A move by Nike to curtail contracts with Brown University because of the school’s membership in the Workers’ Rights Consortium has attracted national attention as universities weigh the costs of joining the labor-monitoring organization.
The Human Rights Alliance, a University student group that has led the charge toward joining the WRC, called Nike’s tactics at Brown “bullying.”
“They’re just doing it to flex muscle and get other universities out of the WRC,” said Sarah Jacobson, an HRA spokesperson.
Nike ended a three-year contract with Brown’s men’s and women’s hockey teams to provide equipment in exchange for signs, tickets and other publicity.
In a letter to the Rhode Island school, Nike said it was not willing to comply with the provisions of the WRC.
“If they don’t want to be monitored by the WRC, it begs the question of ‘what do they have to hide?’” Jacobson said.
Nike, which participates in the Fair Labor Association — a monitoring organization similar to the WRC — said that it ended its association with Brown’s hockey program because of changes made in an existing contract.
“Brown changed the ground rules of the contract midstream,” said Simon Pestridge, manager of Nike’s labor-practices department. “We don’t tend to renegotiate midstream.”
Brown’s hockey contract with Nike was in its second year and was scheduled to expire in 2001.
“The bottom line is we have difficulty working with the WRC because we don’t have a seat at the table,” Pestridge said Tuesday.
The University Senate Rules Committee reacted to the news by changing its stance on a resolution that was brought before the senate at its March 8 meeting.
Resolution US9900-10, which urged University President Dave Frohnmayer to enroll the University in the WRC, was originally determined to have only a minor fiscal impact, but the Rules Committee officially withdrew that ruling in light of Nike’s termination of its contract with Brown.
Sen. James Schombert, Rules Committee chairman, said that the ruling was reversed because there is some fear that Nike’s contract with the University could be jeopardized, should it join the WRC.
“The indirect fiscal impact could be enormous,” he said.
The senate resolution was withdrawn from consideration before the committee changed its ruling because Frohnmayer’s Licensing Code of Conduct Committee voted unanimously in support of joining the WRC.
Much confusion surrounds the similarities and differences between Nike’s relationships with Brown and the University, those involved in university product licensing said.
Matt Dyste, University merchandising director, said that the two situations were difficult to compare because the University’s association with Nike is much broader than the one at Brown.
Frohnmayer said he would make a decision on whether the University will join the WRC following discussion of the matter in the April 12 University Senate meeting. The meeting will be in 177 Lawrence from 3 to 5 p.m.
He added that the situation at Brown University “won’t affect anything we do here.”