The termination of New Era Cap Co.'s licensing contract with UW-Madison Friday means the company's manufactured apparel with the university's logo must be disposed of within 60 days.
Dawn Crim, special assistant to Chancellor John Wiley, said the company manufactured knit caps and paid the university about $8,400 in royalties for the use of logos in 2007.
Unlike the university's $1.2 million per year athletic apparel contract with Adidas, which runs through 2011, New Era's contract was renewed annually, according to Crim.
The university cut the New Era contract after hired inspectors were not allowed entrance to a factory in Mobile, Ala. to assess allegations of worker abuse. New Era's refusal was a violation of their contract.
She said if it weren't for the code of conduct violation, New Era's contract would likely have been renewed.
We expect our licensees to follow all of our rules, and, for the most part, they do,"" Crim said, adding it is unusual for the university to terminate contracts. ""When they don't, we work with them to come into compliance. That is always our first step.""
""We do not take ending a contract lightly - it's quite rare.""
Crim said she did not know if UW-Madison was the only university to cut its New Era contract.
""I know many universities are trying to decide how they want to handle it,"" she said.
""Typical of a situation like this all universities act independently on how they deal with things - this has just been the University of Wisconsin-Madison's decision.""
The allegations of worker abuse at New Era's Mobile factory have garnered national attention, most recently by the NAACP.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union representing the Mobile factory workers, joined the NAACP in Washington, D.C. Monday to release a report entitled, ""Racial Discrimination, Repression and Retaliation at New Era Cap.""
The organizations also called on Major League Baseball to stop using the company to manufacture its official baseball caps.
""What the hardworking men and women at the Mobile New Era facility want is not unreasonable,"" NAACP Chair Julian Bond said at a news conference. ""They want an end to management's racially discriminatory promotion practices, respect and a living wage in return for a hard day's work.""
New Era held a rally at its Derby, N.Y. factory prior to the Washington, D.C. news conference to deny all charges of unfair labor practices.
NAACP and the Teamsters' report document many abuses that UW-Madison sophomore Chynna Haas witnessed first-hand when she traveled to Alabama earlier this month.
Haas announced Monday she would tell her story ""New Era, New Day,"" Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined.
