Northwestern University has asked Lands’ End to stop producing clothing bearing the Wildcat logo after a watchdog group alleged discrimination against unions at a foreign factory.
Until the hiring process at a plant in El Salvador is changed, the university won’t renew the company’s license, which expired Feb. 1, said Brian Peters, director of university services.
“It’s possible they need to hire some workers back who were discriminated against,” Peters said. “Then we will approach Lands’ End or they will approach us, and we will discuss a renewal process.”
Last March, the Workers Rights Consortium, a labor watchdog group in Washington, D.C., reported that the factory was refusing to hire some members of a local union and was firing others.
It is unclear whether the factory, Primo S.A. de C.V., produced Northwestern garments, said Ellen Barnes, trademark licensing manager for the Evanston school.
Meanwhile, Lands’ End, a clothing manufacturer owned by Sears, Roebuck and Co., can continue to sell Northwestern apparel as part of its catalog’s Alumni Collection. But it will not be allowed to manufacture new merchandise with the school logo, Peters said. Among other things, the collection offers polos, caps, outerwear and tote bags with the Northwestern logo.
Customers of Lands’ End, based in Dodgeville, Wis., can choose clothing with logos from 101 colleges and universities, including DePaul University and the University of Illinois. Officials at both schools would not say Friday whether they planned to take any action against the company.
Georgetown University let its Lands’ End contract lapse for the same reason as Northwestern, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The Workers Rights Consortium and another monitoring agency, the Fair Labor Association, also located in Washington, are working with Lands’ End toward a resolution.
Northwestern will wait to hear from the groups before it decides to renew the contract, Peters said.
“You hate to cancel out something if they’re interested in fixing the process,” Barnes said. “You want to work with people who are being affected in these countries, too.”
