After a campaign from the Students for Economic and Social Justice (SESJ), working in concert with the United Students Against Sweatshops, the University of Montana-Missoula (UM) decided yesterday to cancel its contract with Russell Athletic because of their union-busting tactics in Honduras. This decision represents another big victory for the student group, which previously convinced UM to join the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), and is engaged in a campaign to convince UM to join the Designated Supplier Program.

This campaign was part of an international effort that has generated quite a bit of media coverage, including a segment on the Rachel Maddow show.

Some in the UM administration have downplayed the role of SESJ and student activism in their decision:

Yet, UM Vice President Jim Foley on Tuesday said the university didn't sever the contract with Russell because of the students' protest. The university has been looking into worker-rights violations by Russell for several years, far before the students got involved, he said.

The university came to its conclusion after discussing findings with the Workers Rights Consortium and the Fair Labor Association. 

UM joined the WRC because of a SESJ campaign, and even the official UM press release announcing the decision mentioned SESJ.

Either way, SESJ is applauding the university’s decision, and will continue to work with the administration, students, and others to stop sweatshops.

The SESJ have received a Campus Progress Action Grant for several years for their anti-sweatshop activities, and were recipients of the 2008 Campus Progress “Action Campaign of the Year” award. Action grants range from $200-$1,000, and are awarded to students working on hard-hitting, progressive issue campaigns. The image in this update was taken at a 06-07 SESJ rally. 

UPDATE: The Montana Kamin (the University of Montana - Missoula's student newspaper) ran an editorial on the SESJ victory today (3/5/09), and they also pointed out that this decision was directly linked to student activism:

With all respect due to Foley, who’s a smart guy, B.S. meters should be shooting through the roof on this one. [...] While it’s certainly plausible that Foley would have decided to sever ties with Russell if it had never appeared in the newspapers or been the focus of rallies, it’s far more likely that the issue would have died. So SESJ, your greatest achievement here was raising public awareness on a matter that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. 

The Students for Economic and Social Justice at the University of Montana (UM) made the news again for their campaign to convince the UM administration to cancel their contract with Russell Athletic.

The company, which makes university logo clothing for UM and other colleges, has been under fire from the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), student groups, and universities for its decision to close its Jerzees de Honduras factory. There is substantial evidence that the factory was closed because of “anti-union animus.” Jerzees de Honduras and a “sister facility” have also been the focus of recent union-busting action by Russell. Both factories are now closed, and represented Russell’s only unionized factories in a country not known for its union-friendly atmosphere.

The Students for Economic and Social Justice are encouraging students to sign a petition to the UM administration, and attempting to schedule meetings with key school officials. They also held a rally/press conference on Febuary 20th, and have hung large banners in “the quad” to raise awareness. You can join the campaign against Russell’s union-busting spree by taking action online or bringing the campaign to your campus.

The Students for Economic and Social Justice have received a Campus Progress Action Grant for several years for their anti-sweatshop activities, and were recipients of the 2008 Campus Progress “Action Campaign of the Year” award. Action grants range from $200-$1,000, and are awarded to students working on hard-hitting, progressive issue campaigns. 

UPDATE (2/23):  SESJ made the news again on Friday, Febuary 20th:

After nearly 20 minutes of rallying, SESJ members marched into Main Hall to deliver a petition of 360 signatures to Dennison. SESJ members gathered student signatures this week on the Oval to urge UM Administration to break its contract with Russell. [...] Dennison came out of his office and took the petition when Ella Torti, a regional organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops and a junior in human biology and International Developmental Studies, handed it to him. [...] Torti said SESJ was protesting because UM hasn’t acted. Administration has delayed meetings with the group too, Torti said. Thursday’s protest was a direct result of Foley [a UM official] canceling their meeting that was scheduled for that day, she said.
“We are asking for immediate action,” Torti said.

Other schools are quickly joining the effort - two more universities announced that they are dropping their contracts with the troubled company on Friday.  

During the recent moratorium on executions, several notable things happened. Three states - California, North Carolina and Tennessee - launched studies of their death penalty systems. Two states, Maryland and Nebraska, debated abolishing the death penalty in their state legislatures. A third state, New Jersey, did away with capital punishment altogether. For the first time in Texas, Rick Reed, a candidate for the Travis County district attorney's office, ran on a platform opposing capital punishment.

The Missoulian just published a great article on the Students for Economic and Social Justice, a student group at the University of Montana (UM) that has received a Campus Progress Action Grant for several years in a row for its anti-sweatshop campaign. 

The group has already convinced the UM to join the Worker Rights Consortium, and is currently attempting to get their campus to join the Designated Suppliers Program. After running into an impasse in negotiations with the UM administration, they occupied the college president’s office.

Here is an excerpt of the Missoulian article: 

Eight of the students involved with the sit-in were arrested and later given three-day suspensions for trespassing and violating the campus student conduct code.

While their activities raised the ire of campus officials, the UM group also garnered national accolades.

Earlier this month, the group was notified it had been awarded the Action Campaign of the Year by Campus Progress, an arm of the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based nonpartisan progressive organization. […]

“We were all pretty pleased to get that sort of validation,” Newman said. “Not only for our work but for the cause in general. There are lots of schools working on these issues. The more attention we can bring to them is all the better.”