Labor issues: Russell Athletic loses schools

Some of the more esteemed universities in the country are lining up against Atlanta-based Russell Athletic over what they believe are improper business practices at a Honduras factory.

Russell, an apparel maker whose partners include Georgia Tech, Georgia and the Falcons, said it is being unfairly targeted.

Tech and Russell agreed in August to a 10-year contract potentially worth more than $20 million.

Harvard, Columbia, Duke, Michigan and Penn State are among 14 schools that have ended licensing agreements with Russell in recent weeks.

Tech, which holds a multi-million dollar deal with Russell to outfit its teams, is staying put, as is Georgia. Messages left Friday with a Falcons representative were not returned.

The schools’ decisions to leave Russell stem from a report that the formation of a union at Russell’s Jerzees de Honduras factory factored significantly in the decision to close it down.

The report was written by the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor-rights monitoring organization representing 185 colleges and universities.

“There were threats that if workers continued to persist in their desire to have union representation, that the factory would close,” said consortium executive director Scott Nova. “Which, in fact, it did.”

Russell acknowledged management mistakes but said in a statement that the closing was due to slow demand for fleece products and not union activity.