In January 2009, 1,800 laborers lost their jobs in Honduras when two local factories that made shirts for the U.S. sports-apparel giant Nike, Hugger and Vision Tex, suddenly closed their doors and did not pay workers the $2 million in severance and other unemployment aid they were due by a law left unenforced. Politicians in many developing countries get elected by writing strong labor laws, but are concerned about repelling FDI and therefore allow weak enforcement of those laws.

Nike initially only lamented the situation — while insisting that it wasn’t responsible for the actions of the plants it contracts. Only under pressure from fair-labor groups, the Oregon-based company announced an agreement with one of Honduras’ largest trade unions this week to create a $1.54 million “workers relief fund” for the factory employees laid off in 2009. Under the deal, Nike says it will work with its suppliers in Honduras to get still unemployed workers vocational training and hiring priorities as jobs open up. The value of Nike’s total contribution to the Honduran workers will probably be more than $2 million. But what matters more than the money — petty cash compared to Nike’s $19 billion in revenues last year — is the precedent, one that could help make globalization a fairer game.

Groups like the United Students Against Sweatshops and the Worker Rights Consortium put pressure on Nike by organising demonstrations and convincing U.S. universities whose athletic programs and campus shops buy Nike shoes and clothes to threaten cancellation of their contracts with Nike unless it did something to rectify the Honduras situation.

Nike may now require all its subcontracted factories worldwide set aside escrow funds to make sure that severance and unemployment obligations are met, which may create a precedent for other companies to follow its lead.