The decision follows pressure by students and officials at U.S. colleges and universities intended to get the company to reinstate the employees, who were let go in January when the company closed the factory where they worked, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Administrators from 89 schools -- including Georgetown, UCLA, Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, Michigan and North Carolina -- joined in the campaign, called United Students Against Sweatshops, the newspaper said.
As part of the campaign, colleges and universities either suspended or terminated licensing agreements through which Russell made athletic wear bearing school logos. Some of the agreements were worth more than $1 million in sales, the Times said.
The pressure campaign included pickets at NBA games, distribution of fliers inside Sports Authority sporting goods stores and online communication with customers of Dick's Sporting Goods.
Mel Tenen, who manages licensing agreements for the University of Miami, called the agreement with Russell "a very important breakthrough."
"It's not often that a major licensee will take such a necessary and drastic step to correct the injustices that affected its workers," he said. "This paves the way for us to seriously consider reopening our agreement with Russell."
Russell is owned by Fruit of the Loom.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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