Ga. Tech, UGA sticking with Russell despite controversy

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.

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, after dozens of interviews with plant employees and managers and correspondence with Russell executives.

“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 in a response to a separate report by the Fair Labor Association that “management mistakes were made” in adhering to “FLA standards on freedom of association.”

However, Russell maintains that declining demand for fleece products left it no choice but to close the factory. It pointed out that it has closed eight factories in the past 12 months, seven of them non-union. The FLA, while asserting that “unacceptable actions were taken” by Russell, also concluded that the closing was principally a business matter.

“We have nothing to hide or no excuses to make regarding the way we treat our employees — in Honduras or anywhere,” Russell executive vice president Gary Barfield said in a statement.

Russell agreed to follow steps presented by the FLA in regards to respecting union activity.

Georgia Tech, whose athletics department has partnered with Russell for more than 50 years, will continue to wear Russell uniforms, sweats and T-shirts.

“We are convinced that maintaining our licensing and sideline apparel relationship with Russell will be an advantage in positively influencing the company’s compliance efforts going forward,” athletics director Dan Radakovich said in a statement.

When Tech and Russell agreed in August to a 10-year contract potentially worth more than $20 million, Barfield called Tech “probably our premier relationship.”

The business implications of censure by such noteworthy institutions is considerable.

“Because of the [schools’] constituents, especially students, it’s an important part of marketing in that category,” said Kenneth Bernhardt, a professor in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State. “People will be paying very close attention to how they respond to this and the overall social responsibility of Russell.”