The Associated Students UCLA board of directors released a letter addressed to the UCLA community on Monday discussing its continued negotiations with Russell Athletic.
Several universities have already ended their relationships with Russell Athletic for its alleged unfair labor practices at apparel factories in Honduras.
Watchdog groups have alleged that Russell Athletic, which licenses the trademark for a considerable amount of apparel at the UCLA Store, prevented workers from unionizing by shutting down factories.
ASUCLA originally brought up its concerns with Russell Athletic’s labor practices at its Feb. 27 board of directors meeting, where board members decided to reevaluate the relationship.
On March 2, ASUCLA’s Licensing and Apparel division drafted a statement calling on Russell Athletic to change its labor practices. The board’s additional March 30 letter stated that, while Russell Athletic had released an update regarding the status of its workplace conditions earlier this month, the board was not satisfied with those efforts.
The board outlined further requests for Russell Athletic to follow, including freedom of association for workers, compensation for fired workers and more transparency and accountability in the future.
Russell Athletic replied to ASUCLA’s requests on March 27, but the details of the negotiation remain confidential, said Netta Avineri, the chair of the board.
Avineri said the board’s executive committee will be meeting this week to discuss Russell Athletic’s response.
She added that the decision will be made with the input of other UCs and will not just include ASUCLA’s stance.
“We’re working closely with other UCs about their relationship with Russell, and we will try to come together with a consensus,” she said.
The board does not have a specific timetable on its decision, and Avineri said that the deliberation could take weeks due to the coordination of the decision with other UCs.