Regis Supports Fair Trade
Wernimont, Sarah
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No Sweat? No Sweat!
On Monday, February 12, the Regis University Social Justice Committee (SJC) presented part two of their "Sweat for no Sweat" campaign. Students were asked to complete various physical tasks in order to receive gift cards to local businesses such as Hamlin's Cafe and Coffee on the Lowell.
The SJC presented its first campus-wide activity November 20. Students were, again, asked to "Sweat for no Sweat," completing physical challenges to be awarded one of the 150 florescent fair trade shirts dispersed.
On October 24, The Highlander informed Regis that the Student Government, which consists of representatives of students clubs and organizations, passed an amendment to promote sweat-free clothing on Regis' campus.
The amendment specifically states: "Any apparel used by a club or organization must come from ethically responsible corporations. Specifically, ethically responsible corporations treat their employees fairly by respecting workers' rights, paying a living wage, providing safe and reasonable working conditions, allowing workers to unionize, guarantee job security, and other conditions specified by the Fair Trade Federation." According to its website, the Fair Trade Federation is dedicated to providing equal wages and fair employment opportunities for "economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide." The SJC at Regis, led by senior Emily Augsburger, has taken it upon themselves to promote these values across campus.
Augsburger, a sociology major, initiated the sweat-free campaign and SJC on Regis' campus; she currently holds the position as director of the SJC.
Not only has an amendment been passed, but senior softball player Michelle Johnson, along with Augsburger, have addressed this issue to Athletic Director Barb Schroeder. Johnston and Augsburger held a meeting with Schroeder to discuss using sweat-free clothing in the athletic department.
"Barb was very receptive," said Johnston. Schroeder declared that when purchasing clothing with her department budget to sell, give away or for athletic department faculty, the clothes will be from sweat-free companies.
As for each athletic team's individual budget, Schroeder believes it would be hard to commit to fair trade merchandise throughout the department. Many coaches already purchase apparel from certain companies year after year, and changing coaches' ways may be a challenge. However, Schroeder was willing to inform the athletic staff of sweat-free companies from which they may purchase apparel.
The main focus of the SJC is to call Regis students to consider whether the clothing that they purchase and wear is made fairly, and whether the human rights of workers are respected by factories.
The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the "inherent dignity" equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."
A Sweat-free Movement
According to Rutgers university professor Laura Hapke, in Sweatshop: The History of an AmericanIdea (2004), the word "sweatshop" derives from the early 1800's, when employers began to see how much profit they could "sweat" out of employees. Sweatshops are typically defined as having pitiful conditions that defy the characteristics of protecting human rights, while paying employees non-livable wages.
While most sweatshops may be found in Third World countries, where the living conditions remain less stable than the United States, sweatshop conditions are also within the boundaries of the United States.
According to the Department of Labor, over 50 percent of U.S. garment factories are sweatshops. The Department of Labor defines a sweatshop as "violating two or more of the most basic labor laws including child labor, minimum wage, overtime and fire safety laws."
An anti-sweatshop organization, Feminists Against Sweatshops, identifies most people's vision of a sweatshop as a dirty, unsanitary building crawling with workers. However, some of the cleanest and sharpest looking factories may be sites of labor abuse. These factories may violate labor laws, including sexual harassment, forced overtime and illegal firings.
Robert J.S. Ross, a professor of sociology at Clarke University and activist for labor laws and international trade, also analyzes sweatshops in the United States.
His book, Slaves to Fashion: Poverty and Abuse in the New Sweatshops (2004) cites documentation that an estimated 170,000 sweatshop laborers resided in the United States in 2000-2001. Ross further explains how sweatshops are a result of "unregulated global capitalism combined with deregulation, union erosion and exploitation of undocumented workers."
While Ross' ideals sway toward anti-globalization, his book explains why. Since globalization has risen the percentage of clothing imported to the U.S. has risen from 3 to 90 percent. This increase is a result of trade barriers being broken and the ignorance toward acknowledging labor standards. The rights of investors succeed laborers; countries should have to pay tariffs and actually have labor laws.
As Ross has outlined in his book, free trade is not fair trade. Free trade has allowed many corporations the ability to set up shops in other countries, where lower wages and working conditions are permitted. This, in turn, allows companies to profit more from products by saving money on creating fair working conditions and wages.
"The ethics of these companies could be better if they get past maximum profits. They could learn to redistribute the resources they already have," said Byron Plumley, director of Peace and Justice at Regis.
Dr. Jim Richard, economics professor at Regis, agrees with Georgetown professor Pietra Rivoli, author of The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy (2005). While Rivoli emphasizes the need for foreign investment and corporations to bring resources to developing countries, she also stresses that pressure must be put on transnational corporations to be concerned about working conditions.
