Adidas tells student groups they do not intend to pay severance to workers
Representatives from Adidas told an audience of Eastern Michigan University students and staff the company does not owe $1.8 million worth of severance pay to former workers of the bankrupt PT Kizone factory in Indonesia, despite contrary claims by workers' rights activists, the Eastern Echo reported.
Adidas representatives, Gregg Nebel and Paul Loving, visited the school after EMU officials sent a letter to the company inquiring about its practices. This was the latest event in a campaign by EMU student organization, Students for an Ethical and Participatory Education, to convince EMU officials to sever the school's contract with Adidas for its refusal to pay the former workers.
According to the Echo, EMU's contract with Adidas goes through 2015 and grants EMU a 45 to 50 percent discount on its purchases.
The Michigan Daily reported that Nebel also met with University of Michigan students to discuss the issue last March and that meeting ended when students asked Nebel to leave.
U-M President Mary Sue Coleman wrote a letter to adidas in September, urging the company to ensure that the workers receive their severance pay.
U-M's contract with adidas is worth roughly $60 million.
Kody Klein is an intern for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at kklein@mlive.com
Comments
Nicholas Urfe
Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 4:44 a.m.
Buy New Balance. Somehow they manage to still many many of their shoes in the US. And, oddly, they don't cost any more than those made in so called "sweat shops".
An Arborigine
Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 3:03 a.m.
Note to selves kids: Don't work for shoe companies.
Mick52
Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 1:49 a.m.
So college students at EMU and UM do not believe representatives standing in front of them but they do believe contrary claims by workers' rights activists who are unknown and unnamed. Did the worker's rights activists visit EMU and UM too? Somehow I have to put my belief in Adidas. The article states the worker's factory went bankrupt. No information on whether that was Adidas's fault and I doubt it is.
M
Tue, Mar 12, 2013 : 10 p.m.
From the linked article, it sounds like the owners of the factory did not pay the workers, and it was their responsibility by law. So as an example, if I use Comcast for my small business, and Comcast fires all it's employees and disappears. They do not pay their legally mandated severance pay, and the owners put the cash in a briefcase and disappear to another country. You're telling me my customers would get upset if I didn't pay Comcast's worker's severance pay? How does that make any sense? Sure, saying, "Don't use untrustworthy sources" is a great and honorable thing, but unless they can show Adidas had previous, malicious knowledge of the situation, then a boycott / contract change is completely unreasonable. I will accept there may be a lot more to this story - this article is just links and the EMU story has no quotes from Adidas and six from EMU anti-Adidas representatives. Something smells funny, but I'm not afraid to attribute this to over-zealous, ambitious young folks. That path to hell...
Mick52
Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 1:54 a.m.
Me too. Here is the most important part of all this hoopla: Nebel said Adidas supports the workers being paid their severance, but that ultimately PT Kizone, not Adidas, is responsible for the severance. He added that since the factory's closure, approximately 300 of the workers have been rehired by other Adidas suppliers and 950 total have been reemployed. He noted that Adidas is working on finding jobs for the other workers without jobs. Just what I thought, why would Adidas be responsible for this company's severance obligations? If this is true, they are assisting laid off workers in finding new jobs.
M
Tue, Mar 12, 2013 : 10:04 p.m.
I also just read the Michigan Daily one - the disrespect and arrogance in that committee is palpable. Naivete writ large.