The Daily Campus - News
Issue:
3/16/05
Anti-sweatshop activism on the
rise
Amid a rise in
student anti-sweatshop activism, Robert J. S. Ross, a sociology professor at
Clark University and nationally known anti-sweatshop activist, will be giving a
lecture this afternoon.
The talk, which will be held at 2 p.m. in the
Konover Auditorium inside the Dodd Center, will focus on topics discussed in his
recent book, "Slaves to Fashion." Ross will speak on the recent re-emergence of
sweatshops in the United States, why they are able to exist and what needs to be
done to shut them down.
"Basically, a sweatshop is any [employer]
that allows multiple violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)," Ross
said.
The FLSA's requirements are payment of the minimum wage,
overtime pay for any time worked that exceeds the 40-hour work week,
restrictions on the employment of children and sound
record-keeping.
Ross said the most important reason for the
increasing number of sweatshops in the United States has been the globalization
of labor and trade. Manufacturers continually look for places all over the world
that will produce their goods at a lower price.
"So the places
compete at the cost of labor conditions," Ross said. "It is often called a 'race
to the bottom.'"
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.