Richard says working conditions in factories should comply with the basic needs of a human being. These include a right to nutrition, water, sewage, clothing, shelter, education and medical care. In order to achieve this, transnational corporations must be able to supply workers with livable wages that may suffice the basic needs listed above.
Richard has found that most students he encounters believe capitalism can foster development by creating competition within the market. In other words, countries can use each other's success to strive to become even better, thus raising the overall infrastructure and economic income for each country. However, problems lie in what must be done with those countries that cannot compete.
The Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center explains that impoverished Third World countries depend on foreign investment to develop new industries. Export industries allow first world corporations to outsource, or subcontract factories in developing countries and pay lower wages.
Furthermore, these wages, although low, provide some source of income for many impoverished individuals. In turn, the sweatshop jobs keep these people away from other occupations, such as prostitution, drug trafficking or no job at all.
Fair labor organizations, such as the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), which monitors factories, have pressured large companies, such as Nike and the Gap, ensure better conditions for the workers who manufacture their products. As a result, big corporations have taken the initiative to address issues of sweatshops by creating codes of conduct.
For example, Nike's Code of Conduct states that "Contractors must recognize the dignity of each employee, and the right to a work place free of harassment, abuse or corporal punishment." Nike further states that this Code of Conduct applies to anywhere they operate on the globe, and the code must be visibly available to all employees.
On the other hand, the WRC has specific standards each company must comply with to be deemed sweat-free.
These WRC's Code of Conduct specifically states, "Licensees recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees' basic needs. Licensees shall pay employees, as a floor, wages and benefits which comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and which provide for essential needs and establish a dignified living wage for workers and their families. [A living wage is a "take home" or "net" wage, earned during a country's legal maximum work week, but not more than 48 hours. A living wage provides for the basic needs (housing, energy, nutrition, clothing, health care, education, potable water, childcare, transportation and savings) of an average family unit of employees in the garment manufacturing employment sector of the country divided by the average number of adult wage earners in the family unit of employees in the garment manufacturing employment sector of the country."
As well as addressing wages, the WRC provide specific guidelines for working hours, overtime compensation, child labor, forced labor, health and safety, non-discrimination, harassment or abuse, freedom of association and collective bargaining and women's rights.
According to the Campaign for Labor Rights (CLR), the Fair Labor Association (FLA), another organization monitoring sweatshops, has a Code of Conduct that states very vague worker standards. Furthermore, delegates of the FLA represent the corporate industry, which, according to the CLR, puts an emphasis on the "multi-stockholder initiative."
The FLA is a product of the White House's Apparel Industry Partnership, which obtains goals of protecting workers worldwide and providing consumers with purchasing information. According to the WRC's analysis of the FLA, the FLA does not provide public disclosure or worker's voices in the production process, nor do they guarantee workers are being paid enough to meet basic needs.
Student Activism Across the U.S.
Student involvement on this issue has not only taken place at Regis, but across the nation on various college campuses. The Sweat-Free Campus Campaign is a program where students organize anti-sweatshop campaigns on their campuses. This campaign was organized by the United Students Against Sweatshops.
The main goal of this campaign, which has over 200 college and university members, is to receive information about the wages of outsourcing companies, and encourage them to provide living wages if they do decide to outsource.
Beyond the United Students Against Sweatshops, numerous colleges around the country have taken it upon themselves to promote fair trade. According to The Badger Herald (student newspaper at the University of Wisconsin), the university has been working with the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), a program for developing the protection of the rights of workers who assemble university apparel.
The Coalition Against Sweatshop Abuses (CASA) at the University of Colorado have also taken action for CU to join the DSP. April 13, 2006 students at CU went on a hunger strike for CU to join the DSP. Finally, on April 27 CU administrators agreed to work with the student group to develop a plan, incorporating CU's contribution to the anti-sweatshop movement.
So far, only about 30 schools have signed on to the DSP. Of the 30, three colleges are Jesuit institutions, which include Santa Clara, Fordham and Georgetown. Signing on to the DSP is one of the next moves for the SJC. By signing onto the DSP, all licensed Regis apparel (including the athletic department) would be from a select list of approved fair trade companies.
Implementing the DSP into universities is at least a three year process. After a six month grace period, the supply of sweat-free collegiate production will begin at 25 percent and continue to increase each year until the process is complete. More specifically, after the first year of DSP membership, the university is required to have 25 percent of apparel sourced from DSP suppliers, the second year 50 percent must be from DSP factories and during the third and succeeding years 75 to 100 percent of apparel should be from DSP approved factories.
