Sweatshop decision reached

For two years, UB Students Against Sweatshops has rallied and protested while meeting with UB officials and pushing the university to join a labor rights organization.

This week, they'll get their wish.

Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs, said later this week President John Simpson will receive a finalized report recommending that UB affiliate with both the Worker Rights Consortium and the Fair Labor Association.

The affiliation will go into effect next fall, Black said, but UB will start taking the steps right away to reflect a policy of affiliation.

Before affiliating, UB needs "to form a new code of conduct for the campus, establish responsibility for affiliation, develop charge for committee and develop an appointment process for future members," Black stated in an e-mail. "All this needs to be done while completing the process of applying for memberships (with each group)."

Members of Students Against Sweatshops said they are excited about the decision, but the double affiliation is bittersweet because they do not support the Fair Labor Association.

"Signing on with FLA legitimizes an organization that we don't see as effective," said Creighton Randall, a junior mechanical engineering major.

Group members said they don't mean to sound picky, but because the Fair Labor Association is less effective, it will undermine the efforts of the Worker Rights Consortium.

Rachel Wilson, a sophomore sociology major, said the Worker Rights Consortium, unlike the FLA, really allows colleges to get involved in the process.

"FLA is corporately run, started by Nike and other corporations six years ago," Wilson said. "It doesn't press companies very hard to improve conditions. When it does, it's only to save its own reputation."

"WRC doesn't have executives on their board, whereas FLA does," Randall said. "WRC was started by students and college administrators."

Black said he will meet with Students Against Sweatshop members later this week to discuss the details of the decision.

As for the students' dismay at double affiliation, Black said he was surprised.

"Most schools that select one organization select the FLA, so I am a little surprised by their unhappiness, as advocating for one only would seem very contrary to their political interest," Black stated in an e-mail. "FLA has 191 schools and WRC has 134. About 80 have joined both."

Students Against Sweatshop members have also expressed disappointment over how long it took UB to make the decision. Black said the affiliation is not the only item on the campus agenda, and the involvement of many offices, organizations and other schools drew out the process.

Despite the plan to join both groups, Students Against Sweatshop members said they will still push UB to only join the Worker Rights Consortium. On Feb. 28 the student group scored support from the Student Association Assembly, which passed a resolution to help push UB to not join in the Fair Labor Association.

Regardless of whether UB joins one organization or both, Students Against Sweatshops members said they recognize the affiliation as a major victory.

"Two and a half years ago, UB didn't want to get involved at all. Now they're taking a definitive stand against sweatshops," said Dan Cross, a senior history and Spanish major. "We have effected an institutional revolution, and that's huge."

"It's a testimonial to how students can effect change as activists," Cross added. "A lot of times we get a bad rep as activists, students shaking fists and yelling for change, a rep as ineffective. With this we've shown how we, as students, can make changes in the community."