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New Era Cap Co. Fails to Gain Admission to Fair Labor Association's Monitoring Program
Washington, D.C. – The New Era Cap Co. took a major blow this week when the Fair Labor Association's (FLA) board of directors decided to take no action on New Era's application to join the FLA monitoring program. New Era hoped that by being admitted to the FLA program, it would be able to convince universities to maintain New Era as a supplier of athletic caps bearing various school logos. New Era also is a major supplier of caps to Major League Baseball and for other professional and college-level sports.
With the FLA board's decision to take "no action," United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) predicted that many more universities will get the message and drop New Era as a supplier.
The FLA decision is likely a surprise to New Era, because the company has been communicating with the media to suggest that New Era's admission to the FLA monitoring program was imminent.
While New Era's application to the program is still pending, the FLA board will not meet again to consider the application until April 9. In the meantime, the Communications Workers of America, which represents workers at New Era's operations in Derby, N.Y., and a coalition of student, community and workers' rights organizations are planning to formally challenge New Era's application through a third party complaint process established by the FLA.
Commenting on the FLA's action, CWA Local 14177 Secretary Jason Kozlowski said, "This is a major blow to New Era Cap. The company's failure to gain the FLA's stamp of approval will mean that universities and retailers will continue to drop New Era as a supplier." Kozlowski added, "Given New Era's failure to address safety problems and negotiate fairly with its workers, it is no surprise that the FLA board took no action on New Era's application."
Amber Gallup of USAS said, "This is a signal to universities across the country that New Era has made no good faith effort to clean up its act. We expect this will be a major boost to the student' efforts to convince their universities to suspend all business with New Era."
The FLA was established to encourage companies to improve working conditions in factories in the United States and abroad. The group accredits monitors to inspect factories that manufacture goods for its participating companies and for licensees of its affiliated universities. FLA's decision to take no action on New Era's application is particularly significant given its strong ties to major apparel companies like Nike and Reebok.
In a related event, today CWA members in Orlando, Fla., distributed leaflets to thousands of golf apparel retailers attending the 2002 PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center. The leaflets warned retailers that labor unions and university students across the country will be leafleting pro shops and retailers that carry Titleist headwear made by New Era Co. and urged retailers and buyers not to buy Titleist headwear made by New Era.
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With the FLA board's decision to take "no action," United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) predicted that many more universities will get the message and drop New Era as a supplier.
The FLA decision is likely a surprise to New Era, because the company has been communicating with the media to suggest that New Era's admission to the FLA monitoring program was imminent.
While New Era's application to the program is still pending, the FLA board will not meet again to consider the application until April 9. In the meantime, the Communications Workers of America, which represents workers at New Era's operations in Derby, N.Y., and a coalition of student, community and workers' rights organizations are planning to formally challenge New Era's application through a third party complaint process established by the FLA.
Commenting on the FLA's action, CWA Local 14177 Secretary Jason Kozlowski said, "This is a major blow to New Era Cap. The company's failure to gain the FLA's stamp of approval will mean that universities and retailers will continue to drop New Era as a supplier." Kozlowski added, "Given New Era's failure to address safety problems and negotiate fairly with its workers, it is no surprise that the FLA board took no action on New Era's application."
Amber Gallup of USAS said, "This is a signal to universities across the country that New Era has made no good faith effort to clean up its act. We expect this will be a major boost to the student' efforts to convince their universities to suspend all business with New Era."
The FLA was established to encourage companies to improve working conditions in factories in the United States and abroad. The group accredits monitors to inspect factories that manufacture goods for its participating companies and for licensees of its affiliated universities. FLA's decision to take no action on New Era's application is particularly significant given its strong ties to major apparel companies like Nike and Reebok.
In a related event, today CWA members in Orlando, Fla., distributed leaflets to thousands of golf apparel retailers attending the 2002 PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center. The leaflets warned retailers that labor unions and university students across the country will be leafleting pro shops and retailers that carry Titleist headwear made by New Era Co. and urged retailers and buyers not to buy Titleist headwear made by New Era.
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