Members of University at Buffalo Students Against Sweatshops held a press conference on Thursday to discuss a meeting they had with Dennis Black, vice president of Student Affairs, on Tuesday, regarding UB's policy on affiliating with manufactures that own and operate sweatshops across the world.
After the press conference, members of UBSAS staged a "die-in" to represent all the sweatshop workers worldwide who have died as a result of the conditions in which they worked. Upon the completion of the press conference, the students lay down on the ground in front of the podium, wearing nothing but black clothing and white skull facemasks.
According to Dan Cross, a junior history and Spanish major, members of UBSAS met with Black on Tuesday to adopt a proposal they think will help to ensure the university does not do business with any company the Workers' Rights Consortium - an independent monitoring body that investigates the business practices of companies producing merchandise bearing college and universities' logos - believes operates sweatshops.
Cross said the meeting with Black was successful. Black told the organization he plans to meet with representatives from various departments that purchase merchandise bearing UB's logo, such as the athletics department, before the end of the year to discuss UBSAS's proposal.
According to Cross, the main goal of UBSAS's proposal is that the university "adopts and holds a code of conduct that all companies doing business with ... the University of Buffalo must adhere to."
If the university implements a code of conduct, Cross said all 75 companies producing merchandise for UB will have to prove their employees work in safe conditions and are paid sufficient wages.
According to a statement released by the Office of Student Affairs, UB is already trying to ensure it does not do business with companies that own sweatshops and has established that its three major athletic clothing suppliers offer their employees safe working conditions.
The office also stated that "future bidders on state contracts for UB apparel may be deemed 'not responsible' if a prospective vendor fails to certify compliance or fails to provide information sufficient to determine compliance on university request."
If UB adopts a code of conduct, UBSAS proposes that UB become affiliated with the Workers' Right Consortium, to make sure the companies are in compliance with the code. The affiliation would lead to the organization fully investigating all of the companies UB does business with, Cross said.
Of the 108 colleges and universities across the nation affiliated with the organization, none are SUNY schools. Since UB is considered the "flagship" school of the SUNY system, Cross said it is very important for the university to affiliate itself with the consortium.
"By affiliating with the WRC, by adopting a code of conduct, we will be able to make sure that we are the guiding force of the SUNY system, to make sure that SUNY is behind us, and SUNY is doing the right thing to make sure these (sweatshop) workers have not died in vain," Cross said.
UBSAS also requested that the university establish an internal monitoring board composed of students and faculty members that would work alongside the consortium to confirm that the code of conduct is not violated.
Cross said the difference between the Workers' Rights Consortium and the internal monitoring board is that the consortium would work as an investigative body guiding the administration via recommendations and suggestions rather than enforcing the code of conduct terms.
According to Emily Ng, the representative from the consortium present at the press conference, Workers' Rights Consortium was formed after a similar organization initiated by former president William J. Clinton failed.
Ng said the Clinton administration's Fair Labor Association intended to "monitor the merchandising practices of universities." However, the FLA was flawed due to the fact that its board members were chosen by major retailers such as Nike and Reebok.
She said the investigators working for the consortium are specialists trained in the areas of "wage, health and safety standards, as well as international labor conditions and norms."
According to Val Grigoriou, a senior photography major, despite all of the progress UBSAS has made to stop UB from purchasing apparel from suppliers that do not comply with the consortium's standards, there is still a lot of work to be done.
"Our school has yet to commit to developing a code of conduct, and it hasn't committed to an affiliation with the Workers' Rights Consortium yet," Grigoriou said. "UB can serve as ... the leader in the struggle for human rights. It's an important step in the right direction."
