In the last meeting of the year for the UW-Madison Labor Licensing Policy Committee, the Student Labor Action Coalition presented Chancellor John Wiley with an award for being the Sweatshop Chancellor of the Year. SLAC member Molly Glasgow presented Wiley with a trophy and a brief speech indicating that he won the award for his unwillingness to enforce the University's code of conduct which requires that all licensees adhere to minimum labor standards affecting freedom of association, wages, and health and safety.

The two hour meeting focused on how to respond to a letter from Adidas that attempted to address allegations of misconduct. The allegations of misconduct stem from an incident in 2002 where workers in El Salvador were laid off when Hermosa Manufacturing closed. The closing of the factory left 260 workers jobless and with nearly $1 million owed in severance pay and back wages. Adidas claims that they are not responsible for providing back wages or severance pay to the workers because the workers were employed by Hermosa Manufacturing, the subcontractor, and that they paid the money to Hermosa.

Many members of the Labor Licensing Policy Committee indicated that they were skeptical of this justification because, if true, it would mean that the UW code of conduct for licensees has little meaning because any labor infraction could be blamed on a subcontractor. They interpreted the code of conduct to mean that Adidas is responsible for the behavior of any subcontractor manufacturing UW-branded apparel. Chancellor Wiley and UW-Madison official Dawn Crim were unwilling to say whether they believed Adidas violated the university's code of conduct for companies licensed to make university apparel.

Wiley and Crim seemed satisfied with Adidas' response which indicated that Adidas would pressure the El Salvador government to go after the factory owner and help workers get the money they are owed. The letter also pledged to help blacklisted employees find new jobs at other Adidas factories. UW-Madison also pledged 2% of next year's licensing revenues to help the displaced workers. Other committee members expressed doubt that Adidas was actually doing anything concrete to address the situation and pressed for benchmarks to monitor the blacklisted workers' situations.

After the meeting was over, SLAC members followed Chancellor Wiley to his office where they attempted to pick up his Labor Studies 101 - Solidarity in Contemporary Society exam which he had not yet finished. They were barred from entering the office by workers (see photos) who indicated that Wiley was busy preparing for commencement. SLAC members promised that Wiley could win Workers Rights Chancellor of the Year in 2008 by finishing his exam and enforcing UW's code of conduct.