2. What is United Students Against Sweatshops? A student organization with chapters at over 250 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada Formed in 1997 as part of the anti-sweatshop movement in North America Is widely viewed as the largest anti-sweatshop community group in the United States and Canada Defines "sweatshops" broadly
3. What do they focus on? Domestic and international sweatshops and have built coalitions of students, labor groups, workers, and community members to focus on these campaigns Support Designated Suppliers Program, an anti-sweatshop policy that would source collegiate apparel from factories that respect workers’ rights Support Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ campaign against Taco Bell Large companies such as New Balance, Forever 21, Coca-Cola, Hanes, Nike…
4. The Worker Rights Consortium In April 2000, the USAS founded the Workers Rights Consortium Investigate labor conditions in factories producing collegiate apparel Work with NGOs, human rights groups, and local labor unions or federations Currently, over 180 colleges and universities have affiliated with the WRC
5. Sweat-Free Campus Campaign Organize anti-sweatshop campaigns on their campus Mandate that clothes with collegiate logos be manufactured under fair and ethical conditions New challenge: mandating that these producers manufacture a significant portion of apparel in factories with demographic representation and a paid living wage
6. Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Targeting Coca-Cola for violations in Columbia, Turkey, India, Guatemala, and Indonesia Eight union leaders from Coca-Cola plants in Columbia have been murdered since 1989 Evidence suggests managers ordered assaults Working to get Coke kicked off of their campuses until policies change
7. National Campus Living Wage Campaign Fight for better workplaces on college and university campuses Workers sometimes average 90-hours a week, receive poverty wages, and lack healthcare Includes union organizing drives, contract negotiation campaigns, living wage campaigns, and code of conduct campaigns
8. How have they succeeded? Sit-ins at University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Georgetown, and Duke where they occupied presidents’ offices Gathered in Washington, DC for the second Sweat-Free Campus Conference Pursue University students hunger strike for eleven days
9. Major Victories Nike and the Kukdong-Mexmode factory in Puebla Mexico Baseball cap factory in New York Harvard Living Wage Campaign
10. Kukdong-Mexmode factory Investigated by the WRC and found to be a union-busting factory Workers that organized were fired and blacklisted Students demanded universities suspend contracts with Nike until workers were reinstated and their unions were recognized Nike buckled under pressure Workers were reinstated, won recognition of their union, and bargained for a new contract
11. Baseball Cap Factory Baseball cap factory in Derby, New York Workers tried to organize for better wages and safer conditions Threat of a factory closing Several code of conduct violations found Student organizations demanded contract suspension Result: Factory stayed in Derby and workers go union recognition and fair contract
12. Harvard Living Wage Campaign Students demanded workers at Harvard be paid a living wage Administration refused to move on the issue Students took over the administration buildings for two weeks Administration surrendered Campus workers are now being paid a living wage Similar campaigns are now organizing across the country
13. Bibliography "About Us." USAS. Organizing for Student & Worker Power! Web. 23 July 2010. <http://usas.org/>. Bandy, Joe. "Pardoxes of Transnational Civil Societies Under Neoliberalism: The Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras." Social Problems 51.3 (2004): 410-31. Aug. 2004. Web. 24 July 2010. <http://jstor.org /stable/4148753>. "United Students Against Sweatshops." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 06 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 July 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United Students_Against_Sweatshops>. "USW: Overview: United Students Against Sweatshops." USW: United Steelworkers. United Steelworkers. Web. 24 July 2010. <http://legacy.usw.org/usw/program/content/overview_sub.php ?modules2_ID=796&modules_ID=796>
