Despite students’ concerns of sweatshop-sourced UH-brand apparel, UH President Renu Khator released a statement Monday to faculty and staff accepting the recommendation of the Apparel Task Force to not take any action with respect to the Designated Suppliers Program.
After evaluating the Task Force’s final report, Khator said in the release that the University will not join the Worker Rights Consortium, citing lack of information about the WRC and the organization’s "definite" political agenda, despite the committee’s recommendation to join.
The Apparel Task Force investigation found "no direct evidence" that the University sells sweatshop-produced apparel.
The Apparel Task Force, chaired by economics professor Steven Craig, recommended the University join the WRC and the Fair Labor Association, but advised waiting to affiliate with the DSP until the group became more established.
Although the student group was not prepared to comment on the finalized report, history doctoral candidate and UH Students Against Sweatshops founder Timothy O’Brien issued a single statement on behalf of the organization.
"The UH Students Against Sweatshops’ goal is for the University to sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program," O’Brien said. "For a university to sign on to the DSP, it must be affiliated with the Worker Rights Consortium. Therefore, we also want the University to affiliate with the WRC."
SAS also announced plans for a press conference to address issues in the report and Khator’s comments.
University Bookstore Manager Felix Robinson declined to comment on either Khator’s statement and the Task Force report.
Students interviewed at the University Bookstore agreed that sweatshop-produced goods had no place on campus.
"It’s slave labor," said chemistry junior Jarrett Kitchen.
Students urged the University to monitor the origins of apparel.
"I would assume that they would have some kind of tracking system to see where our stuff comes from," accounting senior Alex Moreno said.
Some students acknowledged the challenge of monitoring international factories.
"You will never know everything, but when you can avoid it, definitely you should," political science and economics senior Alesandra Farpon said.
Some expressed skepticism of the Apparel Task Force’s final report’s claim that "no direct evidence" linked UH apparel to sweatshops.
"I’d need to see the research and the numbers before I believe that," accounting senior Jason Blasingame said.
The report also noted shutting down sweatshops may cause "unforeseen consequences." Students said ensuring fair labor practices were worth the consequences in third-world economies.
"We can’t just have people in horrible working conditions and getting paid basically nothing, and then charging us regular amounts," Farpon said.
