Still Sweating it Out

Last Wednesday, the University's Students for Economic and Social Justice held a "No Sweat" rally outside the offices of President Dennison and Vice President Foley, protesting the production of Griz gear that may be made in sweatshops around the globe.

On Friday afternoon, Foley met with the group and two faculty members to discuss their concerns.

The SESJ is demanding the University align itself with an independent monitoring group, the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), which would survey apparel manufacturers to ensure all licensed Griz gear comes only from those factories with fair labor practices.

The students and Vice President Foley came to one agreement: another possible monitoring agency, the Fair Labor Alliance, did not meet UM or SESJ objectives. "The WRC (is) the only option to ensure Grizzly gear is made sweat free," said SESJ member Sean Morrison.

The Workers Rights Consortium, according to Sam Shabacker, investigates factories producing collegiate licensed apparel. They identify those paying their workers a living wage and offering humane working conditions, and considered them "designated suppliers." The WRC then promises to direct all university apparel orders to those factories.

Foley was not convinced the mechanism works, saying "the WRC has admitted they're not there yet," regarding certifying the apparel factories.

He handed out a list of ten questions he said must be answered before the University commits. One was ensuring there are enough designated factories to produce the highly popular Griz gear.

Although only a moderate-sized school, Morrison pointed out that UM is one of the top 50 purchasers of collegiate licensed apparel in the country. "It's much more than would be expected from a school of this size," he said.

Other questions dealt with monitoring the factories and with attaining what Foley called a "critical mass" of participating schools to guarantee the designated factories year-round business, calling collegiate gear procurement "seasonal."

"If we meet all these questions can we be assured that the university will affiliate with the WRC?," asked Tara Ness, one of three ASUM senators in the group.

Foley replied "Why would I make an assurance to something I'm not aware of myself?"

Undaunted, the students agreed to tackle the questions before their next meeting.

"It's really frustrating," Ness stated. "We want to get this solved as quickly as possible, and the questions keep coming up to prolong the process."

The students, who last year forged changes with the University's contract with Coca Cola, began meeting with the administration in October, 2006 regarding the sweatshop issue.

Morrison contends that with its buying power, UM "has a lot of clout" in leading the charge that all collegiate wear be made "sweat free."

While Foley acknowledged the hard work done by the students, he refused to pushed. "Nothing's off the table," he said, but added "You can't have the tail wagging the dog."

Foley pointed out that processes of this type take time. For example, he said, the university's purchasing "Code of Conduct" is in it's sixth draft since the students and the administration began work on it in Spring of 2006.

That code addresses labor standards, worker health and safety and environmental considerations when selecting vendors, according to the draft document Foley distributed. The code will automatically apply to Griz gear manufacturers as well as other University suppliers.

The students will continue their talks with the administration later this week.