The UA chapter of Students for Fair Labor, an affiliate of the national United Students Against Sweatshops union protested labor conditions at Hong Seng Knitting factory where Crimson Apparel products are manufactured.

They met at Denny Chimes on March 4, and delivered a letter to UA President Stuart Bell. 

In the letter, they addressed current reports of wage theft resulting in a loss of $600,000 in mandated wages for workers at the Hong Seng Knitting factory in Thailand — a facility where Nike produces Alabama collegiate apparel. 

Workers claim to have been coerced into signing contracts permitting an unpaid leave of absence during the pandemic in lieu of the partial pay given to employees on suspension. 

Declan Smith, president of the local chapter of Students for Fair Labor said the chapter wanted to highlight this issue’s relevance to the University.

“We had to figure out how to approach the national problem while making it relevant to UA,” he said.

John Gilmer, the coordinator of field placements for the School of Social Work and a member of United Campus Workers of Alabama, said he is encouraged by the outcry. 

“It is encouraging to see that students, faculty and staff can work together to call on the University to affirm its commitment to the Workers Rights Consortium and advocate for the needs and rights of the people who manufacture products for the University,” he said.

United Students Against Sweatshops, founded in 1998, is described by national organizing director Leigha Ellis as a nationally coordinated student-led movement for student and worker rights. 

Made up of community members at universities and colleges across the nation, the organization campaigns in solidarity with garment workers and producers of university merchandise to leverage the power of students, faculty and staff for global workers’ rights. 

Other universities with United Students Against Sweatshops chapters reported to have merchandise coming in from the factory include the University of California, Los Angeles, Villanova University and Gonzaga University.

“Students have an immense amount of leverage against universities, and USASers use their collective power to get together and bring attention to things that aren’t right,” Ellis said. “This campaign specifically is a case of wage theft at the Hong Seng Knitting factory that produces for Nike.”

Nike has currently remediated cases for approximately 1% of the workers who have brought forth claims.

Members of the local chapter participated in a joint effort to personally modify the national letter, adjusting the language to appropriately meet the circumstances and contract between The University of Alabama and manufacturing partners such as Nike. 

Bell did not respond to a request for comment.

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