University drops Nike over Honduran labor conditions

Controversy over athletic apparel companies allegedly exploiting workers in counties like Honduras has led some universities to cut their contracts with the firms like Russell Athletic. In the latest development the University of Wisconsin has taken strong steps against clothing giant Nike:

The University of Wisconsin canceled its licensing agreement with Nike Inc. on Friday, becoming the first university to take that step over concerns about the company's treatment of
workers in Honduras.

Chancellor Biddy Martin said Nike hasn't done enough to help workers collect severance payments they are owed at two factories that abruptly closed last year.

"Nike has not developed, and does not intend to develop, meaningful ways of addressing the plight of displaced workers and their families in Honduras," Martin said. "It has not presented clear long-range plans to prevent or respond to similar problems in the future. For this combination of reasons, we have decided to end our relationship for now."

New York University may be the next school to sever ties with Nike over a year after ending its agreement with Russell Athletic over Honduran labor conditions.

Image- Team Sweat
Online Sources- AP, The Latin Americanist, Washington Square News

NYU overturns Coca-Cola ban

New York University’s thirty-seven month ban on Coca-Cola products will soon to come to an end.

By a 28-22 vote the University Senate overturned the ban which had been put in place due to the soft drink giant’s suspected involvement in the deaths of Colombian labor representatives.

One of the main sticking points behind the ban was that Coca-Cola refusal to allow an independent review of worker conditions in Colombia. Yet opponents of the ban were aided when Coca-Cola agreed to an assessment of its Colombian business practices by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Supporters of the prohibition argued that the presence of ILO member and director of global labor relations Edward Potter would taint the investigation.

Since 2005 approximately forty other universities aside from NYU enacted bans on Coca-Cola products. Yet a recent Washington Square News (NYU student newspaper) poll of 132 students found a 50-50 split over whether or not to keep the ban.

Coca-Cola vehemently denies the allegations of worker abuse in countries like Colombia and India. Nevertheless, the “Killer Coke” campaign has alleged that Coke’s Colombian subsidiary has ties to rightist paramilitaries:

Isidro Segundo Gil, an employee at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Colombia, was killed at his workplace by paramilitary thugs. His children, now living in hiding with relatives, understand all too well why their homeland is known as "a country where union work is like carrying a tombstone on your back"...
(In a 2001) lawsuit, Gil's union, Sinaltrainal, the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) and the United Steelworkers of America assert that the Coke bottlers "contracted with or otherwise directed paramilitary security forces that utilized extreme violence and murdered, tortured, unlawfully detained or otherwise silenced trade union leaders."

Image- BusinessWeek
Online Sources- Washington Square News, Killer Coke, Time, BusinessWeek

Today’s Video: Postales de Leningrado

Last month we talked about “100% Venezuela”, a film fest at New York University that highlighted Venezuelan movies. “Desnudo con Naranjas” received the Audience Choice Award, while “Postales de Leningrado” was one of three movies which received special mention. The trailer to that 2007 film is shown below:

Sources- imdb.com, The Latin Americanist, YouTube

Today’s Video/Event: “100% Venezuela”

The Tribeca Film Festival starts tonight in lower Manhattan and will run until May 4^th. Although it will feature several Latin American films, there’s a better option for those that want to avoid the large crowds and don’t want to fork over up to $15 per screening.

The second edition of the NYU-Venezuelan film festival opens tonight and runs until Sunday. Entitled “100% Venezuela," the event will not only feature free screenings of Venezuelan movies like “Postcards from Leningrad” and “Francisco de Miranda”. Symposiums will also be held including one tonight on “Perspectives and Leadership of Bolivarian Venezuela” featuring speakers like Teodoro Petkoff.

The final film to be presented in “100% Venezuela” will be 2005’s “Secuestro Express.” Below is the trailer for that movie:

(Disclaimer: I’m an NYU student; thus, I’m biased in this post!)

Sources- NYRemezcla, Tribeca Film Festival, New York University, The Latin Americanist, YouTube

Event: “Documenta Chile” @ NYU tonight!

The latest installment of the “Documenta Chile” series on documentaries will be tonight at New York University. According to the series’ program, tonight’s double feature is the following:

• “MÄ PACHA UTJIANA” – In the interior villages of Quebrada de Tarapaca, the people believe that the voices of their ancestors speak through the rituals, customs, myths and legends of their culture. They believe that these traditions must be respected because they hold the key to maintaining the balance and the harmony between the worlds: the natural world (aka pacha), the spirit world (alex pacha), and our world (manqha pacha). This documentary presents three legends; The Damned – the story of a man who continues living after death; Los Gentiles – the story of the small people who inhabited the earth during a time when the sun did not exist; Tatasavaya – the story of the great hill that both gives life and takes it away. Through these stories and through the rituals of the Feast of Usmagama, the viewer visits the magic universe that surrounds the villages of Tarapaca in a time-defying journey through this rich heritage, still living and running strong like a river.
• “TRAGO DULCE/TRAGO AMARGO”- In a small port city in the Atacama Desert, an alcoholic ex-boxer fights his last fight, this time against himself. The man’s life on the docks and in the village leaves no doubt of the tremendous struggle unraveling deep inside him, caught between the senseless nature of his present life and the extraordinary force it takes not to let go completely.

“Documenta Chile” will also air films on April 10^th and April 24^th. (My apologies for not mentioning about the film series sooner).

What – “Documenta Chile” film series

When – TONIGHT at 7:15pm

Where – King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South (Manhattan), First Floor Auditorium

Price – Free!!!

Information- Telephone # 212 998 3650 or via their website @ www.nyu.edu/kjc

Note – Question-and-answer session with the director of “Ma Pacha Utijana” after the screening!

Links- New York University King Juan Carlos Center, IMDB

Image- New York University King Juan Carlos Center (scene from “Ma Pacha Utijana”)

“He said, she said” quarrel over NYU Republicans’ anti-immigrant event

Several student groups at New York University (NYU) have continued their ire and displeasure with an event hosted by the College Republicans last month which trivialized the immigration debate. According to NYU’s student newspaper, a coalition representing four political and cultural student organizations rejected the College Republicans’ invitation to participate in a debate on immigration and instead opted to hold their own debate next month.

In addition, a Latino student group wants the College Republicans to apologize for their disrespect and “lack of sensibility” during the "Find the Illegal Immigrant" event. In response, the president of the College Republicans refused to apologize and claimed that the coalition was acting “childish.”

We’ll leave the last (and most accurate) word to the head of Political Spectrum, a nonpartisan debate group:

"The problem is that both sides are breaking the communication process. It seems that the two sides are not really trying to have a real discussion on actual policy issues - instead I see an inflammatory stunt and people not wanting to talk about the issue."

Links- The Latin Americanist, Washington Square News

Image- 1010 WINS (Hundreds of demonstrators protesting the "Find the Illegal Immigrant" event at NYU)