The Adidas corporation, a clothing manufacturer with more than $14 billion in assets has agreed to pay 2,800 Indonesian factory workers a “substantial sum” to settle outstanding severance pay and backwages worth roughly $1.8 million. T
he PT Kizone factory in Indonesia previously contracted by Adidas to produce garments announced the decision in a press release this week, stating that “the former workers will receive a substantial sum from adidas” and the settlement will resolve a powerful international campaign over Adidas’ prior refusal to pay $1.8 million in unpaid severance pay following the closure of PT Kizone.”
The decision came after years of demonstrations and divestment campaigns by factory workers and United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)- a student labor campaign organization with chapters on 150 campuses across the U.S.
Students working with the group were able to pressure Adidas by convincing colleges and universities to cut contracts the popular manufacturer for college clothing lines produced by Adidas. The collective effort that started in 2010 resulted in 17 colleges and universities cutting ties with Adidas, including- Cornell University, Northeastern University, the University of Montana and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities among others.
April 5th coverage:
More than 2,800 sweatshop workers in Indonesia continue to seek $1.8 million in severance pay and back wages owed by the multibillion-dollar clothing manufacturer, Adidas, after they were fired in early 2011.
On April 2011, the PT Kizone factory in Indonesia was closed, leaving thousands of workers without work and the severance pay they were entitled to under Indonesian national law.
Major sportswear brand, Adidas, had been sourcing from PT Kizone for many years, where workers were paid as little as 60 cents an hour to produce goods. The owner of the factory fled Indonesia for South Korea in 2010 and has not responded to any demands since that time. Adidas has yet to offer a public comment on the case.
Now workers have taken their case to the U.S., where they hope to generate support for their cause, urging students to apply pressure on Adidas. “It is clear that Adidas is not listening to the workers. We are back for another tour on a bunch of campuses,” said Jan Van Tol, a national organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) to Mint Press News.
USAS is a national student labor organization fighting for workers’ rights with chapters on more than 150 campuses. The group has organized the second round of the “Badidas” Workers’ Tour to teach students about the situation, described by Van Tol as an “egregious human rights violation.”
The tour, beginning this month, brings two Indonesian workers to the U.S. who will speak to students at colleges across the U.S. about the fight for severance pay. Workers are slated to speak at Arizona State University, UC Berkeley, Oregon State University, Portland State University and the University of Montana, among others.
“There will be two workers touring. We are asking students to cut ties with Adidas. It is up to students to campaign and to organize protests across the country. Usually it involves asking the president to cut ties,” Van Tol said. This follows a tour of 18 universities in February, featuring two guest speakers from the closed Indonesian factory.
Workers at the PT Kizone factory also will speak about working conditions, including instances where employees were sent death threats during unionizing efforts, which began in 2003. “In 2003, I decided to run for the head of the PT Kizone union,” said Aslam Hidayat in a public statement earlier this year.
“Because of that, I was frequently intimidated by the management. I am sure Adidas was aware of this, but they turned a blind eye. One of the managers tried to intimidate me by hiring a thug to kill me. This was not successful because there was solidarity among the workers and they informed me before it was too late.”
Many colleges and universities have contracts with Adidas to provide uniforms for athletic teams and have agreements allowing the manufacturer to sell merchandise on campus.
Van Tol reports that although Adidas has not capitulated to the demands for back wages, student pressure has led to successful boycotts at nine colleges across the United States.
“It [the campaign] has been successful. Penn State and Northeastern University have recently cut ties. We are up to nine colleges that have cut ties and we are confident that we are close to having more do the same,” Van Tol said.
Cornell University, Oberlin College, the University of Washington, Rutgers University and Georgetown are among the growing number of academic institutions that have cut ties, or have vowed to cut ties with Adidas.