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The Tabberone™ Archives These articles concern what we consider major trademark and copyright issues. They are usually reproduced with the original source referenced. Bear in mind, these articles are copyrighted and commercial use without permission of the authors may be considered infringement. The intended use here is educational, commentary and non-commercial. The reason they are reproduced in the Tabberone™ Archives, as opposed to just providing a link, is because links disappear and pages are removed. That presents a messy confirmation process that is annoying to the browser (you) but also presents a credibility issue. We do not claim any rights in these pieces. Do not regard the absence of a copyright statement or © to mean the article is not copyrighted. Some sites do not have a copyright statement. When an article or a comment is posted on the internet by the copyright owner, the owner is seeking a world-wide, 24/7 audience; sometimes for a limited amount of time, sometimes indefinitely. In essence, an internet posting intentionally relinquishes one's copyright for exclusivity because the owner has posted it on the internet to been seen by everyone, everywhere. The Tabberone™ Archives non-commercial duplication of the posting is simply a continuance of the original wishes of the copyright owner. We post these articles for reference, for commentary and for confirmarion of our position. |
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Source: http://vaxpower.org/~toups/national/0741.html May 15, 2003 - Content has not been altered except to remove links. |
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Two More Universities Drop New Era; CWA Says Cap Maker May Lose All Collegiate B
From: SIUHIN@aol.com Two More Universities Drop New Era; CWA Says Cap Maker May Lose All Collegiate Business WASHINGTON, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Iowa and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are the latest colleges to announce that they will stop doing business with New Era Cap Co., because of New Era's poor working conditions in the U.S. and overseas. New Era, based in Derby, N.Y., makes baseball caps for nearly a hundred colleges and universities, as well exclusively for Major League Baseball. The company has come under tough scrutiny by United Students Against Sweatshops and the Workers' Rights Consortium, which work with university administrators to ensure that products sold with a college logo are manufactured under good working conditions. The university organizations are backing members of Communications Workers Local 14177 who have been fighting to end the unsafe and sweat-shop conditions at the Derby plant and to force the cap maker to negotiate a fair contract. CWA members voted to strike New Era last July, after the company refused to address health and safety problems that have caused serious injuries to scores of workers and slashed wages by as much as 40 percent. On March 4, on the recommendation of the University Charter Committee of Human Rights, UI President Mary Sue Coleman terminated the contract with New Era. UNC suspended its contract with New Era when the company refused to provide information to the university about the charges that it violates workers' rights. Four other universities had earlier suspended contracts with New Era: Duke University; Georgetown University; University of Wisconsin, Madison; and George Washington University. New Era further also alienated universities across the country when it was revealed that the company was subcontracting production of collegiate caps from two plants in China. In the past, when universities asked New Era to disclose where it produced collegiate caps, the company made no mention of subcontracting to China. As part of its investigation, the Workers Rights Consortium recently identified UNC hats with "Made in China" labels that were being sold at Champs, a subsidiary of Footlocker. The discovery of the caps made in China led the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to further investigate New Era's failure to disclose its overseas subcontractors. In February, the CLC informed universities that New Era had acknowledged that it had "overlooked the requirement" to disclose that it had produced caps at two plants in China. New Era has been cited for sanctioning sweatshop operations in China, Bangladesh, Korea, the Dominican Republic and other overseas locations, according to USAS and the National Labor Committee. While New Era continues to lose contracts and credibility among collegiate customers, in little more than a month, the board of directors of the Fair Labor Association is expected to decide whether to admit New Era into its monitoring program. If the FLA rejects New Era's application, the 173 universities that are affiliated with the FLA will be obligated to sever business arrangements with New Era. Negotiations between CWA Local 14177 and New Era are continuing in March. "While significant differences remain between the parties, Local 14177 is making every effort to reach a fair settlement so that our 215 members can end their seven-month strike and return to their jobs," said CWA Local 14177 President Jane Howald. SOURCE Communications Workers of America CO: Communications Workers of America; New Era Cap Co.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Iowa; United Students Against Sweatshops; CWA; UNC; USAS |
