Likins to sign labor code

The code, created under the guidance of the Atlanta-based Collegiate Licensing Corporation, was devised to protect university trademarks from appearing on clothing made under abusive labor conditions.

"What we're striving to do is to create a vehicle by which everyone will work together to solve this situation," said Michael Low, the UA director of trademarks and licensing.

Prompted in part by student activists and concerned faculty, the debate about how to improve labor conditions in the $2.2 billion collegiate-apparel industry has reached the boiling point in both the national arena and on the UA campus.

The code holds manufacturers responsible for their overseas sub-contractors factories' and demands a nation-based minimum wage. While the collegiate code calls for public disclosure of the name, country and city of all factories, student-activists want more.

"The problem is the current CLC code is not going to be useful in practice," said Arne Ekstrom, president of the UA's United Students Against Sweatshops chapter.

Ekstrom, a neuroscience graduate student, said the conduct agreement lacks in employee compensation and company location disclosure that would reduce its effectiveness.

"The CLC code does not compel companies to release the (exact) location of their subcontractors in other countries," he said. "Monitoring won't happen until that happens because human rights workers won't know where to look for the factory."

Ekstrom also said he wants manufacturers to pay a "living wage" to its employees.

Even though the code does not demand a living wage, it does enforce a minimum wage standard that is in itself an improvement, Low said.

"In the U.S., the labor department estimates that less than 50 percent of U.S. garment workers receive minimum wage," he said. "Most countries in the world have a definition of a minimum wage but most countries in the world also allow that wage to be violated. It seems correct and reasonable to insist that our licensees at least pay minimum wage."

University presidents nationwide will decide this week whether or not to sign the agreement. Members of the University Committee on Corporate Relations reviewed the CLC code and recommended Thursday that UA President Peter Likins sign it.

Likins promised last week he will sign the agreement despite United Students Against Shops members' concerns about the strength of the code's language.

Likins said it was better to have something in place which could address the "more significant" objective of reducing sweatshop labor.

"My position is that we should adopt the code even with those deficiencies," Likins said.

Administrators from the University of North Carolina, Duke University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been supportive of students protesting the CLC's code, said Laura McSpedon, a national coordinator for United Students Against Sweatshops.

"We did definitely publicly denounce the code and we're encouraging administrators to reject it," said McSpedon, a sociology junior at Georgetown University. "Administrators have been receptive at a couple institutions"

UNC Chancellor Michael Hooker acknowledged the concerns of student activists criticizing the CLC code's lack of living wage and full disclosure requirements by signing a United Students Against Sweatshops petition, she said.

However, it is unclear what impact Hookers' actions will have for the CLC's code at UNC, said Rut Tufts, UNC director of auxiliary services. The chancellor has not yet been given a formal presentation of the CLC code.

"It's true that our chancellor signed a letter which stated the importance of a living wage and of full disclosure of manufacture sites," said Tufts, who represented UNC on the CLC's task force. "Whether he'll sign (the code) I don't know."

If the CLC code is approved by enough member universities it will be put into effect, Low said. The CLC provides trademark licensing resources to 160 colleges, including the UA.

"Assuming that a strong number of universities agree that this code represents their interests, it could be out in a couple months," he said.

Likins said he acknowledged the complaints of students but added that the process of combating sweatshop labor will require an element of compromise.

Despite the fact apparel company's "rightly or wrongly" have not accepted conditions that would require them to publicly reveal the exact location of their factories or provide a living wage, the code is still a step in the right direction, he said.

"Over time, I would hope that as we gain experience in enforcement that we would try to improve the codes in ways that continue to be enforceable," he said.

Ekstrom said he did not trust Likins assurance of striving to improve the code once it is in place.

"I believe President Likins has a habit of saying he's going to do something and then brushing it aside," he said. "Compared to other presidents at other schools, Likins has not lived up to his words."