The executive director from one of the two labor rights groups UB joined last spring confirmed that the university is officially in compliance with all the rules and regulations concerning the production of its apparel.
"UB is in accordance with our guidelines," said Scott Nova, executive director of the Workers' Rights Consortium. "There are certain obligations of affiliation, and they are fulfilling them."
Dennis Black, UB vice president for student affairs, said the university had already been free of sweatshop violations before affiliating with the Workers' Rights Consortium and Fair Labor Association.
"UB was in full compliance with state law prior to affiliation in spring 2005 with the two national monitoring groups and is in full compliance today," Black said.
The activist group Students Against Sweatshops pressed UB for two years to join a watchdog organization, specifically the Workers' Rights Consortium, a campaign that finally culminated in success last March.
UB now has in place a code of conduct for the companies it does business with, only working with those businesses that treat their workers humanely.
Colin O'Malley, a leader of Students Against Sweatshops, said the change in policy is only the beginning of continuing reform on campus.
"I think there is still some work to be done to ensure that this has its maximum impact," O'Malley said.
The Workers' Rights Consortium operates worldwide and investigates working-place conditions to ensure proper care for employees. The group works together with colleges to target factories that produce clothing bearing college names.
The other group UB affiliated with, the Fair Labor Association, could not be reached for comment.
Aligning with the Workers' Rights Consortium is only the first step of many, O'Malley said.
"The code needs to be strengthened and made to apply to licensees," he said. "An internal monitoring body that would review WRC reports and take action based on those reports needs to be made functional."
While the new system is now in place at UB, Students Against Sweatshop members say it is not sufficient for the university's needs.
"We set up a sort of interim structure last year, and that structure is just functionally useless," O'Malley said.
Black said UB plans to have a special council in place sometime later this year.
"Next step in the UB efforts will be a new advisory committee organized by campus finance and operations, probably later this year," Black said. "That group will then develop or revise current UB standards (on the Web site) and recommend other steps, as appropriate."
O'Malley said he is still pleased with the progress that has been made since the beginning of their campaigning.
"That's a pretty major step from three years ago when they were saying that this is none of their business and that UB has to remain neutral on the subject," O'Malley said. "Meaning continuing to be a major customer of these companies, even after abuses had been found."
With its success on the sweatshop front, one of UB's better-known activist groups, which bared its cause in its name, will now look towards other causes on campus. While some students applaud the work of Students Against Sweatshops, others believe more can be done to generate reform.
"It's good to hear about some student activity from a campus that is usually so apathetic," said Gary Meinl, a senior electrical engineering major.
Tyler Chang, a sophomore business management major, said he thinks the group needs to work harder to gain public awareness.
"The fact that I haven't heard about the group before sort of tells the whole story," Chang said.
