Nearly 40 student activists and members of the Student Labor Action Coalition staged a flash mob freeze-in"" on Library Mall Wednesday to protest UW-Madison's contract with Adidas for athletic apparel.
SLAC members said the ""freeze-in"" represented the lack of action taken by Chancellor John Wiley to aid the Hermosa Manufacturing workers in El Salvador.
In 2005, the Hermosa factory in El Salvador, which manufactured athletic wear for Adidas and UW-Madison, shut down and left 260 workers without severance pay upon their dismissal. Sixty-three of the former workers attempted to unionize and were allegedly blacklisted for their efforts.
""The freeze-in signifies the past three years of being frozen in labor negotiations with Adidas and the university and it's a good way to draw attention,"" SLAC member John Bruning said.
At exactly 12:15 p.m., protest participants on Library Mall froze in place for five minutes drawing strange looks from people walking through the area.
During the protest, SLAC member Ryan Garza distributed flyers to on-lookers explaining the purpose of the ""freeze-in.""
""A lot of people were obviously very curious and were asking a lot of questions,"" he said. ""We didn't want to do anything too drastic because we didn't want to take away our credibility or do anything violent so we decided to try something new.""
Protest organizer and SLAC member Jan Van Tol said the protest was a success and was very happy with the number of flash mob participants.
""I think it was a clear demonstration that UW students do care about this issue and it's not just a handful of radicals,"" Van Tol said. ""There is wide support for the idea that UW apparel should be produced in just, fair conditions.""
The UW-Madison Labor Licensing Policy Committee will meet April 18 to develop recommendations for Wiley as to what actions should be taken to resolve the ongoing conflict with Adidas and the Hermosa workers.
Special Assistant to the Chancellor Dawn Crim said LLPC and SLAC will continue working to improve apparel industry for all workers.
""We know our students are very passionate about this issue and our students come up with very creative ways to show their support for their cause,"" she said, adding no decision regarding the university's contract with Adidas will be made until after the chancellor reviews all recommendations.
