A group of Georgetown University student-athletes have voiced their opinions on sweatshop conditions by covering the Nike logos on their sneakers with tape.
Georgetown has a partnership with Nike, which means that athletes usually are seen wearing Nike or Jordan branded gear during games.
According to Mic, Jim Keady, an advocate of improving sweatshop working conditions and former soccer coach at St. John’s University, has held discussions on the university’s campus about how Nike treats its sweatshop workers abroad.
“It’s exciting that students are taking up the call,” Keady told The Georgetown Voice. “Students have a lot to lose in taking a stand like this.”
During a discussion on Nov. 9, he educated student-athletes on the wages and living conditions of workers. Keady himself resigned from his coaching job at St. John’s University after he was pressured to wear Nike apparel.
“There are student athletes here at Georgetown, and every time they go out onto the field or the court they are wearing the Nike swoosh or Jumpman logo that was launched here at Georgetown with St. John’s and one other school,” Keady said during the event, according to The Georgetown Voice.
The Code of Conduct for Georgetown University Licensees, which outlines the standards companies that produce licensed goods must meet, indicates that employees have the right to earn a living wage.
“Basic needs include the cost of housing, energy, nutrition, clothing, education, health care, transportation and child care for an employee and two dependents,” the code reads. “When making licensing decisions, Georgetown University will give preference to current or prospective licensees that pay a living wage at one or more factories involved in the production of its licensed products.”
Callahan Watson, chair of the Georgetown Licensing Oversight Committee, told The Georgetown Voice that the university is committed to supporting workers’ rights in companies that produce licensed merchandise.
“We require these companies to act in a socially responsible manner and abide by the Code of Conduct for Georgetown University Licensees as a condition of their licensing contracts with the university,” Watson said. “The code sets standards regarding working conditions and the rights of workers involved in the production of licensed goods.”
The students protesting by covering up the iconic swoosh have remained anonymous in the photo.
This isn’t the first time college student-athletes have protested Nike. According to The New York Times, students from the University of North Carolina (alma mater of the Jordan Brand’s namesake) rallied against Nike’s factory conditions in 1997.
In 1998, Nike’s then-CEO Phil Knight pledged to increase minimum wage for workers and adapt U.S. OSHA clean air standards in all factories, according to Business Insider. The company also started the Fair Labor Association, a non-profit organization that established independent monitoring practices, and thoroughly audited its facilities.
