President Elizabeth Garrett

Office of the President

300 Day Hall

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853

Dear President Garrett,

We are writing to you as members of the Cornell Organization for Labor Action, United Students

Against Sweatshops Local 3, out of concern over recent news regarding Nike’s labor practices.

Nike is refusing to allow the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) to have access to, or inspect any

of its’ factories. As an affiliate of the WRC, at Cornell University we require all brands that

produce Cornell apparel to disclose where its factories are so we may understand the conditions

under which workers are manufacturing our college logo apparel. Nike should not be an

exception.

By refusing the WRC access to their factories, Nike is undermining workers’ ability to

communicate with Cornell’s designated monitoring organization when workers’ basic workplace

rights may be violated. Nike's refusal to allow access to independent monitors undermines the

entire structure that universities have worked to build for almost two decades to protect the

integrity of their licensing programs. We know Nike has a long track record of labor violations

and, like any other brand we contract with, Nike cannot be trusted to voluntarily monitor

themselves with any credibility. Without WRC inspections, we have no way of confirming that

Cornell apparel produced by Nike is being manufactured under conditions where workers’ basic

rights are respected. This has huge implications for the rights and safety of garment workers

around the world.

We are asking that Cornell immediately insist that Nike comply with our school’s code of

conduct by allowing the WRC to inspect its factories. If Nike fails to remediate its violation of our

code, we expect that Nike be held accountable by having its contract terminated, for brazen

non-compliance with such basic anti-sweatshop monitoring standards. We look forward to

hearing from you as soon as possible given the urgent nature and seriousness of this matter.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

The Cornell Organization for Labor Action

United Students Against Sweatshops Local 3