The Brown Student Labor Alliance, as part of a national effort to end the use of sweatshops in producing collegiate apparel, delivered a proposal to University officials and President Ruth Simmons Wednesday demanding that the University only sell Brown-logo merchandise produced in factories that pay living wages and allow workers to unionize.
Christopher Eaton '06, a member of SLA, was one of three students who brought the proposal to the offices of Simmons and Larry Carr, the University bookstore and services director. The students were unable to speak directly with either Simmons or Carr, and University administrators have yet to acknowledge receipt of the proposal, Eaton said.
Marisa Quinn, assistant to the president, told The Herald that the president's office has "received it and will review it," but she declined to comment further.
The SLA's move is a part of a coordinated, national effort by Washington-based United Students Against Sweatshops, an organization that aims to improve college and university policies regarding apparel production. Administrators at 40 other colleges and universities also received proposals Wednesday.
According to USAS National Coordinator Jessica Rutter, colleges and universities - including Brown - license the use of their logos to well-known apparel companies such as Champion and Nike, which, in turn, subcontract the merchandise production to other companies. The subcontractors frequently produce the merchandise in sweatshops, she said.
In the late 1990s, USAS fought successfully to require apparel companies to disclose the factories in which their merchandise is produced, Rutter added.
The proposal delivered to University officials Wednesday demands that Brown require its logo license-holders - companies like Champion - to only subcontract out apparel production to "sweat-free factories" that pay workers a living wage and permit collective bargaining, Rutter said.
In his role as the bookstore director, Carr is responsible for licensing Brown's logo to companies like Champion. Carr did not respond to a telephone message and e-mail seeking comment.
Prior to learning about SLA's proposal, Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, had told The Herald that merchandise sold by Brown should not be produced in sweatshops because doing so would not "reflect the values of the (Brown) community."
But Huidekoper acknowledged the difficulty of providing sweatshop-free apparel because wholesale providers frequently change ownership and suppliers.
Regulating production standards for collegiate logo apparel is an enduring ethical issue on college campuses, and Brown has historically been at the forefront.
"In the past, Brown has been a leader, and I really hope they continue to be a leader," Rutter said.
In the late 1990s, USAS and the anti-sweatshop movement successfully demanded that colleges and universities create codes of conduct outlining health, safety, wage and discrimination standards for factories producing collegiate merchandise. The wave of effort also resulted in the creation of the Worker Rights Consortium, an organization of 144 colleges and universities that oversees enforcement of the members' codes of conduct.
Brown was the first member of the WRC, Eaton said.
With their new Sweat-Free Campus Campaign now officially launched, campaign coordinators hope to have the new standards implemented at colleges and universities across the country by spring 2006, Rutter said.
Eaton said he requested that University officials respond to the proposal by Oct. 14.
"The whole national university community made a lot of progress four years ago, but it's clear that a lot of work still needs to be done," Eaton said.
