Workers speak out

Workers speak out
Colorado Daily

By KATHRYN RICHERT Colorado Daily Staff
Tuesday, February 14, 2014 8:22 PM MST

Foreign garment workers will visit CU-Boulder today to talk about what they say are abuses of workers who produce apparel for colleges and universities.

The Coalition Against Sweatshop Abuses (CASA) will host “Another World in Production: Garment Workers Speak Out” today at 7 p.m. at CU-Boulder in Hellems 229. CU’s CASA chapter was created by students last year and is the CU chapter of another larger national group, United Students Against Sweatshops.

Two garment workers from Kenya and Indonesia will share their stories about working excessive hours for low wages in dangerous conditions for companies such as Nike, Inc., Reebok and Adidas.

“It’s not us talking about someone else. You hear their voice Å  it’s very powerful,” said Tim Hillman, CASA member and a CU-Boulder civil engineering graduate student.

The workers, involved in a nation-wide tour, have successfully organized for workers’ rights. But according to Hillman, once the workers organize, factories often have to shut down because they are not receiving enough financial support from their parent companies to meet workers’ demands.

The event is being held in conjunction with CASA’s plea to the CU-Boulder administration to join the Sweat Free Campus Campaign’s “Designated Suppliers Program,” (DSP).

DSP supporters demand brands producing collegiate apparel produce 25 percent of all apparel in factories in which workers have democratic representation in writing and are paid a living wage, according to Hillman.

CASA has joined nearly 50 campuses across the country to gain support for DSP. According to CASA’s press release, four campuses have already publicly pledged support for DSP, including Georgetown University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

CASA members are frustrated because they say the university is stalling them.

“CU administrators say they want to end sweatshop conditions in apparel factories, but so far, they haven’t put any substantial commitments in writing,” according to CASA’s Virginia Cutshall, in the group’s press release.

Hillman said the university is wary about the implications of the DSP, especially because of CU’s 10-year, $20 million contract with Nike. Nike has been criticized for what activists say is its history of outsourcing manufacturing to factories accused of human-rights violations.

“This is going to revolutionize the textile garment industry,” Hillman said.

According to CU professor William Wei, chair of the licensing advisory committee, which represents the university in regard to collegiate apparel, the committee wants to gather all the information in order to make the proper recommendations.

“The university isn’t stalling so much as doing what other colleges and universities are doing, which is to investigate DSP and see if it is something we should get involved in,” Wei said.

Wei said the committee will meet later this week to review the DSP and other items related to apparel contracts. He said a recommendation would follow that review at some point, but did not say specifically when that would be.

The university did agree to join the Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC) last spring. WRC is an independent monitoring group that reviews working conditions in factories worldwide and issues “sweat-free” certificates to those that demonstrate better environments for workers.

Hillman said that level of review isn’t enough, and CASA wants to see the university take additional steps to protect the rights of workers who produce CU apparel.

If the groups’ demands are not met, Hillman said, “Students are ready to participate in non-violent civil disobedience such as hunger strikes, class walk-outs and sit-ins.”