Student Assembly

Whereas, On January 19, 2009, two apparel factories (Hugger de Honduras and Vision Tex) in Honduras shut down without prior warning, leaving 1,700 workers unemployed.

Whereas, The factory owners did not pay severance compensation required by Honduran law. The workers are still owed about $2.2 million. This is an average of $1,300 per worker, equivalent to seven months of their base salary.

Whereas, The owners of the factories were required by Honduran law to deduct a portion of workers’ wages and pay that money to the national health insurance system (Instituto Hondure�o de Seguridad Social, IHSS). Starting in August 2008, the factory owners continued to deduct wages, but instead of sending the money to the IHSS, they pocketed it. The workers only found out about this practice when one was denied emergency care. Because of the lack of access to medical care, one worker could not get treatment for cancer, and died a few months after the factory closing.

Whereas, From 2000–2006 nearly every product made in Hugger was Nike apparel. From 2007–2008, 60% of the Hugger clothing was Nike apparel. From 2007–2008, over 80% of the clothing made in Vision Tex was Nike apparel.

Whereas, Nike’s own code of conduct states, “When we look at our overall footprint in the world, the needs of nearly 800,000 workers in our contract supply chain overshadow any other group�What we’ve learned, after nearly a decade, is that monitoring alone hasn’t solved the problems.”

Whereas, the Collegiate Licensing Company’s Code of Conduct, to which Cornell is a party, stipulates that licensees are responsible for the conduct of their contractors, subcontractors, and manufacturers (Schedule 1.1)

Whereas, this Code of Conduct further stipulates that companies that license from the University are expected to comply with local labor laws (Schedule 1.2),

Whereas, both subcontractors have continuously violated Honduran law, inflicting a huge moral cost on thousands of workers and their families,

Whereas, Cornell, along with 46 other universities, has endorsed the principles of the Designated Suppliers Program, which states that licensees like Nike must hold their subcontractors to the same standards that they hold themselves. Collegiate apparel was made in both factories.

Be it therefore resolved, that the Student Assembly believes Nike has violated the University’s codes of conduct.

Be it finally resolved, that Student Assembly recommends the University sever its contracts with Nike unless the company realigns its business practices with the University’s Codes of Conduct.

Upon passage, a copy of this resolution is to be forwarded to the Chair of the Licensing Oversight Committee.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fil Eden
Cornell Organization for Labor Action

William Peterson
Cornell Organization for Labor Action

Casey Sweeney
Cornell Organization for Labor Action

Alex Bores
Cornell Students Against Sweatshops

Vincent Andrews
Vice-President for Public Relations
ILR Representative