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New Era Cap Co. Takes More Hits In College Sports Apparel Market
Three additional universities have dropped New Era Cap Co. as a supplier of sports apparel, and the ball cap manufacturer was due for a reckoning with the Fair Labor Association as the CWA News went to press.
Western Michigan University, the University of Michigan and the University of Arizona are the latest to suspend their contracts, bringing to nine the total that have so far abandoned New Era in response to student pressure.
“If the Fair Labor Association rejects New Era, 174 affiliated universities will be obligated not to renew their licensing agreements with the company,” said Gwend Johnson, director of contract administration and affiliated organizations for CWA’s Printing Sector.
The Fair Labor Association board met on April 9 and for a second time deferred a decision on granting New Era membership. The board was expected to take final action on May 1.
Members of Local 14177, on strike at New Era’s Derby, N.Y., plant since July 16, 2001, have been fanning out across the nation to educate students concerning the unsafe labor conditions and harsh treatment they have had to endure.
United Students Against Sweatshops last year issued an investigative report labeling New Era “a sweatshop employer,” and the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis-tration cited the company for operating unsafe machinery and taking inadequate precautions to prevent the spread of blood-borne pathogens.
USAS and Jobs with Justice, CWA’s community action affiliate, organized 15 campus rallies on behalf of the New Era strikers on April 4, part of a nationwide Student-Labor Day of Action, cosponsored by the AFL-CIO.
As the CWA New went to press, the union bargaining committee was preparing to put forth a proposal for a safety and health committee and grievance procedures concerning production quotas, said Dave Palmer, CWA District 1 Upstate New York-New England director.
Western Michigan University, the University of Michigan and the University of Arizona are the latest to suspend their contracts, bringing to nine the total that have so far abandoned New Era in response to student pressure.
“If the Fair Labor Association rejects New Era, 174 affiliated universities will be obligated not to renew their licensing agreements with the company,” said Gwend Johnson, director of contract administration and affiliated organizations for CWA’s Printing Sector.
The Fair Labor Association board met on April 9 and for a second time deferred a decision on granting New Era membership. The board was expected to take final action on May 1.
Members of Local 14177, on strike at New Era’s Derby, N.Y., plant since July 16, 2001, have been fanning out across the nation to educate students concerning the unsafe labor conditions and harsh treatment they have had to endure.
United Students Against Sweatshops last year issued an investigative report labeling New Era “a sweatshop employer,” and the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis-tration cited the company for operating unsafe machinery and taking inadequate precautions to prevent the spread of blood-borne pathogens.
USAS and Jobs with Justice, CWA’s community action affiliate, organized 15 campus rallies on behalf of the New Era strikers on April 4, part of a nationwide Student-Labor Day of Action, cosponsored by the AFL-CIO.
As the CWA New went to press, the union bargaining committee was preparing to put forth a proposal for a safety and health committee and grievance procedures concerning production quotas, said Dave Palmer, CWA District 1 Upstate New York-New England director.