SAS members feel 'betrayed,' say UA in violation of commitments
Any decision concerning the UA's affiliation with factory monitoring systems has been put off indefinitely, leaving some members of Students Against Sweatshops feeling ignored.
"It's a major betrayal," said Rachael Wilson, SAS spokeswoman and psychology graduate student, following an SAS meeting late last night to discuss Likins' response to their latest deadline. "That sounds like a stall tactic to me."
In an e-mail to the University of Arizona's deans, directors and department heads, received also by Wilson, Likins said that he won't decide whether the university will remain a member of the Fair Labor Association until he has met with the UA Human and Labor Rights Task Force.
"The task force has apparently made its choice in favor of the WRC (Worker Rights Consortium), but I have been invited by the chairman to meet with the task force for a deeper exploration of related issues," Likins said in the e-mail. "I have accepted that invitation, and will defer membership decisions until after that meeting until I have had an opportunity to consider the ramifications of those decisions."
