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| In December, letters were sent to all contractors and subcontractors who manufacture any IU-trademarked merchandise requesting full disclosure on their labor practices. To date, approximately 60 percent of IU licensees have responded. Failure to respond by March 1 will result in dissolution of all licensing agreements with IU. | Indiana University announced last
week that it has agreed, along with two other Big Ten institutions, to
conditionally join the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), as part of IU’s
on-going efforts to prevent university-licensed merchandise from being
made by firms using sweatshop labor.
IU joins the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin in reaching this agreement, which resulted from an effective working relationship between IU administrators and student leaders, characterized by an open, candid and constructive dialogue, said Richard McKaig, dean of students and vice chancellor for student affairs at IU Bloomington. "We, along with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan, announce that we will conditionally join the Worker Rights Consortium in order to work toward a fair and just monitoring system and governance structure that will address our principles and will show sensitivity toward licensee concerns," McKaig said. "We take this step without endorsing all the provisions of the current working draft. We plan to attend and actively participate in the founding conference of the WRC in April in New York City," McKaig added. "As part of the WRC process, we will work actively to address concerns such as fairness and credibility of the monitoring system, as well as governance structure and organizational viability." The WRC is a non-profit organization that supports and verifies licensee compliance with production codes of conduct. The codes have been developed by colleges and universities across the country to ensure that goods are produced under conditions that respect the basic rights of workers. Other WRC members to date are Brown and Loyola universities, and Haverford, Bard and Oberlin colleges. IU administrators have been involved in discussions with the student group, No Sweat!, which was organized at IU in fall 1998. The group developed an educational campaign to make IU students and the Bloomington community aware of the problem. IU is actively enforcing its policies to no longer do business with firms that use sweatshop labor. IU has established specific language in its licensing contracts that forbids child labor practices and requires compliance with a uniform code of conduct. Acting on behalf of IU, the Advanced Research and Technology Institute and the Office of the Dean of Students will continue to meet with university officials, faculty and student groups, and representatives from other universities, including other Big Ten institutions, seeking to develop the most effective long-term strategy for combating the sweatshop issue. It is estimated that IU licensed merchandise sales total $1 million annually. The royalties generated go toward scholarships on all eight IU campuses. Nationwide, it is estimated that $2.5 billion is spent on collegiate merchandise. |
