United Students Against Sweatshops

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Warren Buffett's Russell Athletic Caught Lying About Death Threats

What happens when a factory worker confronts the famous billionaire philanthropist who owns her company? Check out this video: "Warren Buffett's Russell Athletic Lies about Death Threats against Workers". Norma Mejia, along with 1800 fellow workers, was left jobless by Buffett's Russell Athletic for exercising their freedom to form a union. These courageous workers spoke out for fair conditions in their Honduras factory, where Russell -- the largest private employer in the country -- produced apparel for U.S. universities. For their efforts to make the apparel industry fairer, they not only lost their jobs, but also received disturbingly serious death threats. See the video and let Norma explain it herself. Amazingly, Russell CEO John Holland won't even acknowledge death threats ever happened, let alone taking responsibility for his company provoking the threats with its anti-union hostility. Russell's labor practices in Honduras are notorious after their violations of workers' Freedom of Association in multiple factories was brought to light by workers' union, JERZEESH, and United Students Against Sweatshops. Together, the groups have succeeded in pressuring nearly 70 universities to stop doing business with Russell until they prove their commitment to the Freedom of Association. Russell is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company of billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett. In the video, Norma confronts Buffett with the truth in front of thousands. Will Buffett stay silent as his own company lies about death threats against employees?

Russell newsflash

WE WON! Honduran Union signs historic agreement with Russell Athletic! Details at www.usas.org!

TWENTY-FIVE UNIVERSITIES CUT CONTRACTS WITH RUSSELL ATHLETICS, A SERIAL ABUSER OF WORKERS RIGHTS!

Coverage of this case has reached The NYTimes, USAToday, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Rachel Maddow show, and local news across the nation! To see regular updates on this campaign, go to http://www.reininrussell.org

As of 4/2/09, following a wave of campus activism, twenty-five universities are severing ties with Russell Athletic over worker rights violations at their Jerzees de Honduras factory. We will continue driving business away from Russell until the company re-opens the Jerzees de Honduras facility at full capacity, re-hire all union workers and complete the collective bargaining process.

Demand that your school be the next to cut off Russell: Get Involved! Contact Rod at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to learn more!

To learn more about the campaign, read more!

Travel Scholarship Form for 2009 Winter Conference

E-mail the following form to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by FRIDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 2009:

USAS offers travel scholarships for the folks in our network. We prioritize early registration, folks who have looked for alternate sources of grassroots fundraising, and folks from traditionally marginalized backgrounds-- especially working class folks, people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and differently abled folks.

2009 Winter Conference Travel Scholarship Form

Name:
State (in US), School :
Phone:
Email:
Year of Graduation:

1. How many members of your campus group are planning to attend the conference?

2. How many people will be requesting travel assistance?

3. Where will you be traveling from? If by plane, what airport? Have you looked into other forms of transportation (i.e. bus, carpool, etc)?

4. When will you be arriving?

5. How much is the total cost of travel for your group? Please include a specific monetary amount or we will not be able to process your request.

6. How much money are you requesting from USAS?

7. Have you fundraised from other sources? Where?

8. What would you do if you don’t receive travel assistance from USAS?

9. Do you identify as a person of color, working class, woman/womyn, and/or queer? (OPTIONAL: We ask to prioritize folks from traditionally marginalized backgrounds)

10. Is your school affiliated with USAS? If not, what is your background with USAS?

11. Is this your first time attending a USAS gathering? If not, what USAS conference or retreats have you attended?

12. Which campaign strategy track time will you attend?
Sweatfree campus apparel ____ OR Campus-community worker solidarity____

Support Workers Occupying Chicago Factory and a People's Bailout!

Workers who are members of UE Local 1110 in Chicago have been occupying their plant, Republic Windows and Doors, after being laid off and refused severance and vacation pay in violation of labor law. Bank of America has frozen the credit of their management after receiving bailout money from taxpayers, further showing how the financial institutions in this country value profits over people. This week, December 7 through 13, Jobs with Justice has called a Week of Action for a People's Bailout.

USASers spoke with a UE organizer in Chicago on Tuesday, December 9th, to get an update on what was going on and what we can do as student-labor organizers to support a militant labor movement and a grassroots movement that is truly challenging corporate power in North America.

For ongoing updates and more information on the Week of Action, see:
http://www.ueunion.org/ue_republic.html
http://jwj.org/bailout/index.html
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/bankofamerica

Bank of America got bailed out! People got sold out!

To read the notes from the conference call, click read more!