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Students fight for labor rights |
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Tuesday, 17 October 2006 |
by JULIA MERCHANT
Intern News Reporter
A student-led campaign at Appalachian State University is attempting to persuade university officials not to purchase collegiate apparel from suppliers with inadequate labor standards.
The
movement is part of a larger national organization called United
Students Against Sweatshops, a group with chapters at over 200 schools
around the country.
The organization’s official Web site states they believe “university
standards should be brought in line with those of its students who
demand that their school’s logo is emblazoned on clothing made in
decent working conditions.”
Two students, senior interdisciplinary studies major Billy E. Schweig
and sophomore IDS major Hana L. Crouch, introduced the idea of bringing
an USAS chapter to Appalachian.
Schweig said the pair initially read about USAS in a book sold at the University Bookstore.
“We thought this was a campaign that would appeal to all,” Schweig
said, noting it is hard for anyone to be in support of sweatshops.
“It’s also a step in the right direction for the university,” senior IDS major Patrick T. McCaully said.
Both Schweig and McCaully agree there is a contradiction between
Appalachian’s stance as a green, sustainable university, and not taking
a stronger anti-sweatshop, fair labor position.
“We also hoped that [the campaign] would help dispel some of the stigma attached to activism,” Schweig said.
The group’s ultimate goal is to get the university to adopt the
Designated Supplier’s Program. This is an agreement which would ensure
that university logo apparel goods are sourced “from a set of
designated supplier factories that have been determined by universities
to have affirmatively demonstrated full and consistent respect for the
rights of their employees,” according to the USAS Web site.
Appalachian is currently affiliated with the Fair Labor Association, a
similar, less restrictive agreement, “but members of companies like
Nike serve on their board,” Schweig said.
He said this implies Fair Labor Association standards are infrequently enforced and not as strict.
Adoption of the Designated Supplier’s Program would affect all
university apparel featuring the school logo, including apparel sold at
the bookstore, stores on King Street and online.
Students would not notice a huge difference in cost if the act is
adopted, Schweig said. Labor accounts for about 1 to 2 percent of the
total cost of apparel, so an increase in price would only amount to
around .50 to .75 cents for a sweatshirt and .25 cents for a T-shirt,
he said.
The group plans to present a proposal Oct. 30 to Chancellor Kenneth E.
Peacock, asking him to adopt the Designated Supplier’s Program at
Appalachian.
Since the organization began in the late the 1990s, 28 schools have
adopted the Designated Supplier’s Program. However, over 150
universities have agreed to join the Worker’s Rights Consortium, a less
restrictive stepping stone to adopting the DSP that holds schools to
many of the same standards.
“If we can get every college in the U.S. to adopt the DSP, we will
achieve real industry standards that will make a real difference on a
wider scale,” Schweig said.
To increase awareness, the Appalachian chapter of USAS has created a Facebook.com group with a description of their mission.
In two weeks, over 465 people have joined “Sweat-free campus now!”
“I think Facebook has increased knowledge of what we’re trying to do
when we’ve just started to begin our grassroots campaign,” McCauly said.
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