The streets of Jakarta roared Oct. 3 when two million workers in factories throughout Indonesia went on strike. They are calling for an end to labor practices that have led to a severe lack of job security and lower wages as workers become increasingly temporary, expendable and exploitable to companies. Among those two million were garment workers from PT Kizone factory, where a particularly egregious abuse of workers' rights at the hands of collegiate apparel giant Adidas has been igniting international outrage.
The factory was shut down in April 2011, leaving 2,800 garment workers in an ongoing struggle for $1.8 million in severance money from Adidas. This is money that workers have earned and are owed under Indonesian law, and it amounts to half a year's worth of wages. When the factory shut down, both Dallas Cowboys Merchandising and Nike, which had been licensing collegiate apparel at the factory, paid severance to workers. But Adidas, which was also licensing collegiate apparel, has continuously refused to pay the remaining $1.8 million in legally-owed severance. This refusal has inflicted continued hardship on workers. It is also a violation of terms written into universities' contracts with Adidas.
Considering that Adidas sponsors all of Brown's varsity sports teams, it is likely that PT Kizone workers have sewn Brown logos. These workers are part of our community, so we should stand with them as they fight Adidas' wage theft. In fact, Brown's contract with Adidas implicates the University in their abuse, so Brown is obligated to act to end it. Therefore, the Student Labor Alliance is calling on Brown to cut its contract with Adidas if the company refuses to correct its violations and pay workers the $1.8 million in earned and legally-owed severance.
Severance pay is particularly important for workers in Indonesia, where there are no social safety net mechanisms like unemployment insurance on which the unemployed and their families can rely. Their 60-cent hourly wage certainly does not allow PT Kizone workers to accumulate a sufficient savings cushion, either. So Adidas' refusal to pay the remaining severance is a particularly deplorable abuse of workers' rights, one that exerts itself painfully in the lives of workers every day.
Marlina, a widowed mother of two, had been working at PT Kizone for 11 years when it shut down. By May 2012, over a year after the factory's closure, she was finally able to get a three-month contract at another apparel factory, but she still struggles to find money for basic necessities, "The most important thing is to be able to have rice. Maybe we add some chili pepper, some salt, if we can." Meanwhile, Adidas posted record profits the year that the factory shut down. The $1.8 million in severance is just 0.002 percent of the company's net profits for 2011. Clearly, Adidas could easily choose to respect workers like Marlina, whose labor helped make these profits possible. Adidas could easily choose to comply with Indonesian law.
Instead, Adidas has chosen to respond to the growing international pressure by offering workers food vouchers worth two-weeks worth of wages. This is insulting. Workers are not asking for humanitarian aid. They are asking Adidas to pay them the money that they have earned and are legally owed. Workers have refused these food vouchers in videos available on YouTube.
Brown would not be alone if it chose to act against Adidas. Students across the nation and around the globe are standing with PT Kizone workers as they demand the $1.8 million they have earned. In early September, students in Oregon delivered 40,000 signatures to the Adidas headquarters in a petition calling on Adidas to pay the workers.
In the past month, both Cornell and Oberlin College have cut their contracts with Adidas in response to the brand's refusal to pay severance. This strategy where universities cut their contracts with delinquent brands is not new.
When Russell Athletic closed a factory in Honduras after workers began to unionize, more than 100 universities severed their contracts with Russell, costing the corporation $50 million. Russell then reopened the garment factory as a unionized factory, rehiring 1,200 employees and paying millions of dollars to workers in damages. Perhaps most significantly, they committed to respect union neutrality at all Russell factories in Honduras. Knowing that its actions carry significant weight, Brown should follow Cornell and Oberlin and cut its contract with Adidas.
SLA has been actively working with the administration to make it known to Adidas that the Brown community does not take Adidas's abuses at PT Kizone lightly. Adidas has violated the terms of our contract, shamelessly trampling on the rights of the people who stitch together the apparel we wear to show our pride. Therefore, it is necessary for Brown to cut its contract with Adidas if the company does not correct its violations and pay workers what they have earned. Now is the time for Brown to stand unequivocally with the workers in our global community for justice.
Stoni Tomson '15 is a member of the Student Labor Alliance and can be reached at gabrielle_tomson@brown.edu.
