Five years ago, the University of California adopted a code of
conduct that aimed to improve conditions for workers who make
merchandise bearing the logos or trademarks of the university and
set standards of labor for licensees.
On Wednesday, two student groups worked to educate the campus
about their skepticism as to how strictly the code was being
enforced.
Members of the UCLA Social Justice Alliance along with the
Student Worker Front organized a political theater in an attempt to
educate students about allegations that UCLA apparel could be the
product of sweatshop labor.
Cindy Holmes, director of UCLA Trademarks and Licensing, said
she was confused by the allegations the alliance was making about
labor conditions in regards to ASUCLA merchandise production.
The presentation started with a demonstration in Bruin Plaza and
ended with the delivery of a proposal to the chancellor’s
office asking for reform of labor conditions in UCLA merchandise
production. Social justice activists began the demonstration by
creating a mock job recruitment fair and pretended to recruit
students to work for the university as sweatshop laborers.
“We were basically satirizing the situation to show how
awful the conditions that sweatshop laborers work in,” said
fourth-year geography student Christina Kaoh, student coordinator
for SJA.
The alliance was unable to meet with the chancellor Wednesday
but has plans to meet and discuss the issues with him in the
future.
But university officials said they were unaware of any alleged
violations.
“Nobody has come forward with information that could be
investigated on and I feel that UCLA trademarks and licensees are
involved in this issue in a proactive way that is making sure that
UCLA is adhering to the code of conduct,” Holmes said.
Holmes is currently working on a committee that addresses
various issues involving the code of conduct. The committee’s
focus is on collecting information about where the products are
made, she said. It is currently working with the Fair Labor
Association and the Worker Rights Consortium to gather knowledge
regarding factory conditions.
“We’ve got a good start at addressing these issues
and I’m positive about what we’ve done,” Holmes
said.
The proposal presented to the chancellor’s office includes
background information as to why the alliance is working to end
sweatshop labor, the policies each factory needs to comply with to
be in accordance with the code of conduct, and a plan for
implementing change over a three-year period of time. It also
contains an explanation of key standards regarding how a factory
should run, and an appendix of factories that meet with the
criteria.
“We kept asking students if they want to work with young
children, for little pay and no benefits and security ““ and
it was definitely an interesting way to present the information. It
was meant to be satirical and that was effective and it really
piqued peoples’ interests,” Kaoh said.
“Even though decisions are made at a UC systemwide level,
we think it’s important that the UCLA chancellor takes a
stand on the issue,” she said.
Michael Oleon, a member of the SJA and a second-year theater
student, said it is important for the university to act morally as
an educational institution.
“We want to make sure the UCs keep true to their promise
they made by adopting the code of conduct,” he said.
Bob Williams, executive director of Associated Students UCLA,
said that ASUCLA is very proactive about these issues, as all of
the licensees are required to sign agreements to abide by the
standards set forth in the code of conduct.
The SJA has been working with the Worker Rights Consortium to
determine whether the code of conduct has been implemented
effectively.
“We can’t ensure that BearWear and UCLA service
uniforms are being made in sweatshop-free conditions,” Kaoh
said.
“It’s mostly the nature of the garment industry that
gives us our doubts. Many of the brands make their merchandise in
factories that can’t be labeled as sweatshop-free, meaning
that the workers are paid a living wage and are provided
benefits.”
The alliance’s demands are economically feasible because
the university would continue making profit off of merchandise
sales, Oleon said.
“With the amount of sales of UC clothing, especially UCLA
items, these actions would not be much of a financial
burden,” Kaoh said.
The alliance distributed fliers with information regarding how
the school’s popular sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats and other
logo-bearing merchandise are produced.