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A road diverged

WRC/FLA battle leaves UA in an awkward place

As anti-Fair Labor Association sit-ins popped up like mushrooms at college campuses across the nation, UA President Peter Likins said the labor monitoring debate can be reduced to one question.

"The question that is haunting this long dialogue is: Can you work with the corporations, or are they unworthy of that trusting collaboration?" Likins asked in February.

The Fair Labor Association - which allows corporate members a large percentage of the control - was once the only feasible factory monitoring system for a university to choose in a quest to become "sweat free."

"The FLA has made a lot of progress," Likins said. "They're really getting organized."

"The universities within the FLA have really found their voice," he added.

In October, the Worker Rights Consortium was created by the United Students Against Sweatshops to be an alternative, university-based independent monitoring system.

The WRC proposed different tactics, and a mandate from USAS required that all affiliated organizations demand that their respective universities withdraw immediately from the FLA.

This caused some tension on campuses, including the University of Arizona's.

On Feb. 18, the UA chapter of Students Against Sweatshops held a rally in front of the administration building denouncing Likins' decision to remain a member of the FLA, following their Feb. 16 deadline.

University officials then took preliminary measures to keep a sit-in from culminating in Likins' office. Elevator access was cut off to the seventh floor - where Likins' office is located - and the door leading into the lobby from the stairwell was locked.

No sit-in was organized at the UA this semester.

While SAS members at the UA did not feel that sort of force necessary, SAS spokeswoman and psychology graduate student Rachael Wilson said sit-ins are a powerful tool for activists.

"It's very effective, without that pressure, others wouldn't have signed on," Wilson said.

Avery Kolers, philosophy graduate student and SAS spokesman, said he agreed that sit-ins and other forms of protest are sometimes a student's only voice inside the administration.

"There are very few ways that students can have influence into (university) policy," Kolers said.

In April 1999, members of SAS held a 10-day sit-in in Likins' office, resulting in a resolution that required full disclosure from all manufacturers of UA apparel, the creation of a "living wage," increased women's rights and the establishment of an independent monitoring system.

All of these mandates are to be met by Aug. 1.

"There aren't any fewer sweatshops in operation," said Wilson.

Nor has any monitoring begun, by either the WRC and the FLA.

Successful sit-ins at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin-Madison - where 52 demonstrators were arrested - were part of a trend away from university involvement in the FLA.

The WRC now has 46 college and university members and possibly may be able to add the UA to that list soon.

"I think the anti-sweatshop movement has made a lot of gains," said Tim Bartley, SAS member and sociology graduate student. "It's headed in a good direction."

This issue has heated up debates between student groups and administrations and shows no signs of slowing down.

"Movements have a fizzling out sometimes," said Jennie Mahalick, history senior and an SAS member.

But at the UA deadlines and meetings continue to take place, and the most recent action taken by the UA Human and Labor Rights Task Force has forced it to the foreground again.

"This is a story that is going to be very much alive for a while," Likins said.

The task force wrote a letter to Likins last month recommending that the UA become a member of the WRC.

To date, Likins said that he is now considering a dual membership in both the FLA and the WRC. However, no decision has been made.

"All signs point to yes, a lot of things are encouraging him to do this," Bartley said.

Since the WRC and the FLA have different monitoring systems, Likins said that it could be possible for the two to work at the same time, so long as neither became self-righteous about their right to monitor over the other.

"A one-two punch could be very, very effective," Likins said.

Recently, the University of Oregon lost a $30 million donation from Phil Knight, Nike CEO, because officials withdrew from the FLA and joined the WRC.

Nike - a corporate member of the FLA - also broke off contracts with Brown University and the University of Michigan because of their membership in the WRC.

Even with these recent developments, Likins said that he isn't worried about repercussions from Nike.

"I'm not concerned that we will lose Nike if we join the WRC," he said. "I believe that in due course, we (the UA) will join the WRC."

The answer to the question of whether corporate involvement will help or hinder the monitoring process has not been given since no monitoring has begun, leaving the university in a position to embrace both philosophies.

Through all the politics that have surrounded the issue during this academic semester, Kolers said that SAS is only concerned with the workers' conditions.

"It's not a matter of our egos," Kolers said.

Ryan Gabrielson can be reached at Ryan.Gabrielson@wildcat.arizona.edu.