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USAS tactics, goals need questioning |
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
How exciting.
Classes being disrupted by shouting, students getting arrested, people holding signs that say things!
Let the madness begin!
But actually, let’s not. As with the rest of the universe, the issue of the United Students Against Sweatshops protests and arrests are in fact quite complicated.
Being a photographer, I understand images that are pure black and white consist of poor technique and boring subject matter. In the same way, I find it unfortunate when people polarize issues. Instead, it’s necessary to determine the gray that lurks beneath.
Let’s review the situation. USAS is a campus organization attempting to
encourage the university to accept the DSP, or Designated Suppliers
Program.
Because the university has not accepted this program, USAS organized a protest and sit-in at the
administration building. The students stayed for three days before they were arrested, after which they
were taken to jail. Students who were not arrested raised money for bail, which was then paid.
But there’s a history here. USAS didn’t emerge out of the depths of some divine bleeding heart with
their signs and slogans intact. USAS has in fact been working on getting the university to adopt the
DSP for the past 20 months.
Now, a lot can happen in 20 months. And, as USAS prefers the campus to believe, a lot can remain
stagnant. Immobility on the part of the administration necessitates protests and sit-ins and to the
university, these things necessitate arrest.
But perhaps these conclusions are reached too rapidly. The administration has met with USAS four
times in this time period - a small number, but a number regardless.
Given this fact, it is difficult to believe that “no attempts at dialogue have been made” by the
administration. Although these meetings were called by USAS, one must acknowledge that the
administration conceded and attended the meetings.
 Cartoon by Jason Mills
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An additional meeting with the administration, also called by USAS, occurred Feb. 14. On this date,
USAS showered Chancellor Peacock with valentines, quoted as saying messages such as “This
valentine is black, just like your heart.”
An interesting persuasive tactic, I must say.
While USAS claims in its “Official rebuttal to the chancellor” that USAS students have received
“disrespectful communication…from the beginning,” I wonder about their definition of disrespect. If the
chancellor is not being shown respect, how can students expect respect in return?
However, the core of the matter lies in the university’s acceptance of the DSP. While many
people—even the chancellor—agree that unfair labor practices are unethical, this issue is perhaps the
most complicated of all.
Currently, the university is a member of the FLA, or Fair Labor Association. USAS, in its rebuttal,
describes the organization as “little more than a manufacturer’s charade.”
However, the FLA’s listed Workplace Code of Conduct on fairlabor.org ranges from prohibiting forced
and child labor to providing safe and healthy working environments.
Yet no organization is perfect, and many require systems of accountability.
John Hennessey, president of Stanford University, in an address to his student body May 29, 2007,
explained the DSP is not a solution for university anti-sweatshop organizations. He writes that the
program “is unlikely to be effective for a number of years, if it succeeds at all.”
He goes on to explain that “a small number of universities (less than 20) dominate the marketplace for
athletic wear…unless the vast majority of the large public institutions embrace the DSP, it cannot be
successful.” As of his statement, none of the top 10 licensing universities had signed onto the DSP.
Additionally, as the DSP requires at least half of its factories to be producing collegiate-branded wear,
and the collegiate-branded market is only 5 percent of the athletic apparel market, then the DSP
monitors a mere 10 percent of all athletic apparel factories.
While it speaks for colleges and universities, 90 percent of workers are still unprotected under the
DSP. This is hardly a solution to the global problem of unfair labor.
It seems that if USAS members are truly concerned with the health of workers, instead of merely the
appearance of their organization and university, they will seek out more diverse solutions and welcome
the questioning of administrators and students alike.
In order to be ultimately effective, perhaps USAS needs some internal questioning as well.
Anna Donlan, a senior technical photography major from Atlanta, is a photographer.
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Thanks for being brave enough to share the other side of this ridiculous stage show known as USAS.