The Cornell Organization for Labor Action and the Cornell Students Against Sweatshops are joining student activists nationwide in celebration of what The New York Times called the student anti-sweatshop movement’s “biggest victory by far.”

Pushed by months of student protests, sports apparel manufacturer Russell Athletic announced plans this week to rehire 1,200 Honduran workers who had lost their jobs last October. Russell said that it had closed its factory there because of falling demand for the fleece sewn there, according to the Associated Press. The workers, however, contended that the factory had been closed illegally because of the workers’ attempts to unionize.

The United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) launched a national campaign in defense of the workers’ claim. Students’ efforts prompted almost 100 Universities to end their contracts with Russell over the last year; this loss of revenue, according to The Times, motivated Russell to reopen the factories.

Cornell was one of the first of 89 schools nationwide to cut business ties with Russell. As was the case on many campuses, Russell’s actions violated the University’s own “code of conduct,” according to Mike Powers, director of operations for University communications.

Powers said that a main principle of Cornell’s code of conduct is that contracted companies abide by “freedom of association.” Russell’s violation of this, in addition to what Powers called students’ “tireless” work, led Cornell to not renew its contract with Russell, which expired on March 31.

COLA and CSAS led the student opposition to Russell through meetings with administrators such as Powers and “actions,” according to former COLA President Marlene Ramos ’09. These actions, Ramos said, included “pass[ing] out leaflets on Ho Plaza” and “drop-ins with Russell apparel sold at the Cornell Store … [so] customers would be aware of what they were purchasing.” Ramos said that they had up to 40 students involved in some efforts.

CSAS Vice-President Andrew Wolf ‘10 said that, through the larger USAS, of which CSAS is a subsidiary, the Honduran workers were able to come to Cornell’s campus and encourage the boycott of Russell’s goods. Wolf mentioned that student efforts extended beyond Cornell’s contract, citing demonstrations COLA held outside of a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Ithaca that sells Russell equipment.

Russell’s proclaimed intentions to reopen the factory will not by itself cause the Cornell store to relicense the brand, Powers cautioned.

“They have stated that they will do certain things, we will wait to see if they do indeed do them ... should they live up to their word,” he said. “They deserve [to be reinstated] for setting a fairly admirable example.”

Even though the student activists agreed with Powers that Russell must first make its plan a reality, they still heralded the announcement as a powerful moment in the cause of student activism.

COLA Treasurer Bill Peterson ’10 said that Russell’s recent decision, “shows that “students really have a lot of power and a lot of influence with a consolidated message ... [That] students can really have a large role in holding humongous corporations responsible [for their actions].”

Ramos agreed with this sentiment, saying that this is an “historic” example when “students motivated enough people to change [a company’s] labor practices.” Yet she also said it was important to remember that the “victory really belongs to the workers [who are] going back to their jobs.”

Powers put the success in a somewhat larger context. He said that this is especially “historical” because in the history of labor in Central America, there has generally been “no willingness to recognize unions [and] violence towards workers.”