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U. Penn president agrees to withdraw from FLA; sit-in reaches 8 days

PHILADELPHIA-University of Pennsylvania President Judith Rodin reached a tentative agreement with the anti-sweatshop group that had occupied her office for the past eight days by agreeing to withdraw Penn from the Fair Labor Association.

According to a joint statement released Monday night by Penn Students Against Sweatshops - formerly known as United Students Against Sweatshops - and Rodin, the president will submit a letter of withdrawal to the FLA, while examining the efficacy of joining another organization to monitor Penn-logo apparel.

"The important thing is that we find a solution in the best interest of Penn," Rodin said Monday night. "What we have here is really creative and great."

Rodin met with PSAS yesterday to discuss the final details of the agreement. The group will remain in College Hall, continuing with the two-day hunger fast - which it began Monday at noon - until the agreement is finished.

"Having a tentative agreement is definitely good news," PSAS leader Miriam Joffe-Block said last night. "(But) there's a lot of work we still need to get done."

The agreement also states that the Ad Hoc Committee on Sweatshop Labor - formed last January to create a code of conduct for Penn - will now evaluate the various monitoring organizations and present Rodin with a recommendation by Feb. 29.

The committee, which includes three PSAS students among its membership, will meet today, chairman Howard Kunreuther said.

The students launched the highly publicized sit-in last Monday, demanding that Penn pull out of the FLA and join the alternate monitoring organization the Worker Rights Consortium. PSAS has repeatedly argued that the WRC is more effective in securing workers' rights because it is run by human rights organizations, rather than the companies it is supposed to monitor.

Gathering steam over the past week, the protest - which began with a core group of 13 students - has been steadily growing both in size and in campus-wide support.

The number of students sleeping in College Hall rose to about 30 by the end of last week, as PSAS held rallies and vigils in support of its cause and covered the campus in protest signs and banners.

Twenty eight student organizations offered their support to the sit-in, including the United Minorities Council. Local unions and religious groups have also provided support to PSAS, bringing them meals and speaking at demonstrations.

To promote even greater solidarity among activists nationwide, the students kicked off a 48-hour fast Monday at noon that, despite Monday night's tentative agreement, will continue.

"We are fasting to raise awareness of the issues of worker rights and sweatshop conditions," announced PSAS member Christine Nangle at a press conference Monday.

Over 60 other colleges and universities have mobilized students to fast on their respective campuses along with the Penn students. Director of the National Labor Committee Charles Kernaghan and Union for Needlework and Textile Employees President Jay Mazur will also join the nationwide fast.

Last night's agreement comes after days of criticism of the students by the administration. Though Rodin met with the students Monday and on Friday, she had expressed frustration with the group's presence in College Hall last week.

But, according to PSAS members, recent exchanges between the administration and the students have been conciliatory.

"Right now, relations are good," Joffe-Block said following Monday night's agreement.

"Some of the pressure's off," she added.