For more than a decade there?s been a small but vocal group of students, faculty and staff on the UW-Madison campus trying to curb sweatshop abuses at companies that produce college-logoed apparel. To be certain, over the past year alone there have been some noteworthy victories against sportswear giants such as Russell Athletic and Nike.
But as a university official confided over the summer, significant change in this industry seems unlikely until consumers start shunning companies that have little interest in paying living wages — and start buying from those that do.