Right before Spring Break, a group of UW students voiced its displeasure at the school's apparel licensing agreement with Adidas.
Leading the crusade against Adidas is campus activist extraordinaire Joel Feingold of the Student Labor Action Coalition.
This isn't the first time we've heard Feingold speak out against the university. You may remember earlier this year when he told UW officials that students wouldn't just \talk the talk,"" but we would also ""walk the walk,"" when discussing tuition costs. With that mastery of age-old intimidation clich??s, if the whole revolutionary thing doesn't work out for Feingold, he could easily get a job as a professional wrestler.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being active and vocal. In fact, for students at Madison, it's sort of a tradition. That's not my concern here. No, my issue with Feingold and SLAC (aside from having a terribly ironic acronym for an activist group), is that by protesting Adidas, they're going after a company that helps the university.
Under its agreement with Wisconsin, Adidas provides over $1 million in equipment and donations to the school. Most students would agree this is a positive thing, but not Feingold and the rest of his SLAC-ers. They think the contract is flawed because it doesn't provide enough transparency of Adidas' labor practices.
Before I go any further, let me just say, I agree with the prevailing opinion that sweatshops are a bad thing. But going after Adidas' licensing agreement with UW isn't going to stop sweatshops.
Wisconsin needs Adidas more than Adidas needs Wisconsin. Adidas is the one giving UW money. That being said, Adidas isn't giving the dough for charity. It's a two-way street. Adidas gets tons of exposure from deals like this. For example, UW basketball player Sharif Chambliss popped his jersey approximately 32 times during the NCAA tournament last week. Every time he did it, people around the country saw that Adidas logo in the top corner of the shirt.
SLAC may focus on Adidas' use of sweatshops to make UW apparel, but the sweatshirts and hats aren't what drive these types of agreements. It's the $900,000 in gear Adidas gives to the athletic department each year.
But let's say SLAC succeeds and scares Adidas away. Then what? Barry Alvarez needs his sweat suits and somebody has to pay for them. If Adidas leaves, some other company with another less-than-perfect labor record will step in. I guess there might be other footwear brands with better labor practices, but it's awful hard to play basketball in a pair of Birkenstocks.
The reality is that athletics, especially the big ones, set the agenda around here. That may not please Feingold and peeps. I'm sure they'll just keep ""walking that walk,"" though it's a safe bet they won't be doing it in a pair of Adidas.
Joe Hasler is currently seeking his own corporate sponsor. If interested, please contact him at jphasler@wisc.edu.
