Students rally against sweatshops

Amid shouting, drumming and the booming of megaphones, a group
of about 50 UCLA students from the Social Justice Alliance rallied
Tuesday at noon in support of sweatshop-free collegiate
apparel.

The rally began at Bruin Plaza and proceeded up Bruin Walk to
Murphy Hall, where students demanded that Chancellor Albert
Carnesale publicly endorse and support a proposal called the
Designated Suppliers Program.

The DSP is a policy that would require factories that produce
university apparel to supply exclusively for the university logo
goods market and comply with internationally recognized labor
standards.

The DSP was debated April 13 at the UC Committee on Code of
Conduct meeting, where UC President Robert Dynes was present,
according to a UC Riverside press release.

Jennifer Seneor, a first-year undeclared student and member of
the UCLA Social Justice Alliance, said the DSP would ensure a
living wage and freedom of association to workers at factories that
produce collegiate clothing, such as BearWear.

“The whole campaign is demanding that collegiate wear is
not made in sweatshops,” Seneor said.

But Cynthia Holmes, director of UCLA Trademarks and Licensing,
said she did not agree with the general statement that BearWear
products are made in sweatshops.

“There is a code that is made to address this issue, but I
will not deny that there are probably instances where there could
be problems that need to be corrected,” Holmes said.

“It’s such a huge industry that we need to explore
additional ways of monitoring and ensuring our code of conduct, and
the DSP is a proposal to address that question,” she
said.

Students from SJA were joined by representatives from other
student groups, including United Students Against Sweatshops,
Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán ““ or MEChA ““
and Student Worker Front.

Once outside Murphy Hall, a delegation of three students was
sent to speak with Carnesale. After failing to procure a response
from the chancellor, the group marched into the building, lined the
second-floor hallway walls, and rallied directly outside
Carnesale’s office.

Diana Ionescu, a first-year international development studies
student, said the students wanted the chancellor to know they do
not want to jeopardize workers’ rights by buying apparel made
in sweatshops.

“As students at one of the most prestigious universities,
we have the opportunity and responsibility to take action,”
she said.

The protesters are among a number of students from across the UC
system who are protesting sweatshop labor in producing collegiate
merchandise.

Two weeks ago, 18 students at UC Berkeley and 10 students from
UC Riverside were arrested after visiting their respective
chancellors’ offices in the nude during their rallies against
sweatshops. It was the second time this month that Berkeley
students had been arrested.

The students who visited Carnesale’s office were fully
clothed.

Through the Worker Rights Consortium, a third-party nonprofit
monitoring association, SJA first discovered allegations a few
years ago that collegiate wear may be made at sweatshops.

Phil Hampton, a spokesman for UCLA, said the UC Office of the
President has formed a committee to examine proposals made by
students who are concerned with labor issues, which will be
presented to suppliers of UC-trademarked items.

Holmes said the DSP would require licensees affiliated with the
university to manufacture in a specific group of smaller factories.
This, in turn, would require unionization and sufficient living
wages for factory workers.

“To raise the living wage and rule out sweatshops is
definitely something everyone will agree with,” she said.

Seneor said an increase in manufacturing cost would be minimal
because the cost of labor to make the apparel is minimal.

“Labor makes up only one to three percent of the total
production cost,” she said. “The shift from sweatshops
would only increase the price by 25 cents, and that’s only if
the consumer entirely absorbs the price.”

Holmes said UCLA trademark licensees, which include BearWear,
would have to comply with the decision made by the UC president and
the chancellors.