Members of UW-Madison?s Labor Licensing Policy Committee were hoping they?d hear some good news Thursday morning from interim Chancellor David Ward in an ongoing debate over how the university can best hold Adidas accountable for allegations of sweatshop abuses.
Instead, the meeting turned tense after Ward told the committee that the university isn?t quite ready to make any sort of move that could potentially pressure Adidas into helping pay 2,700 workers at the PT Kizone factory in Indonesia some $1.8 million in legally mandated severance pay.