly compensated.
“The precedent has been solidified: when workers at university logo apparel factories are deprived of money they legally earned, the universities’ apparel industry business partners have to make the workers whole,” Nova said in a statement.