In addition, the DSP's standards comply with the labor standards of the WRC. The WRC investigates and reviews factory conditions, constituting companies as sweat-free and implementing them onto the list of designated suppliers. The DSP needs more support from universities to become officially implemented, but the universities who have currently signed have volunteered their support of the DSP.
As Augsburger has found, Georgetown University may be compared to Regis' situation. Like Regis, Georgetown contracts its bookstore to Follett. Georgetown, a supporter of the DSP, contracts clothing sold on their campus with Follett. Therefore, working with Follett and the DSP is a task for both Regis and Georgetown.
The DSP will provide Regis with a list of companies they have investigated and proven to be sweat-free. Regis will then use the list and purchase all clothing merchandise from these companies.
Back at Regis
Even though the SJC has currently taken a huge role on fair trade at Regis, previous students have advocated for the same cause.
In 2000, Dr. Jamie Roth taught a globalization seminar with the component of selecting an issue and conducting a teach-in. One of his groups decided to research the issue of sweatshops and ended up presenting a teach-in on the issue at Regis.
The group's project included advocating to Tom Reynolds, vice president for Mission, that Regis join the Worker's Rights Consortium (WRC). Being a member of this organization entailed paying dues which assist in amending issues and investigating working conditions and rights in factories. By paying dues, apparel purchased by Regis will be manufactured by factories that have an enforced Code of Conduct complying with worker's rights. These dues come out of the University Mission budget, according to Reynolds.
Unfortunately, Dr. Roth states he has not seen much change on Regis' campus since 2000, until this past year. More importantly, Regis has not paid dues to the WRC since Reynolds signed the agreement in 2001.
The SJC is currently working toward presenting a resolution and timeline to the Student Senate. The Senate must then approve Regis re-signing the WRC and becoming a member of the DSP. These steps will be essential in Regis' process of becoming a completely sweat-free campus.
The steps began with SJC representatives meeting with Sharon Booton, director of Regis University Business Services, who handles memberships at Regis. Booton says she has not received any information regarding Regis' membership to the WRC. Booton also did not think that Regis could sign onto the DSP because the campus currently has a five year contract with Follett. Booton stated that Regis cannot tell Follett from which companies to purchase clothes. However, when asked about Regis' membership to the DSP, Booton stated she would speak with Follett about the concern for sweatshop clothing in Regis' bookstore and work toward a way to address the issue.
Even though Follett currently has a Code of Conduct that addresses working conditions, the code does not include specific guidelines. For example, under "Wages and Benefits," Follett's code says, "Contractors must provide wages and benefits that comply with all applicable laws and regulations and match or exceed the prevailing local manufacturing industry practices." Augsburger points out, and Shannon agrees, that often the local laws of developing countries are well below United States and European labor standards, and standards articulated by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and human rights organizations.
According to the USAS Sweat-Free Campus Campaign, in order to provide minimal, basic nutritional needs for their families, workers spend 50-75 percent of their income solely on food. Follett's conduct does not identify this information, nor the amount of hours needed to meet the amount of income needed. However, the WRC's code of "Wages and Benefits," which is quoted above, specifies the basic needs that must be compensated through no more than a 48 hour work week.
Dr. Lee Shannon, associate professor of business administration, points out the economic power and size of Follett gives them the ability to create a very precise code with working conditions standards.
"[Regis] is a school with a mission statement and certain values and this is the thing we need to be doing [sweatshop movement]," said Shannon.
In fall 2006, Dr. Gardner's sociology seminar required students to decide on an activism topic and participate in volunteering, community work, etc. A group of students from the seminar decided to become active in the "No Sweat" campaign. Part of their community work was participating in the "Sweat for no Sweat" activity on the quad.
Augsburger has started a subcommittee of the SJC at Regis that will affiliate with the national organization United Students Against Sweatshops. The main goal of this group is to continue work on bringing fair trade to Regis' campus as well as continued education for students, faculty and staff. This will give Regis the ability to unite with other universities also working toward sweat-free campuses.
"We are thinking that it would be a good way to encourage more awareness and to bring continuity to next year when a bunch of us are graduating," Augsburger said.
Joining clubs, such as the SJC and club that is supposed to begin next semester is just one way students can help raise awareness for violations of labor laws, defying human rights. But a contribution to the movement may even be easier than joining a club.
Consciously trying to purchase clothing and products produced fairly and in a sweat-free environment is a way one may become directly involved. In addition, students may attend "Behind the Swoosh," presented by Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady on Friday, February 16 in the cafeteria from 2:30-4:15 p.m. The presentation outlines the one month period the two presenters spent in an Indonesian factory, living on $1.25 a day. As well as addressing this issue, the duo will present updated information on Nike's environmental and labor practices.
In next week's edition of The Highlander: a profile of the SJC Director, Emily Augsburger.
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