Fighting Sweatshops:
Why Notre Dame Should Join the
Worker Rights Consortium.
Sometimes it seems like there is too much injustice in this world for us to have an impact. For instance millions of people work at low-paid jobs and live in poverty. But there is an easy step that the University of Notre Dame can take that would begin to alleviate this problem and demonstrate our adherence to Catholic Social Teachings. Notre Dame should take a strong stance in the fight against sweatshops by joining the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) before March 11, 2001.
Our University has already taken several steps, mostly positive, on this issue. In 1997 it created a Code of Conduct regulating the production of Notre Dame apparel and other goods. Two years ago, it created a taskforce to deal with this matter (from which the Progressive Student Alliance has been excluded). In the fall of 1999, it requested that corporations publicly disclose the locations of their factories (though no addresses have been publicly released, yet). More critically, the following January it decided to require that workers have the right to form unions. In addition to these steps, the university is actively studying what a living wage would be.
However there is one critical step that the university has not taken. It needs to join the WRC to monitor the production of our goods, to ensure that our standards are being met. Currently the university is the member of another monitoring system, the Fair Labor Association, however the FLA is compromised for several reasons:
· Corporations have a veto over major decisions.
· Monitoring reports are not made public.
· It may permit multinational corporations like PricewaterhouseCoopers to serve as monitors.
· The standards that it enforces are minimal.
The FLA was setup with support from corporations, notably Nike, which were intent upon insuring a good public image for themselves. The FLA will only work to end sweatshops, to the extent that the improvement in corporate image is greater than the cost of improving worker’s lives. By contrast the WRC was created by anti-sweatshop activists to improve working conditions by empowering workers. The WRC is willing to go a step further than the FLA.
Advantages of ND joining the WRC
· University administrators, students, and representatives of non-governmental organizations (like labor rights groups) make decisions – not corporations.
· It will hold the FLA (and the University) accountable.
· Monitoring reports and all working conditions will be made public.
· Non-governmental organizations, that understand the local conditions best, will serve as monitors.
· The standards that it enforces will be high, like the standards that ND has either already adopted or is expected to do in the future (Ex. the requirement of paying workers a living wage).
Seventy-one universities and colleges have joined the WRC. The WRC has rules, a budget, staff, and is starting trial monitoring projects. Previously, the University has hesitated to join the WRC as it was not fully organized, however that it no longer a concern.
Between Feb. 9 and March 11, the University of Notre Dame will decide whether or not to join the Worker Rights Consortium. We believe that with your support we will show that Notre Dame cares more for our principles than profits.
If you are interested in helping, you can:
· Attend our upcoming keynote rally. Thursday Feb. 22, 4:30pm at Stonehenge
· Send us your email address to be added to our mailing list for event announcements (email: )
· Write The Observer ()
· Write the chair of the anti-sweatshop taskforce:
· Attend the next Progressive Student Alliance meeting - every Tuesday at 7pm, in 105 O’Shaughnessy.
For more information
· www.workersrights.org – WRC page
· www.usasnet.org – United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
· www.nd.edu/~psa – Progressive Student Alliance
Advantages of ND joining the WRC
· University administrators, students, and representatives of non-governmental organizations (like labor rights groups) make decisions – not corporations.
· It will hold the FLA (and the University) accountable.
· Monitoring reports and all working conditions will be made public.
· Non-governmental organizations, that understand the local conditions best, will serve as monitors.
· The standards that it enforces will be high, like the standards that ND has either already adopted or is expected to do in the future (Ex. the requirement of paying workers a living wage).
Seventy-one universities and colleges have joined the WRC. The WRC has rules, a budget, staff, and is starting trial monitoring projects. Previously, the University has hesitated to join the WRC as it was not fully organized, however that it no longer a concern.
Between Feb. 9 and March 11, the University of Notre Dame will decide whether or not to join the Worker Rights Consortium. We believe that with your support we will show that Notre Dame cares more for our principles than profits.
If you are interested in helping, you can:
· Attend our upcoming keynote rally. Thursday Feb. 22, 4:30pm at Stonehenge
· Send us your email address to be added to our mailing list for event announcements (email: )
· Write The Observer ()
· Write the chair of the anti-sweatshop taskforce:
· Attend the next Progressive Student Alliance meeting - every Tuesday at 7pm, in 105 O’Shaughnessy.
For more information
· www.workersrights.org – WRC page
· www.usasnet.org – United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
· www.nd.edu/~psa – Progressive Student Alliance
Fighting Sweatshops:
Why Notre Dame Should Join the
Worker Rights Consortium.
Sometimes it seems like there is too much injustice in this world for us to have an impact. For instance millions of people work at low-paid jobs and live in poverty. But there is an easy step that the University of Notre Dame can take that would begin to alleviate this problem and demonstrate our adherence to Catholic Social Teachings. Notre Dame should take a strong stance in the fight against sweatshops by joining the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) before March 11, 2001.
Our University has already taken several steps, mostly positive, on this issue. In 1997 it created a Code of Conduct regulating the production of Notre Dame apparel and other goods. Two years ago, it created a taskforce to deal with this matter (from which the Progressive Student Alliance has been excluded). In the fall of 1999, it requested that corporations publicly disclose the locations of their factories (though no addresses have been publicly released, yet). More critically, the following January it decided to require that workers have the right to form unions. In addition to these steps, the university is actively studying what a living wage would be.
However there is one critical step that the university has not taken. It needs to join the WRC to monitor the production of our goods, to ensure that our standards are being met. Currently the university is the member of another monitoring system, the Fair Labor Association, however the FLA is compromised for several reasons:
· Corporations have a veto over major decisions.
· Monitoring reports are not made public.
· It may permit multinational corporations like PricewaterhouseCoopers to serve as monitors.
· The standards that it enforces are minimal.
The FLA was setup with support from corporations, notably Nike, which were intent upon insuring a good public image for themselves. The FLA will only work to end sweatshops, to the extent that the improvement in corporate image is greater than the cost of improving worker’s lives. By contrast the WRC was created by anti-sweatshop activists to improve working conditions by empowering workers. The WRC is willing to go a step further than the FLA.