U-Wire
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 12, 1998

Duke University adopts stringent anti-sweatshop code

DURHAM, N.C. (U-WIRE) - After months of deliberations and dialog, Duke University officials - along with student activists and others - have crafted what they hope is a workable code of conduct governing the manufacture of Duke apparel.

The new policy, which was officially implemented yesterday, aims to eliminate the use of sweatshops from the process.

"Duke University is opposed to licensed Duke products being manufactured in sweatshop conditions, by forced labor or under unsafe or abusive conditions," Jim Wilkerson, director of stores operations, said in a statement Sunday. "Implementation of a code of conduct will help guard against the occurrence of labor violations and worker abuse."

To ensure the code's enforcement, Duke will authorize inspection of the workplaces by certified independent monitors skilled in assessing compliance with labor standards.

Junior Tico Almeida, a Students Against Sweatshops leader, emphasized the importance of the independent monitors.

"This is the only way to be sure that the standards are being met," he said.

Among the many standards included in the code are minimum age requirements for employment, set wages and benefits, provision of a healthy and safe working environment, prohibition of harassment or abuse, prohibition of forced labor, recognition of employees' rights to collective bargaining and a commitment to participate in compliance monitoring programs.

Elements of the Duke University code that differ from codes of conduct established by others are the identification and disclosure of factories that produce university-licensed products and the university's option to terminate contracts with companies doing business in countries that fail to comply with the employment standards in the code.

Almeida also said that licensees must disclose to the university once a year the locations of every factory in which university products are being made. A monitor will then conduct periodic announced and unannounced inspections of these factories.

In the event of a violation, the university will consult with the licensee to work out the problem. This process could include penalties such as paying all applicable back-wages or terminating the contract if the licensee fails to fix the problem.

In writing the code of conduct, Wilkerson consulted with CLC, Students Against Sweatshops and the university's international licensing agent, Crossland Enterprises.

"With this code, we are working to build windows of accountability into the factories that make these products," Wilkerson said. "It is important to us as an institution to do all we can to ensure that people who manufacture products bearing our marks conduct themselves in an ethical and responsible manner. In addition to doing the right thing, this is what 'good business' means today."

U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman commended the university's apparel licensees code in a press release issued Tuesday.