The Daily Campus – News
Issue: 3/16/05
Anti-sweatshop activism on the rise
In the United States, pressures from manufacturers who can easily threaten to move business overseas, encourages private contractors to hire immigrant workers who will work well below minimum wage. Ross said immigrant workers are easier to control because if they try to unionize, a contractor can threaten to call the INS or simply fire them.
“It is illegal to fire someone for unionizing, but it takes so long to appeal the case that it’s worth it in the long run,” Ross said.
He said the labor standards enforcement system needs drastic revision if it is to improve.
At UConn, anti-sweatshop activism has materialized in the form of a student group called the Coalition for a Sweat-Free UConn (CSFU). The group is in the process of negotiating with the university administration for what it calls a “sweat-free zone” in the UConn Co-op. This would be an area devoted strictly to merchandise with the “union made” label, which ensures the regulations of the FLSA are being met.
“It takes a conscientious effort to find union-made brands and it is alluring for the university to use Nike, Aeropostale and other companies which provide monetary incentives to the school,” said Sarah Kowaleski, an 8th-semester psychology major and member of the CSFU.
Kowaleski said the university sold $21 million in licensed merchandise last year and took in more than $1 million in royalties, which makes UConn one of the nation’s top earning schools where university merchandise is concerned. She speculates that enough pressure on manufacturers from such big names in apparel could help diminish the reliance on sweatshops.
“The overreaching goal is if brands such as Nike are facing pressure from UConn to do all it can to implement their codes of conduct abroad, Nike will follow up on demands and correct these human rights abuses,” she said.
The Co-op has not yet finalized the exact location of the area, how large it will be or how the area will be identified.
“Although we have agreed to make this happen, this is still very much a work-in-progress,” said William Simpson, president and general manager of the UConn Co-op. “We are in the process of identifying manufacturers who fit the ‘Union made in the USA’ criteria and intend to begin ordering as soon as possible.”
Simpson said there are a few difficulties in establishing a sweat free zone. The Co-op will need to find licensed manufacturers, items with the right design, style and price to attract customers and time to get the items into stock.
“We also need to do this in a manner that does not unfairly suggest that the other products in the store are, ipso facto, made in a sweatshop because they are not in the special section,” he said.
All the goods currently sold at the Co-op are made under license, which means the manufacturers have agreed to standards established by UConn and the Workers Rights Consortium. Though inspections and investigations are infrequent, all manufacturers of UConn apparel say their goods are not produced under sweatshop conditions, according to Simpson.
“I applaud the university’s first step in welcoming the sweatshop debate and providing an alternative to sweatshop garments,” Kowaleski said.