At the Associated Students UCLA board of directors meeting on Friday, students from Conciencia Libre, a worker’s advocacy group at UCLA, came to protest Russell Athletic’s labor practices.
The student activists initially stated their opposition to ASUCLA’s continued relationship with Russell Athletic, which supplies apparel to the UCLA store.
“We’ve come to ensure that ASUCLA is not supporting labor violations from Russell. We don’t feel that what’s going on in Honduras is ethically right, and we don’t want to take any part in buying the apparel from there,” said Sarina Sanchez, a third-year sociology, Chicano and Chicana studies student.
Russell Athletic has come under heavy criticism for its alleged mistreatment of workers in Honduras, and several universities have cut business ties with the corporation within the past month.
Sanchez informed the board that workers from the plant in Honduras would be giving a presentation about their working conditions, tentatively scheduled for April 15.
Bob Williams, the executive director of ASUCLA, expressed his concern over terminating the contract with Russell Athletic because many more workers could lose their jobs if the company suffered.
Williams instead brought up the possibility of negotiating changes in Russell Athletic’s policy toward its workers.
Graduate Representative Shelley Sorger also said she was concerned about ending the association’s relationship with Russell.
Sorger said the association would have to consider the impact on workers and Russell’s contract with other UCs, and receive further input from the community.
Jose Hernandez, a third-year Latin American studies student and member of Conciencia Libre, said he understood the board’s hesitancy to take immediate action.
“We understand that this isn’t something to be done overnight. We do hope to move forward with dialogue about the worker’s conditions,” Hernandez said.
Chief financial officer Rich Delia echoed the board’s sentiment, stating that ASUCLA was going to deliberate and gather more facts before making any final decision.
The board proceeded to evaluate its relationship with Russell Athletic as the last item on its agenda, but closed the discussion to the public in executive session.
Netta Avineri, the current chair of the board of directors, said she could not reveal what was discussed during the closed session, but she added that the board continued to evaluate its next steps in the matter.